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The Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino or just simply the Barona Casino, on the face of it seems like a very nice place to work. There are stories of employees who have been there "since the beginning" when Barona was just a bingo hall. These employees who have made their way to the 'top' with little or no formal management or supervisory training is at the hear of what plagues the Barona experience.
What most employees find out after the fact is that nepotism runs rampant at Barona. Promotions and an overall happy work environment are based on who you know, and not what you can do. There is very little turnover in the Barona management, as such the organization is prone more towards imitation rather than innovation. Promotions, systms, work flows, business processes and almost every facet of the Barona business model is a poorly conceived and even more poorly directed set of mandates by an entrenched management. Not all departments suffer from this poor management style, but ultimately it pervades the entire organization. If the tribe, under whose compact, these managers operate knew the full extent of the nonesense going on in their organzation there would be wholesale firings.
These managers are however protected by the Barona tribe's compact. As such supervisors, managers, assistant managers, director, executive directors, et al are allowed to treat their employees however the feel. Random verbal and written write ups are not uncommon. Suspension and termination of employees who do not tow the company line is also a regular occurence. However, since these managers, and most are not tribal at all, are protected by the compact they are allowed run their departments the way they do.
Working at Barona is akin to working in a cult. There are mandatory ceremonies one must go through for advancement. The "magic" ceremonies being the most obvious. One must learn the language and customs of the organzation. Deviating from Barona's party line can result in termination if one speaks out too loudly.
Benefits overview:
Barona no longer matches 401K at all. When they did, they matched 50% of up to 4% max. It would take 5 years to be fully vested.
PTO is acrued at a dismal pace for the first 4 years of employment. From that PTO all of an employee's sick time, vacation time and holiday time is taken. The one redeeming quality of the PTO system is that one can cash out some of it.
As of 2009, Barona did not award bonuses. When they did it was only 2% around Christmas time
For 2010, the maximum raise an employee can receive is only 3% no matter how well an employee scores
Barona employees do not get any Federal holidays, these are taken out of PTO
Health and dental is available at a premium. Incentives were even offered to employees in 2010 to drop better health plans to relieve Barona of the financial burden of carrying
Barona throughout the year will hold staff rallys and offer employees cash and prizes
My advice to management goes straight to the Barona tribe: Morale in many departments is very low, and it's not because people are not paid enough. The reason is management, not all, but most. These poor managers are costing Barona good people and a lot of money with their wasteful spending and ineffectual leadership. If the tribe conducted an independent, confidential, 3rd party evaluation of every department of Barona, a lot of startling things would be revealed. Wasteful spending. Nepotism. Abuses of power. Low morale. And management staff who have greater skills at dodging responsibility and throwing their subordinates to the wolves than actually getting work done.
The main pro of working at Barona was the people. Most peers are hard working, honest folk with integrity.
