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Employee Empowerment at Disney

Jennifer Woemmel

LEAD 580—Practical Problem Solving for Today’s Organization

May 5, 2013

Dr. Lisa Haddock

Southwestern College Professional Studies

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Abstract

The focus of this paper is to give information about the empowerment that Disney provides to

their employees. The Disney Difference that you will read about in this report is an amazing

training that Disney Provides to their employees. At Disney, employees are called cast members.

Cast Members are taught to be ready in there roll and to do what it takes to keep customers

happy. Be clean, in costume and ready for the day. As Walt Disney himself has stated, “Give the

public everything you can give them,” (Caracci, (2012).

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Employee Empowerment at Disney

Have you ever gone to the happiest place on earth? Disney is that place. I went when I

was eighteen, but I didn’t view it the same as I did going years later with my own children. After

becoming a business owner, and seeing how the employees at Disney responded to the needs of

visitors within the park. I know that there is something different they are doing that we don’t

have in the “real world.”

The Disney Difference

Going to the most magical place on earth is a life changing view of having a job. How

does Disney do it? It has to be employee empowerment. You can’t threaten an employee enough

to treat you as good as the employees at Disney treat their customers. Employees are no longer

called employees, they are cast members, (Oberdorf, 2012). Working at Disney is a job where

your work touches lives, (Disney Careers, 2013). Disney views their employees and cast

members as the most valuable part of the organization, (Disney Careers, 2013).

Disney is known for their imagination, their innovation. They are known for being the

“magical” vacation. Disney provides their employees with many learning opportunities to help

them to reach their goals, (Disney Careers, 2013). Disney is not only a great place to go on

vacation; it is a desired place to work. Children and young adults all around the world would

love to sing or dance in one of Disney’s popular shows. The magic is something that is in each of

us as we grow up watching movies, shows, even seeing the Disney commercials on television.

Disney is something that everyone wants to be a part of; Walt Disney started something great

many years ago.

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Training Opportunities Through Disney

“Our goal is to create the world’s best family entertainment and apply innovative

technologies to raise the level of the consumer experience in a way that differentiates Disney.

We call this value dynamic the Disney Difference,” (Disney.in, 2013). The Disney Difference

even is a part of training that you can go to and obtain the training from the Disney Company

themselves. It is extremely expensive to actually go on-site to obtain this training. Although you

know that it makes a difference, the employees of Disney are proof of that.

“We have always tried to be guided by the basic idea that, in the discovery of knowledge,

there is great entertainment—as, conversely in all good entertainment there is always some grain

of wisdom, humanity or enlightenment to be gained”—Walt Disney, (Disney Institute, 2012).

Businesses who fail to do the simplest things to improve customer satisfaction is a problem.

While at Disney, there are three main points that Disney provides its employees: Be show ready,

Make every customer feel important, Provide communications training, (Caracci, 2012).

To be show ready is keeping Disneyland notable for what you don’t see—wrappers, gum

or spilled popcorn, (Caracci, 2012). Of all of the thousands of people who walk down

Disneyland’s Main Street, yet it remains spotless. Make every customer feel important,

employees are taught to be “assertively friendly,” (Caracci, 2012). While a family was trying to

figure out who will take the photo, a Disney employee offered to take the photo for them, that is

assertively friendly, (Caracci, 2012). And lastly provide communications training. Cast members

are provided with training on effective communications.

The Empowerment Continues

The Disney Difference customer service tip #18 is: “All our dreams can come true, if we

have the courage to pursue them,” (Disney Institute, 2012). “If you can dream it, you can do it.

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Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse,” (Kober, 2007).

“I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in the park (Disneyland). I

want to feel they’re in another world,” (Disney Institute, 2012). These are all statements from

Walt Disney himself. The empowerment of employees and cast members come from Walt

himself. Disney is the experience of a lifetime. How as leaders can we bring that experience to

our staff? How can we allow our staff to understand the important part everyone plays in making

an experience for our customers. Creating that AWE that you obtain when you visit the magical

world of Disney. We have to use the same tactics. We have to empower our employees to make a

difference. The difference is not only a difference on their job, but also a difference in their life.

Conclusion

How good or bad our employees do not only affect us, but they affect them as well. If

they are amazing, they could find themselves getting a different or better job with another

company. Because there charisma or quality service provided could be spotted by another. You

never know when someone else is watching. As leaders, we have to be ok with that. Knowing

that we our building our place of employment up, and that it is the staff in our business that make

that happen. We have to want the best for each and every employee. If an employee is in need of

a change and ready to move, we have to do what we can to help them find their way out into

another job. If they stay, and are miserable, they will only make life miserable for those they

work with. Empowering our staff is the best thing that we can do for them. Encouraging them,

moving them forward.

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References

Caracci, Chris. (2012). Walt Disney Institute. Student & Academic Support Services. Retrieved

on January 6, 2013 from http://gwired.gwu.edu/sss/service/cstips/cstips18/

Disney Careers. (2013). Overview: Where Your Work Touches Lives. Retrieved on May 3, 2013

from http://disneycareers.com/en/working-here/overview/

Disney.In. (2013). Life at Disney. Retrieved on May 3, 2013 from

http://www.disney.in/corporate/strategic_priorities.html

Disney Institute. (2012). Disney’s Approach to Quality Service. Retrieved on 01/06/13 from

http://www.disneyinstitude.com

Oberdorf, Janna. (2012). The Secret Behind the Magic of Disney. Retrieved on May 4, 2013

from

http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/livewire/archived/the_secret_behind_the_

magic_of/

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Appendix A: Training that I taught my staff in January 2013 after visiting the Disney Parks

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Table 1.0

Employee Email Instant

Message

Cell Phone

/ Text

Mess.

Blogs Social

Media Sites

On-line

Videos

Employee A X X X X

Employee B X X

Employee C X X

Employee D X X X

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Employee E X

Employee F X X X

Employee G X X X

Employee H X X

Employee I X X

Employee J X X X X

Employee K X X X X

Table 1.1

Communication Media How Many

Employees

Percentage of

the Business

Email 10 91%

Instant Message 5 45%

Cell Phone / Text Message 11 100%

Blogs 1 10%

Social Media Sites 2 18%

On-line Videos 1 10%

Table 1.2

Group of Individuals Percentage of the Business

Millennials 36%

Generation X 18%

Baby Boomers 45%