Sands China Ltd. has been enhancing its Responsible Gaming efforts by further reaching out to the local community and making it a better place to live. Moreover, a dedicated team was established as a concrete step to promote responsible gaming to a wider audience.
Leading several initiatives including Sands Cares and Project Protect, Sands China promotes a healthy quality of life and fosters a positive environment.
Sands China has a three level approach in responsible gaming training, designed to broaden and deepen team members’ knowledge and attainment on this topic.
The first level covers all team members in the company. Sands China was a pioneer in including training in responsible gaming in its company-wide team member orientation program. The company established its comprehensive responsible gaming program in 2007 with the goals of contributing to the development of the Macao community, taking its corporate social responsibility seriously by fostering an environment and culture of responsible gaming in Macao.
The second level of responsible gaming training aims to further enhance and broaden team members’ knowledge. Monthly workshops with different topics are designed for manager-grade team members. These workshops are open for enrollment and are taught both by internal instructors and external responsible gaming experts.
The Responsible Gaming Workshop held in May 2019 – Financial Ability 2.0: Financial Management was led by Hong Kong Certified Financial Planner May Wong and two Certified Financial Social Work Counsellors from Sheng Kung Hui. This workshop attracted 50 team members.
During the workshop, team members learned about financial management concepts including personal financial risk assessment, savings, and investment, and discussed responsible gaming in the context of the financial risks associated with gambling.
The third level of responsible gaming training is an advanced training program taught by world renowned expert Dr. Bo Bernhard. Launched in 2013, the Responsible Gaming Ambassador program is the first of its kind, and is the only one in Macau run in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), supplementing the company-wide training in responsible gaming received by all Sands China’s 28,000-plus team members. The training reflects both cutting-edge research and real-world practice. Most importantly, these programs are taught directly by the experts who deliver international keynotes in the problem gambling field, and not via a train-the-trainer approach
The Responsible Gaming Ambassador program utilises both international and local knowledge with the presence of senior counsellors from the Sheng Kung Hui Gambling Counselling and Family Wellness Centre to enhance team members’ practical responsible gaming knowledge and skills in areas such as crisis management and intervention.
Over the years 530 team members have participated in the training program. Their training collectively comprises over 3,200 hours of instruction.
Many of these Responsible Gaming Ambassadors have then played a vital role in reaching and helping patrons before a problem develops as they are well trained on how to respond and refer.
“I feel really happy and satisfied to have been a part of this program because we could help share this concept and promote awareness to others who may not be able to identify such problems,” said Fairy Wong, pit supervisor of table games department.
“I have seen how the courses we took have been innovative,” she added.
Meanwhile, another ambassador noted that the gaming operator has been strengthening its reach into the wider community.
“I can see that the company is really doing its best to collaborate with the government, academic institutions and the community to continue to raise this awareness and to create a sustainable environment,” said Pierre Lai, pit manager of table games department.
The Ambassadors have not only provided assistance to guests but also further reached out to the community to promote responsible gaming. In May, a group of Sands China’s Responsible Gaming Ambassadors assisted at a two-day virtual reality film experience at a responsible gaming event for students at the University of Saint Joseph. This is the first time a gaming operator promoting responsible gaming in a local higher institute.
Participants in the interactive sessions experienced an immersive 180-degree virtual reality movie on gambling disorders, which was followed by a discussion on the feelings it raised and practical advice related to responsible gaming.
The gaming operator’s commitment to raising awareness of responsible gaming has helped the students recognize these problems.
Lee Kwok Hoo, service director of the Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office, said: “Sheng Kung Hui has a long history of collaborating with Sands China, and we were pleased with their support of this event series. Their commitment to responsible gaming awareness is impressive, as was the enthusiasm and understanding brought by the Responsible Gaming Ambassadors who participated in this event.”
Also in July, the gaming operator joined the Gaming Employee Family Day organized by Social Welfare Bureau, where Sands China garnered an overflowing participation rate in terms of team members attending the session.
To keep its team members up to date with the Responsible Gaming program, Sands China published its first Responsible Gaming Newsletter last month. This newsletter is being sent to all team members by email and posted on the integrated resorts’ in-house bulletin boards.
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