The Walt Disney Company is an international entertainment and media conglomerate with business units in media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products, and interactive media. Disney is renowned for creating a positive customer experience due, in large part, to the passion and motivation of their staff, also known as "cast members," in their theme parks and resorts. Disney attributes its employees' high level of engagement to a unifying mission:
"We create happiness." This simple yet ambitious vision rests on a philosophy that happy employees will lead to happy customers.
Disney has a robust employee reward and recognition program, which can be traced back to the company's founder, Walt Disney. During the early years of the Walt Disney Company, a team of seven people was tasked with increasing revenues at Disneyland to fund its movie ventures. The team came up with innovative ideas such as a "Magic Kingdom Club" and "Grad Nites," which attracted customers outside standard hours and enticed them to spend more time at the park.
Walt Disney was so pleased with the team's performance that he surprised each member with 100 shares of Disney stock, $50,000 in cash, and a Ferrari, all personally delivered by Mickey Mouse.
Today, Disney's recognition and rewards programs aim to create a supportive environment for all staff members. New employees are asked how they would most like to be rewarded, and this is taken into account for each employee. Rewards range from additional time off to movie tickets, and recognition initiatives include the stenciling of employee names on storefront windows in Disney theme parks.
Disney also prides itself in taking employee feedback into consideration in business operations.
For example, when the Hong Kong Disneyland resort first opened, cast members were required to pick up their costumes from attendants before starting their shifts. Thousands of employees started their shifts at the same time, which led to chaos and delays. In response to employee feedback about this, Disney installed self-serve checkout kiosks to facilitate the process. These kiosks have since been adopted at all Disney theme parks and cruise ships, leading to improved efficiency and happier employees.
By listening to its employees, hiring friendly people, rewarding creativity, and recognizing missionaligned behavior, Disney cultivates an engaged, motivated workforce. This, in turn, leads to a high level of customer satisfaction and happiness creation.

Questions

1. Why do you think the Walt Disney Company uses the term “cast members” for its employees?
2. Do you think there is a relationship between employee motivation and customer experience? Why or why not?

3. Can you think of strategic reasons for Disney to ensure a consistently positive customer experience through employee engagement?
4. If you were a manager at Disney, what else might you do to “create happiness” for your employees?
5. Disney firmly believes in rewarding and recognizing its employees. If you were an employee at Disney, what types of rewards/recognition would motivate you the most?

Transcribed Image Text:

Multimedia Extension - Disney Institute, On Learning, Creating a Culture of Care View in the online reader