Anyone who gambles – whether they are a casual gambler or a professional gambler – realizes that casinos aren’t in business to lose money. In fact, casinos must generate a ton of revenue just to keep the Las Vegas strip lit up 24 hours a day. It really doesn’t matter which game you choose to play. Every game is designed to be in the house’s favor; although some offer a better chance of winning than others. According to this article, blackjack has the best odds and slot machines the worst.

Why would I bring up gambling odds and the fact that casinos are in business to make money not lose it? A recent study was commissioned by Caesar’s Entertainment – owners of casinos in four continents for over 75 years - and was conducted by the Harvard Business School. Based on the results of that study, Caesars Entertainment said “the best way to engage our customers in our sustainability journey is by engaging our most valuable asset: our employees.” They go on to say that the “customer loyalty and satisfaction…is directly linked to employees’ level of participation in sustainable activities at work.”

To create employee engagement, Caesars Entertainment created the CodeGreen strategy in which they enlisted employees to donate both money and time into conservation projects. They then share the results of these efforts not only with employees, but also with customers. In doing so, they found that it created a “positive impact on customers’ perception…” In fact, revenue and customer satisfaction levels both increased in direct correlation to the percentage of employee participation.

In reality, casinos are no different than any business. They need to generate revenue and continuously find strategies that assist them in that goal. Successful businesses recognize that customer satisfaction is key to revenue growth. While creating an outstanding customer experience is definitely important, many businesses focus solely on that. They neglect the other components necessary to a successful growth strategy as I outlined in last week’s blog article.

Employee engagement programs don’t have to be as detailed and global as asking employees for donations or volunteer hours. There are some very simple activities that you can hold for your employees that are just as effective but take much less management.

Some examples of employee engagement activities include:

• Employee picnics or luncheons
• Movie nights
• Internal dealership newsletters
• Monthly and annual staff awards and recognition
• Team building activities
• Holiday parties
• Celebration of employee birthdays on a monthly basis

All of these will help you accomplish the goal of having more engaged employees. Engaged employees are typically more satisfied with their positions. That translates into higher retention and customer satisfaction.

“Happy employees mean happy customers. And happy customers mean a happy business.” Caesars Entertainment couldn’t have said it any better!