Walt Disney Performance Management Practice

Walt Disney Performance Management Practice

The Walt Disney World Resort, is a multi-billion-dollar corporation and is the world’s largest and most visited recreational resort, near Orlando, Florida, USA. Millions of people every year take their vacations at the resort. The resort was founded, with the opening of the “Magic Kingdom” theme park in 1971.The world-famous resort was inspired by the dreams of Walt Disney and his creation of Disneyland in California. The secret to its success is it’s motivated, friendly and well-trained staff. The founder, Walt Disney believed that the only way to become successful was to have a great team and said that “You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”

Disney is renowned for being a fun and friendly place at which to work. It has the ability to offer attractive incentives make it a desirable place to work and it is constantly evaluating to ensure their wages remain competitive. All Disney employees participate in training programs that update them on the latest service techniques and technology being used in the parks. Disney recruit both internally and externally, advertising vacancies on their website, via the press, job fairs, employment exchanges and colleges. There is a large quantity of college students working in Disney. The major employment strategies of Disney include are Hiring the right people, develop people to deliver service quality, provide needed support systems and retain the best people. Disney believes in investing in its staff and provide various training programs and learning opportunities for employees to work their way into higher positions. Managers begin in an ordinary entry-level hourly job. There is a program to help hourly workers who want to become part of management, there is another that allows them to transfer, as apprentices, to the technical unions like plumbers or electricians.

                                        Disney also grant educational reimbursement to employees still at college. Management tries to create a family-like atmosphere in Disney by offering flexible schedules and on-site day care programs for employees with children. The company also host numerous special events for its employees that are held in the theme park after hours. Present day human resources practices at Disney are considered to be extraordinary, with all staff being trained in excellent customer satisfaction policies. A lot of time has been devoted to designing successful employee ‘universities’ that train workers in the Disneyland philosophy. Walt Disney established the Disney University to teach these unique skills. The University provides cast members with free world-class training in diverse skills including computer applications, professional development, management/leaderships development, health & safety, interviewing, business and many more. Management use performance appraisals and performance surveys, to measure internal service quality. The annual performance appraisal is designed to give the employee a broad perspective of his/her accomplishment from the previous year and to identify upcoming challenges. Another strategy employed by managers to deliver service quality, are monthly development action plans.

Disney certainly know the true value of retaining productive employees. The turnover is made possible by the extensive employee’s reward programs, and by the policy it has of treating its employees like guests.

There are more than 50 different reward and recognition programs at Disney, that are used to maintain high employee morale and commitment. The most prestigious award is the “Partners in Excellence” program. This award involves any employee nominating another employee (who must have excellent attendance and no disciplinary action record) and all nominated employees are invited to a special dinner ceremony, where they are individually congratulated by company executives, for their outstanding accomplishments. Disney also use service pins, attendance awards, and Recognition-O-Grams (ROGs) to rewards committed employees. Recipients usually wear the service pins on their uniforms, which they receive on their anniversaries. Attendance awards are also offered to employees.

Reasons for the company’s success include emphasis on customer service, and a focus on the elements of efficiency, courtesy, show, and safety. It has shown how employee strategies at Disney lead to the attainment of exceptional service quality, and large volumes of guests repeatedly coming back, year after year. Disney takes a lot of care with its casting department and regularly assess its pay packages and new ways of recruiting. It offers a competitive package of wages and incentives to its staff, such as free park admission and discounts on park merchandise.

The Disney philosophy teaches that by allowing employees to take care of customers in a respectful way, the business will take care of itself. It’s important that management stress to workers that employee empowerment and development is an on-going process. The actions of empowered employees have enabled Disney to continually exceed customer expectations and have helped develop lasting relationships with millions of guests worldwide. The human resource department is continuously developing successful empowerment strategies and effective reward and recognition programs to maintain high morale and promote teamwork, and to keep the company soaring, especially through these troubled times.

The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

                                                                                                    Meghana Nutakki