Table Games had a bad month! Slots were way down! The economy is really affecting us! The new card room is taking play away from us! Our promotions can’t compete with the big properties! We’re too far out-of-the-way! The sky is falling! Oh my, how come we can’t get our bottom line where it really helps our government programs?
Where’s our profit??????? What about our programs?????? Can we really zero in and find additional dollars in our operation? What are the costs centers we don’t hear or know about?
This will happen or already has happened in your hospitality and gaming venue and organization. It happens to every operation. Often times it just takes a closer look at cost centers that are already there. Often times it’s complacency and being comfortable that we are meeting our budget responsibilities. Why change anything? It’s not broken. The budget review didn’t unmask any glaring problems or issues. I got the same old “looks good”. Next!!!!
So are there really areas of cost we don’t see, know about or understand? Are they included in a budget somewhere? Casinos handle millions of dollars of cash and cash equivalents. If the United State can lose 9 billion dollars of cash overseas, can’t we lose several hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of dollars in our tribal casinos?
When our external auditors come in to conduct analysis, review data, run tests on systems and processes; do we get the complete picture? Is the answer consultants? Are we getting the best bang for our buck with our team? Who is our team? The entire staff? Management team? Oversight Board to the casino?
I wonder what would happen if we as casino operators offered staff an opportunity once a quarter to make suggestions about how revenue could be generated or saved. I think it’s fairly apparent that most gaming properties and businesses in general have staff members working for them that could offer sound beneficial ideas. Who does this with their staff? Who seeks this type of input from staff. What if a staff member knows about a protocol that is not being followed that is minimizing profit? What about vendors that are getting the best of it and no one is watching? “We trust the bread man, right”! What about unresolved time clock variances or missing punches that can’t track time really worked? Work? How productive is your work force? How keen is your scheduling and review of services? How much productive time is lost annually because we don’t mandate employees leave their cell phones in their car or locker rather than in their right hand most of the day? Have you ever wondered how much that time is worth? Probably not; because the next text message on your phone is alerting you now.
So who would be more mindful of ensuring that all of the inefficiencies are tracked, bench marked and audited? We don’t need the external auditor to do that. We need well-trained management, staff and stakeholders. Are more eyes better? Is more analysis better? Is the answer in training and developing staff and managers about how important the mission of a tribal revenue producing enterprise is? Is it important enough to ensure every individual is accountable and responsible to that end? And if the end is good; reward your entire team. You may have generated significant dollars that can now fund government programs and initiatives.
So who’s responsible for making this happen?
