Kronos Gaming offers management solutions

AS VEGAS, Nevada -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The global gaming industry is growing at an unprecedented rate. Last year, Las Vegas faced fierce competition, with China's Macau threatening to take over as the reigning gaming jurisdiction in the world. Significant growth is occurring outside of Las Vegas and Macau as well. Kronos® Incorporated is helping gaming organizations differentiate themselves in this globally competitive environment with its Kronos for Gaming workforce management solution.

"The gaming industry has clearly entered its next phase in the maturity model," said Charlie Dewitt, vice president of enterprise marketing at Kronos. "The proof is in the way the entire world is embracing it as a critical economic driver. With such rapid expansion, however, comes the challenge of effectively managing large labor pools, and maintaining quality of service while controlling costs. Our customers across the globe are telling us that they want to manage their workforce strategically to swiftly strike this balance."

Kronos for Gaming enables global organizations to improve productivity and operational efficiency by balancing customer demand with controlling costs. Leading casinos including Casino Lisboa, Macau, Casino Niagara, Great Canadian Casino, Majestic Star Casino LLC, The Venetian, and the Woodbine Entertainment Group already depend on Kronos' expertise to empower them to most effectively retain their employees and attract customers.

Hire and schedule effectively to retain employees and attract customers

Gaming organizations are weighed down by high turnover, non-stop customer demand, and multiple staff shifts. Kronos for Gaming enables casinos to streamline and simplify the hiring practice while dramatically improving the selection process. Additionally, Kronos' suite helps managers combat scheduling challenges by enabling them to anticipate and schedule appropriately for varying customer demand.

Kronos for Gaming also empowers casinos to maintain high levels of employee satisfaction. The solution is able to balance employee availability and preferences in the scheduling process, leading to reduced absences and turnover, and increased retention. Employees are also given control over their schedules and time off through employee self-service.

"Kronos for Gaming has allowed us to automate the entire process of managing complex shift patterns, monitoring attendance, and generating wages accurately for our round-the-clock gaming operations," said Robin Ward, manager, London Clubs International (LCI). "As a result, our wage queries have been greatly reduced, and we have been able to focus our time on helping generate cash on the gaming floor." LCI has casinos in Egypt, London, and South Africa. The Group operates wholly owned casinos in the United Kingdom, and joint ventures and management contracts overseas.

Capture accurate time and labor data

Casinos need to accurately track and calculate employee time to reduce payroll error and overall labor costs. With the use of Kronos' biometric data collection terminals, gaming organizations are able to enforce schedules at the time of the punch, which prohibits employees from working outside of their scheduled hours. The terminals also eliminate "buddy punching", or employees inappropriately entering time and labor data for each other.

"A key strategy for our organization is to utilize technologies that emphasize customer service and maximize financial returns," said Michael C. Cooke, vice president, technology services group, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation. "By helping automate time and labor data collection, Kronos is enabling us to effectively control our largest expense — the workforce — while ensuring that we are delivering the service levels our customers want." Great Canadian Gaming Corporation is a gaming and entertainment operator with 17 facilities in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Washington State.

Manage absences and take control of associated costs

Kronos for Gaming's absence management software gives casinos the complete visibility into absence trends and patterns, and helps managers make better decisions regarding policy enforcement, workforce deployment, and overall performance.

Improve compliance

One of the special requirements of the gaming industry is employee satisfaction through improved compliance with labor law regulations and IRS requirements such as the Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (GITCA). Kronos for Gaming supports tip declaration and compliance and toke pool entry, distribution, and processing to help casinos meet GITCA regulations by supporting the allocation and distribution of tips and tokes.

Kronos made this announcement from the annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E 2007) being held in Las Vegas from Nov. 13-15. Kronos is exhibiting in booth #2440.