Miami Valley Gaming Case Study
How Upshift Solved Miami Valley Gaming's On-Demand Labor Challenges
About the Company
Miami Valley Gaming, a joint venture of Delaware North with Churchill Downs Inc., opened in December 2013. The $175 million project was developed on a 120-acre site in Warren County just off Interstate 75, midway between Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.
Miami Valley Gaming features a 186,000-square-foot gaming facility with 1,600 video gaming machines, a modern simulcast center with races from around the country, and a 5/8-mile harness racetrack with an indoor grandstand that accommodates more than 1,000 racing fans and can double as an event center. Miami Valley Gaming features four restaurants plus a center bar with live entertainment.
You can visit their website here: https://miamivalleygaming.com/
The Challenge
Miami Valley Gaming is one of the busiest gaming centers in the Midwest and hence is continuously in need of additional staff. At the beginning of 2017, the company decided to offer buffet promotions to drive more traffic to the racino. This put the HR department in a bind as they had to quickly scale up their hospitality staff while keeping in mind that the promotions may end at some point in the near future.
The staffing challenge was further compounded by the fact that those who work at Miami Valley Gaming must undergo a background check administered by the Ohio Lottery Commission and receive a Non-Gaming License.
Enter Upshift
As the buffet promotions began to ramp up, Christina Thiemann, the HR manager, found that staffing was becoming a daily struggle and decided to give Upshift a shot. Initially, Upshifters worked in a handful of buffet host and busser positions but soon Upshift’s role grew as new roles were added every week. Upshift currently fills several different positions for MVG, which has helped the buffet and other departments run smoother than ever before and has become MVG’s exclusive hourly staffing provider.
Results
With Upshift’s help, Miami Valley Gaming was able to continue and even expand its culinary promotions. Miami Valley Gaming uses Upshift for several positions, including banquet server, housekeeping, and back of the house help.
Upshift has also made hiring much easier for the HR team at Miami Valley Gaming because they can see if workers are a good fit before hiring them. Upshift allows workers to work a few shifts to prove themselves after which Miami Valley Gaming can choose to bring them on as permanent staff members- as they already have for several positions!
“Staffing for food and beverage positions is an on-going challenge for us. We tried using traditional temporary agencies to help fill in gaps. The problem with these agencies is that they are experiencing the same labor shortage that we are. If they were even able to find temp workers to send us, the chance of them actually showing up was unlikely. We have experienced better results with Upshift. The worker actually gets to select employers and the shifts that they want; then the employer gets to pick the Upshifter that best fits the need – increasing your odds of a successful outcome drastically!”
Christina Thiemann
- HR Manager
Christina ThiemannLearn More About Upshift
Simplify your staffing through Upshift. Click below to schedule a time to speak with a member of our team or learn more about Upshift.
Learn More About Upshift
Simplify your staffing through Upshift. Click below to schedule a time to speak with a member of our team or learn more about Upshift.
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