Casino Connection Nevada

In Shape In House

Casino operators are working to improve the health of their team members

by Greg Jones

With health care costs spiraling out of control and employers doing everything within their power to corral their health-related expenses, workplace health initiatives are popping up in many businesses and industries.

It is estimated that absenteeism costs employers nearly $1,000 per employee each year. Furthermore, a nation obsessed with—or relegated to—eating fast food on a regular basis, coupled with increasingly sedentary jobs is leading to a workforce that is in poor physical condition. If the saying is true, that a healthy body is a healthy mind, the opposite is bound to be true, too.

Active to Sedentary
The gaming industry is not immune from these problems. Some jobs, like valet parking, bellmen and food and beverage servers, are highly physical, but other positions, even those that require standing for extended periods of time, require little exertion during the day. Without an exercise program to stick to after work, employees can find themselves falling into poorer shape, and that can carry over into the workplace.

It’s easy to see how absenteeism can cost companies money, but the smaller, less perceptible benefits of improving employee health can also have an impact on the bottom line.

“By being proactive with health and wellness programs, we reduce employee absenteeism,” said Rob Stillwell of Boyd Gaming. “But also, our employees have more energy and they’re happier, which is something that is at the very heart of employee moral and something that instills a lot of confidence in our employees.”

An innovative Weight Watchers is one of many wellness initiatives Boyd Gaming offers. This unique program requires employees to write a check to cover the full cost of the program, roughly $120 for a 10-week session.

Those checks are held until the end of the session, at which point, if the participant has attended at least eight of 10 meetings and lost at least five pounds, the money is returned.

Station Casinos has also developed a number of employee health initiatives, such as on-site dental programs and health kiosks.

“The quality of our team member’s lives outside the workplace is of the utmost importance to us because we believe happy and healthy team members are more productive, loyal workers and provide a higher level of guest service,” said Lori Nelson, spokeswoman for Station Casinos.

The kiosks are Station’s newest addition to the company’s commitment to team member health. The machines, currently available at nine properties, allow team members to monitor their blood pressure and weight, and provide additional information about how they can improve their health.

Team members are able to establish secure accounts through which they can store the information from up to 20 visits. The machines also allow users to print out their results after each session.

Station also offers free annual physical exams, on-site mammograms and even discounts at 24-Hour Fitness.

Exercise and Eating
The gaming industry is seeing that programs that encourage healthy eating habits and regular exercise routines create employees who have more energy during the day. This increased energy allows workers to do a better job because they are not lethargic and “spacing out.” Whether it is a dealer who inadvertently overpays—or worse yet, shorts—a player or a server who forgets orders, there is little room for poor customer service in the gaming industry.

The importance of a healthy workforce is, perhaps, best summed up by the Cannery Casino Resorts philosophy outlining what the company expects from its team members: “We must be able to count on every single employee to contribute optimum effort, perform as a member of a smooth-running team and commit to providing consistent quality guest service to internal and external guests alike.”