Desperate Email

Want a sure sign that the General Manager of a Casino or Hotel has lost confidence in the labor plans in place at their property? Look for their desperate email! You know, the one that comes out on the day before a major event, that comes out on the Friday before a federal holiday weekend, that comes out just before a visit from the corporate office – it reads something like this – please watch your labor! Let’s control overtime! Make sure that your Managers look for early out opportunities! Please help me, I’m desperate!

Want to know another sure sign with the sending of desperate email? It means that the General Manager has not taken the time to fully understand and to be an integral part of the labor planning activities at their property. Why? Because if he or she had actually taken the time to understand and to be a part of the plan then either the email would come out all the time (if the plan were under development and needed encouragement), or would never come out at all (because the plan in place is mature, tested, understood, and reliable). Knee-jerk messages are symptomatic of knee-jerk management, and of lazy management to boot.

As a property leader my message to Managers before a big event is to relax! Have fun! You have worked hard to prepare for this, so enjoy the action that being at a busy property brings! Aren’t these the reasons we got into this game in the first place? Don’t we live to see our guests having a great time making memories at our properties while we enjoy our biggest revenue and profit days? We have analyzed our prior performance over similar events and time periods. Weeks in advance we planned out every aspect of the event with our Marketing and Operational Departments. We have forecasted our anticipated volumes and we have scheduled our employees accordingly. In short, we are ready, and the last minute is not the time to second-guess ourselves. Let’s have some fun and watch our Department Teams in action!

If you are a property leader and you find yourself at the keyboard ready to generate some desperate email, ask yourself, why? Why do I lack the confidence that my Managers can plan in advance and that they can execute under pressure? What part of the labor plan needs more attention so I can be more confident of the outcomes? What do I need to do to become more involved in pre and post-forma marketing analysis? What message do I really want to send to my Managers and Supervisors on the eve of a big event or weekend, one of encouragement or one of fear?

Go ahead and start typing, because in the end you either have to get busy or get desperate.