Funworld JULY 2007

Stickin’ Around

by Mike Bederka

How to maintain high employee retention rates at FECs

Despite their different themes, games, and attractions, family entertainment centers share a common enemy: high employee turnover. Often, getting a mere 18 months of service out of a staff member will make managers ecstatic. Many fall well short of that mark, though.

Gordon “Jeep” Osborn calls them “quarter hoppers,” and they’re endemic in the industry, he says. Staff members—namely teenagers—will abruptly leave the FEC, just for the slightest increase somewhere else, explains the regional manager of Craig’s Cruisers. “We struggle with it just like everyone else,” says Michael Brooks, general manager of Boondocks Fun Center in Draper, Utah.

Few FECs can escape the ravages of poor retention. All that time, effort, and money invested in training go to waste when an employee walks out the front door. Plus, it causes a massive headache to hire a replacement. Think of the work that goes into placing the help wanted ad, going through the interview process, and checking the references.

“You have to start over,” says Gregg Borman, senior vice president of operations for the FEC division of Palace Entertainment. “That’s a big challenge.” Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, Palace operates 22 FECs across the country, and Borman says a change in parental philosophy further puts a crunch on facilities. These days, more moms and dads would rather their children focus on schoolwork than land a job that requires them to work nights, thus shrinking the talent pool.

Therefore, members of management have no choice if they want a tightly run FEC, Borman says: “We have to do a better job of keeping them happy and motivated, so they want to stay with us.”

Money Matters
A person’s paycheck is one of the biggest indicators of overall job satisfaction, Osborn says. At Craig’s, which has four Michigan locations, raises generally occur after a short probationary period, just as long as the new hire earns a positive review. This helps to avoid the “quarter hopping.”

“Don’t underpay good help,” Osborn stresses. “Don’t let them leave.”

Craig’s also likes to promote from within and have a clear career ladder: employees, team leaders, supervisors, and finally managers. Having something to strive for—namely, a nicer title and a larger salary—helps to reduce the turnover

rate. Osborn acknowledges, though, that most younger staff members won’t make a career out of the FEC industry: “This is a transition job. This is shopping money.”

Palace also likes to dangle the carrot in front of its staff, Borman says. When students go off to college in the fall, they’re told if they come back to work the following May, they will have a bump in pay. The opportunity definitely gives them something to ponder during final exams. In addition, Palace offers raises in September to encourage people to stay through the summer. A $50 bonus goes to an employee who refers someone else who works past the first few months.

Borman doesn’t exclusively rely on cold, hard cash to encourage staff, though. Gift cards to gas stations and big-box stores such as Target and Wal-Mart are issued to employees who do well. Staff members at Boondocks earn internal currency if they receive positive guest comments, come in a little early to help out, or generally exceed expectations on a particular day. Dubbed “bravo bucks,” the money can be used anywhere in the FEC. “We’re looking for reasons to reward employees,” Brooks says.

Party On
Margaret White adds some camaraderie to her financial incentives. Each August, the owner of Papio Fun Park in Papillion, Nebraska, holds an employee-only party. The highlight is an “Easter egg hunt” where, instead of candy, staffers search for eggs worth anywhere from $.25 to $100 each. “It really is something they talk about all year,” says White, who usually invests about $1,000 in the party.

Management at Craig’s turns the tables with its parties: Managers become the ride attendants for staff. “They like us waiting on them,” says Osborn, with a laugh. Boondocks holds regular get-togethers as well. Employees love the annual Halloween party where everyone comes dressed in costume, and to further lighten the mood, they bring in inflatables for a good old-fashioned sumo-wrestling showdown.

From time to time, Brooks also will take the staff off site to build morale. Trips to the ice skating rink go a long way to help establish friendships between staff members as well as staff for a midnight breakfast if they earned a certain amount of money on a given day. “It doesn’t matter if you worked that day or not—everyone gets invited because we are a team,” she says. “The social bonding that occurs at these breakfasts is phenomenal.”

Every few years, White also will take her staff to IAAPA Attractions Expo. Each person pays for his or her own airfare, but she picks up the hotel and all the registration fees. White gives her staff assignments for the trade floor, such as “check out the climbing wall” or “see what’s new in the driving video games.” They all meet up for dinner and discuss what they saw and how it could be incorporated into Papio. “They come back with a sense of ownership that is great,” she says.

Listen Up
Employee input is extremely valuable, Borman says. When he visits Palace’s venues, he always asks the team members: “How’s it going?” “Do you enjoy working for us?” and “Is there something that we can be doing better?”

“Take into account what they say,” he notes. “If they’re unsatisfied and don’t tell us, we can’t fix it.”

Simple gestures go a long way in keeping staff content. For example, if everyone came together on a particularly busy day, the staff should be told what a good job they did. “If you treat people with respect and fairness,” Osborn says, “you’re going to get that in return.”

It can be easy to jump on staff members if they do something wrong, but management must keep calm and act professionally, Brooks says. “We look at them not just as employees, but as friends.”