Training Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 25)

TRAINING’S MARGERY WEINSTEIN (ABOVE LEFT, CENTER) AND OTHER DISNEY INSTITUTE ATTENDEES SOAKED UP PARK SETTINGS AND PROCESSES. lake Disney enhanced when it moved onto the property in the late 1960s. Reluctantly leaving my sun-drenched patio and the PC included in the room with free Internet access, I donned my learning ears for the three- and-a-half-day course. “NEW DOOR” Most participants come to Disney Institute with a group of employees from their company, but since I was one of the dozen or so taking the course on my own, I sat down at random at a table toward the front of the room that had two people sitting there already. They were from Washington State University. Vicki Pleska, the assistant director of recreation facilities, and John Cory, associate director of the student union, said they were excited about learning at the altar of Mickey. I asked what they thought they’d learn from the whole thing. “All the answers,” Cory joked. Then he reflected more carefully: “How to improve the customer service experience, student staff development, and [gauging] learning outcomes.” While we chatted, the table filled up. Sue Fredericks, president of One Purpose Performance Consulting, joined us along with four of her clients, three from Children’s Hospital Boston, the other from Bethpage Federal Credit Union. The group from Children’s Hospital Boston was there to get pointers for their organization’s initiative, Exceptional Care, Exceptional Service. The learner from Bethpage hoped to improve her company’s overall focus on service quality. As their consultant, Fredericks said she was there to share the experience with them. “We’re all learning together,” she said. That an employee from a credit union sat side by side with staff from a children’s hospital was typical of the diversity of those in the room, who varied from a Santa Monica, CA, police officer to employees from a European financial institution and a management employee of the Buffalo Bills professional football team. Fully assembled, our motley crew came to 57 participants, excluding a few Disney employees and me. Eager to begin our packed schedule, facilitators Austin Brock and Susan Pearsall introduced themselves. Pearsall, who started her professional life in the financial services industry, is the former business manager of the Contemporary Resort. Brock, who began her career as a radio DJ, was previously merchandise manager at Disney’s nightlife hub, Pleasure Island. Though just Brock and Pearsall led our course, along with another facilitator, Alicia Matheson, acting as an operations assistant, there are 30 facilitators on staff w w w. t r a i n i n g m a g . c o m at Disney Institute. On its Website, it describes these instructors as successful trainers who worked their way up the ranks at Disney. Matheson, who left a career as an international business consultant with the United Nations after vacationing at the Contemporary Resort in the early 1990s, said it was Disney’s friendly environment that drew her in. She was so impressed with the upbeat corporate culture, she signed on to become an employee herself. Meet-and-greets dispensed with, we were presented with the words, “New Door.” Our instructors asked us how the letters could be reorganized into an anagram. Only one of us (not me) got it after a minute or two: One Word. It was a mental exercise designed to get our brains moving, but there was also a message in it. “There’s not going to be one word that’s going solve all this,” Brock said of the challenges learners came to the Institute with. While most of us don’t have workplaces that include castles,“I bet every one of you has a princess and a pirate,” she said, as we laughed in recognition of the difficult personalities in our own organizations. Other similarities? Global customers with high expectations and the need to keep up with market changes, engage multiple generations of customers, and make money topped the list participants shouted out to Brock as Pearsall jotted them down on a sheet of paper on an easel. That’s not all us participants had in common with each other and Disney. The pivotal role played by sustaining an engaged, satisfied workforce, or “cast,” as Disney calls its employees, also is crucial. Pearsall and Brock likened the balance between employee, customer needs, and quality service to a stool. One stool leg represents quality employee experience; another is quality customer experience; and the third is quality business experience. They’re inextricably linked, Brock stressed. “If you can keep your cast members happy,” she pointed out, “they’re going to provide great service for your guests.” We then were asked to briefly introduce ourselves to fellow participants we hadn’t met yet. The first one I met was the director for sales strategy and communication for a Toronto-based company that owns retail stores. She said her organization would like to change the sales-oriented focus of its stores to encourage more concentration on customer service. When the course resumed, we shared our top performance goals with Pearsall, who jotted them down, noting a common thread: We all would like to exceed customer expectations. At Disney, this is done through paying attention to every detail of service t r a i n i n g JULY / AUGUST 2008 | 25 http://www.trainingmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Training Magazine - July 2008

Training Magazine - July 2008 Contents Online TOC Editor’s Note Training Today Soapbox How-To World View Managing the Magic Keys to the Kingdom Good Job! Personalities & Performance Hidden Potential The Executive Entrance Live & Online No More Revolving Door Questions for Covey TMI Brochure

Training Magazine - July 2008

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