Casino Enterprise Management

How do you rate the health of your surveillance operation? A few years back, I developed a model for surveillance management called the Four Pillars of Surveillance. The model was essentially a guide to help review and measure the state of the operation. It gave us a snapshot of our strengths and identified weaknesses that needed to be treated. The model also provided a way to rate my own performance as a manager.

After years of going through the same old standard company performance reviews, I convinced my boss to incorporate this model into my own annual review, so I could get feedback based on goals specifically tied to the department. In essence, the model became a regular health check for me and the operation.

The Four Pillars of Surveillance is developed around the foundation of four principles: People, Operations, Information, and Communication. Within each pillar there are five focus areas. Each focus area has its own checklist of standards.

When measuring the health of the operation, I would periodically assess our performance in each key area using a simple scoring system. Each of the 20 key areas was rated from one to five (with five as the highest rating). The maximum possible score for the entire operation was 100. If you choose to use this tool to measure your own department, keep in mind that scoring is subjective, so make an honest self-assessment.

In this series of articles, I will discuss each pillar and outline the five focus areas for each one. I will also provide my reasons why each area is important to the success of a surveillance operation and how to maintain a healthy score.

People
Remember that old saying: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people?” In surveillance, “Cameras don’t catch bad people, good people catch bad people.” People are the core of any organization, and it starts with leadership.

Leadership
High performance surveillance machines are driven by high performance drivers. Without them the car will not respond to certain road conditions and may even run off track. Often, the back of house departments or “non-revenue producing” departments are placed near the bottom of the list when the finance controllers are completing their budget spreadsheets at the end of the year. It is essential that a surveillance manager is a strong leader and able to communicate to senior management their needs, and stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

Clearly Defined Objectives
Clearly defined objectives are important in surveillance and should be written down. Most employees in a casino know exactly what they have to do when they come to work: deal cards, serve drinks, clean ash trays, cash chips, and validate jackpots.

Surveillance is sometimes like that “box of chocolates.” With a whole casino to watch, they never know what they’re going to get. Knowing the correct monitoring priorities at any given time can mean the difference between catching a cheat on a blackjack game, or being hypnotized by a wheel of fortune slot machine. Priorities change on an hourly basis. Make sure everyone is on the same page.

Recruitment
Proper surveillance starts with recruitment. A recent study found 80 percent of employee turnover can be attributed to poor hiring. Does a “natural surveillance operator” exist? Is everyone cut out to be a surveillance operator?

Over the years, I have noticed that some operators are a little more productive than others. Some have a knack, and are always in the right place at the right time, and therefore catch the bad guys. Others couldn’t spot a whale in a swimming pool. I believe this is not by chance—it is because of desire.

For some reason, there are people who think if they have dealt on the floor, or worked as a security guard, these positions qualify them for a job in surveillance. These positions may get them in the door, but these positions don’t guarantee that they will be good surveillance operators. Because of the cost of training a new recruit, sometimes management assesses that it is less costly to let non-performing operators stay. 

The company I worked for injected science into the recruitment process. We hired a psychologist to come up with a process that could identify surveillance talent. We came up with an idea to introduce video games during the recruitment process. An applicant would be asked to sit at a computer for two hours and go through a process that would test the applicant’s mathematical ability and analytical skills. The process also tested the observation skills and the ability to concentrate in a confined area for a long period of time.

The experiment was quite successful. Apart from having one person get up and leave after 30 minutes, the people who passed the test went through a successful interview and a successful screening process, and went on to become productive members of the surveillance team.

Interestingly enough, we discovered that ex-bank tellers made great surveillance people. They’re good with numbers, customer focused, security focused, and used to working in a confined environment. They’re usually underpaid, so surveillance is very appealing to them.

Training
If you are serious about high performance in surveillance, you need four primary training programs:

1.Surveillance Induction: This is a mandatory training program for surveillance operators when they start the job. It ensures everyone has the basic knowledge needed to perform all functions of the position.

2. Continuous Training: This ensures everyone stays up to date with cheating techniques, scams, and technology.

3. Technicians Training: This ensures technicians stay up to date with technology.

4. Management Training: This develops leaders in the department and ensures a succession plan for the future.

Everyone should attend induction training, whether they have prior experience or not. This way you know everyone has exactly the same basic training, and has met your department’s standards. Until a national standard is developed in our industry, we will never know what we’re getting when an applicant from another property applies for a job.

Continuous training programs make sense. Just like a regular gym routine, regular training keeps the mind fit and energized. The big question is where do you get the training? I recommend that every surveillance department has a dedicated training manager. If there are budget restraints, then there are a few good training companies out there that can provide customized training programs for individual casinos. A word of warning: Who trained the trainer?

Performance Management
A challenge in surveillance is keeping staff motivated. Unlike other areas of the casino, surveillance people do not receive (or are not permitted to receive) gratuities from the customers. Surveillance is a salaried position and often has a limited scope for promotional advancement. If a surveillance operator doesn’t genuinely enjoy his or her job, it can become difficult to stay motivated.

Performance management is important in a surveillance department. If you have a non-performer in the surveillance room, it can be contagious if allowed to persist. You need to act quickly and remove the problem. A bad egg in surveillance cannot only stink up the room, but can permeate out onto the floor. On the positive side, you can use performance management as a motivator.

My company took an innovative approach to this issue. We introduced a performance management program in surveillance called the “Black Chip Program.” The Black Chip Program recognized knowledge, loyalty, and the performance of surveillance operators, and rewarded them financially.

This is how the Black Chip Program worked:

When an operator successfully completed their induction training program they were certified as a “Red Chip” operator. At this point they set training and performance goals over the next 18 months. At the end of the 18 months if they had successfully achieved their goals, they were invited to take the “Green Chip” test. If they passed the test, they were awarded a promotion to the green chip level and given a substantial pay increase. If they didn’t pass the test, they could try again in six months, as long as they maintained their performance levels.

At Green Chip level, they were once again given performance and training goals for the next 18 months. This time the goals were set a little higher. If they achieved these goals over the next 18 months, they were invited to take the “Black Chip” test. The test was tough, but achievable. Successful completion demonstrated expert knowledge of surveillance techniques, gaming, and game protection. Once an operator had reached this level, they were considered lead operators and placed on the highest salary tier. Black Chip operators were expected to maintain the performance levels, and if they dropped off, they would be tested again to keep their status.

The Black Chip Program set expectations and standards within the department so everyone knew what was expected of them, and the program financially rewarded those that had the enthusiasm and desire to perform well. For those that struggled, we used the green and black chippers as mentors for the others. The program provided a real incentive for surveillance operators who liked their job.

Next month: Part 2: Operations

Willy Allison is President of World Game Protection Inc., organizer of the World Game Protection Conference. He can be reached at (702) 407-9900 or willy[at]worldgameprotection.com. For more information on the WGPC, visit www.worldgameprotection.com.