Time And Attendance System Improves Customer Service

Running a casino and spa is a 24\7 retail operation. Effectively managing the workforce is critical to providing the level of service customers expect. To ensure it had the necessary workforce in place to meet customers’ expectations, The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa implemented an automated time and attendance solution consisting of hardware from Control Module Inc. and software from Cetec. The Borgata features a 124,000-square-foot casino, 11 specialty boutiques, 11 signature restaurants, and a 2,000-plus-room luxury hotel and European spa.

One of The Borgata’s practices is to train employees in multiple jobs. “Our employees are trained to be able to work the front desk one day and work in housekeeping the next,” explains John Forelli, director of administrative and financial systems at The Borgata. This allows the hotel casino to adapt quickly to staffing changes. If an employee misses a day, someone else can be called in to work that particular position. For this system to work, however, management needs to know immediately if someone does not show up for work. The Borgata needed a time and attendance system that tracked employee attendance in real time.

Fortunately, Forelli had experience selecting time and attendance systems for casino resorts. He had researched and selected the hardware and software for a time and attendance solution for two casino resorts he worked at in Connecticut.

Enabling Flexible Staffing
After reviewing the options available, The Borgata chose SAVETIME time and attendance terminals from Control Module Inc. (CMI), the same terminals Forelli had chosen at his previous casinos. “It was important for us that the hardware manufacturer was not married to a specific software solution,” continues Forelli. “Not only does it give us more flexibility, since the hardware and installation are the more expensive part of the solution, but it allows us to maximize our investment by diversifying.”

One of the characteristics Forelli likes about the CMI terminals is that they are modular. “The advantage is if a piece of the terminal breaks, we don’t have to take out the entire clock, we just replace that module,” states Forelli.

For the software portion of the solution, the hotel casino selected the Time and Labor Management module of Cetec’s Workforce Management Solution. This system has a Web portal employees can access, along with e-mail capabilities. If an employee is late or absent, the employee can notify management in real time by e-mail.

The software integrates with The Borgata’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. During the integration, Forelli was able to determine how the employee attendance swipes were entered into the system, where the data files went, and how frequently the files were synchronized with payroll. “After some design work on the front end, we were able to install, configure, and train everyone on the system in six months,” continues Forelli.

The time and attendance solution was rolled out to all employees during the initial deployment. The Borgata is now able to use this new system to track its daily labor costs, manage employee attendance and payroll, and schedule its more than 5,000 employees.