"Cultural Twig-bending"
A typical casino operation has literally hundreds of “touch” points in the process of acquiring new employees. Each is a chance to begin planting the seed of your vision, communicating your goals and aspirations, infusing the prospective employee with the behavior you desire for your culture.

"Can't Buy You Love"
It takes more than money and benefits to hold on to good employees. Those are important motivators, but not necessarily the sole or even primary reason employees stay or leave. A strong corporate culture is by far the most powerful magnet that holds employees firmly in place.

"Two-Way Communication"
Communication. Constant two-way communication. That’s the cornerstone of Jerry Egelus’ strategic plan to build a unified corporate culture at Harrah’s Cherokee. He applies numerous tactics and resources to keep management and employees connected and in touch.

"Universal Truths"
While casino cultures differ widely, they’re more alike than you may think. Employees throughout the industry share common concerns. If you address these concerns effectively, you successfully elevate your culture above the crowd.

"Rallying Point"
Multi-unit gaming companies whose properties don’t share a common brand identity face distinct cultural challenges. With no single “handle” to link their identities, the individual properties tend to go their own way culturally.

"Training: Chicken or Egg?"
Does a corporate culture shape training, or does training shape the culture? The role of training in the building of a corporate culture is often a mystery to casino executives, who sometimes see no connection at all between the two.

"Measuring Up"
Few casinos have any systematic process in place for regularly monitoring what their customers are happy or unhappy about. For the most part, casino managements rely on hearsay, general impressions, and instinct. In the fickle gaming marketplace, trusting to gut feelings about what's on the customer's mind is a good way to be fooled or misled.

"Employee Communication: I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Employee communication in gaming companies is, more often than not, rated as poor by employees. It typically consists of a newsletter, an occasional employee meeting, and pounds and pounds of memos with numbing operational details that few employees read and fewer still comprehend.

"Starting from Scratch"
The tribal compacts with casino management operators typically, and understandably, include preferential biases for Indian employees, with the purpose of uplifting tribe members' self-esteem and ability to be productive. The downside of these conditions, however, is that they inherently create resentment among non-tribal employees.

"Grand Breaks the Cycle"
The role of the casino in gaming's emerging markets is more subtle and complex than just being an economic boon, important though that is. The cultures of the casinos exert significant beyond-the-walls impact, reaching into the community itself and affecting the way it acts and thinks.

"Cherokee Communication"
Constant communication. That’s the cornerstone of the ongoing strategic plan to maintain a strong, unified corporate culture at Harrah’s Cherokee in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains.

"Corporate Culture: The People Magnet"
Offshore enterprises are operating companies. Managers in this industry are by nature primarily concerned with doing things, making things run smoothly and profitably. If they give any thought to corporate culture at all, it is usually influenced by opinions forged from management meeting conversations or casual observations during MBWA (management by walking around). There is a very real likelihood that management’s view of a company’s culture is markedly different than the way employees see it.

"Connections and the Cost of Turnover"
Connections count in the casino industry. The term usually means who you know determines how much “pull” you have. There’s another meaning of connections, though, that counts on the bottom line. The stronger the bond – the connection – between employees and a company, the less likely they will loaf, steal, or leave. That means lower turnover costs.