By Mike Danielewski 

According to the career building site Glassdoor, feeling underappreciated is one of the top 10 reasons employees will resign from an organization. Communicating to employees that they are a valued part of a company can come in many forms aside from verbal appreciation.

Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore has been named one of Pittsburgh’s top workplaces two years in a row and was also voted best for making employees feel genuinely appreciated. For a business that is always open, managing more than 1,700 employees and making sure they all feel valued is no easy task.

“It’s not always monetary,” said Craig Clark, general manager at Rivers Casino. “It’s a work-life balance.”

Results from a 2015 study done by the Society for Human Resource Management and Globoforce, a leading provider of social recognition solutions, indicates that companies that invest in employee recognition programs are rewarded with higher productivity.

The survey goes on to explain that organizations that spend more than 1 percent of payroll on employee recognition rewards experience better outcomes in both work culture and business results — creating a “more human workplace,” an organization that fosters growth in productivity through engagement in employees’ strengths and capabilities.

At Rivers Casino, Mr. Clark said everyone there “works for their families.”

Employee raffles, rewards for attendance and good work, and even having a trained masseuse offering free massages are a few of the incentives Mr. Clark uses to show how important the employees are to the casino.

The turnover rate in the casino, hospitality and entertainment sector was close to 30 percent in 2014, and offering programs such tuition reimbursement is one way to help employees grow within the company. Casino management also tries to hire from within the community, hosting job fairs and recruiting from local community colleges. Rivers Casino has been able to keep 10 percent more of its employees than the Department of Labor Statistics average for the industry.

Mr. Clark will admit that one of the difficulties in managing the casino is being open 24/​7 — which means employees have to work nights, holidays and weekends. Recognizing the stress that comes with working during the holiday season, the casino offers employees traditional hams and turkeys to take home for their families.

Casino management encourages employee feedback through discussions and team-member surveys. Within the comments of the Top Workplaces survey, one employee noted, “The leadership team stays involved with the team members and shows genuine interest in the engagement of everyone, keeping them informed and listening to their concerns.” 

Original article: http://www.post-gazette.com/topworkplaces2016/2016/08/18/Epmployee-appreciation-pays-off-at-Rivers-Casino-workers/stories/201608210005