Psychologists tell us that among the factors that constitute career satisfaction, quality of life, meaningful tasks, and a challenging environment all rank ahead of compensation.

Having noted that, we believe that feeling fairly compensated for your efforts is better than a glass of warm milk when your head hits the pillow at night.  Comparing compensation of gaming executives to their peers working in hotels might have them giving up their glass of warm milk altogether.

The general manager of a typical gaming property can expect to out earn his counterpart at a hotel by a very significant margin. While there are clear differences in managing a casino versus a hotel, if the two are of similar size, shouldn't the playing field be level?

Based on information in our Hospitality Compensation Exchange (HCE), the general manager of a gaming operation doing between $2 million and $50 million makes nearly 40% more than a general manager in a 250 - 500 room hotel. As the size and revenue of the respective properties increase, the differences become even more dramatic. Since annual bonuses are generally paid as a percentage of base salary, gaming GMs received significantly higher bonuses. On a percentage basis, the two were much closer, with 25% to 30% a typical range.

The variance in general managers compensation was so dramatic that we decided to compare two additional positions, director of sales and marketing and
director of finance. With one exception (mid size gaming properties doing $50 million to $150 million, compared to 500 - 900 room hotels), marketing professionals in gaming have as much or greater earning power as their hotel counterparts.  The variance is particularly clear at larger properties, where the top salaries are nearly double that of hotel marketers.
 

Furthermore, the bonus earnings at these properties can be as much as five times that of their marketing brethren at 900 - room hotels. The gaming industry obviously places much great importance on finance because the gap in pay we found was nearly the size of the Grand Canyon. At properties of every size, finance professionals in gaming are paid much more generously than their hotel counterparts; in the largest properties by more than three times. Bonuses in finance follow the same trend, with executives at larger properties averaging $31,651, or more than seven times the average in hotels.

For many years now, gaming pundits have noted the lack of qualified executives in the casino world. Our advice is, tear this article out and see that it gets posted on the Career Opportunity Board at every major university and business college that offers a hotel curriculum. No doubt, those young, aspiring career seekers are going to be looking for quality of life, challenging environments, and meaningful tasks. But money will speak volumes.

Keith Kefgen is president of HVS Executive Search, a division of HVS International. Stephen Goebel, is vice president of HVS
Executive Search and works with gaming industry clients. HVS Executive Search, the Mineola, NY - based human resources consulting firm, also produces the Hospitality Compensation Exchange Annual Report.