Casinos that create and nurture a culture of excellence and performance will prosper in the competitive gaming market as they roll out organizational improvements for success.
Here are five tips about internal culture and organizational change.
Tip No. 1. A positive culture and a good bottom line go hand in hand. An organization’s culture will define what organizational improvement means to each casino. The culture will also determine the effectiveness and sustainability of improvement.
Tip No. 2. Casino executives must lead by example as employees come to understand the culture. Casino leadership must first understand the culture and then communicate and model it for all employees. In “Creating A Positive Culture,” Phyllis Hartman and John Hayden wrote that “the role of the leaders in establishing and maintaining the culture is vital.” They say that there must be recognition and belief in the mission and vision by the top leaders, or the culture will not be positive or successful.
Tip No. 3. Casinos can build and maintain a positive culture in many ways. Peter Fornal wrote in “Developing and Sustaining A High Performance Organizational Culture” that a casino must define roles, responsibilities and accountabilities, as well as tie them to the critical success factors of the casino. Employees must understand the importance of their role within the casino structure. Consistent feedback and communication between employees and management is critical. Ongoing training and support is another factor related to the creation of a valuable culture, as well as the implementation of sustainable reward and recognition systems.
Tip No. 4. Strong teamwork also is important to an internal culture. John Ballantine wrote in “Firms That Invest in Employees Will Come Out on Top” that another step in developing a strong culture is “building small, empowered teams and enabling your employees to create their own culture” in conjunction with the casino’s culture.
Tip No. 5. A strong culture creates a strong staff. J. Yin-Sub Lin and F. Comrarie wrote about this in “Transformational Leadership, Organizational Culture and Organizational Effectiveness in Sports Organizations.” They wrote that “positive organizational cultures have been linked to increased staff alignment, resulting in enhanced organizational effectiveness, heightened consensus regarding strategic direction, increased employee productivity and advanced levels of employee commitment …Only when a critical mass of their employees has taken critical ownership and responsibility for the changes can an organization assure a competitive advantage in today’s challenging marketplace.”
My company has published a white paper that helps casinos understand what is involved in rolling out organizational improvements that can result in greater success in the future.
Those interested in obtaining a copy of the white paper should call 480-991-6420.
Martin R. Baird
Robinson & Associates, Inc.
www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com
www.casinocustomerservice.com
mbaird@casinocustomerservice.com
480-991-6420
