Learn the magical qualities behind Disney

In today’s day and age, it is most kids dreams to go visit either Disneyland or Disneyworld, hoping to see and even meet with one of their idols such as Peter Pan, Snow White, or Cinderella. However, that isn’t only their dream. The children from generations before also wanted to see their favorite Disney character in real life at one of the theme parks.

How did one business figure out how to accomplish this feat? How did Disney figure out how to play a key role in children’s hearts out in the West for more than half a century? The answer to that question is partially how well they train their employees at Disney University. In that magnificent place, Disney staff learn everything that they will ever need to in regards to treating their customers like royalty. Keep reading to find out how you can, too.

A company’s values should help the staff stay motivated, hardworking and happy

The staff are the most crucial aspects of any company, especially if you are in an industry that is very customer based. You can’t become successful if your employees aren’t trained well, motivated, and positive. Therefore, make sure that your team is happy by giving them value, not only physical goods. Many businesses end up failing in this case since they can motivate their employees only with a good salary, bonuses, or small extras. They don’t understand that they have to have the same values as the business.

If your staff don’t really think much about your business’s values, they aren’t going to be interested in how the company is doing or their stakeholders for that matter. Their only focus would be the materialistic components.

Disney makes it a priority to stay away from that. They gingerly push the business’s philosophy at Disney University, which is where the cast members are trained. By the end, the members have the same values as the business and thus they are much more invested and connected to it.

You also need to make sure that you keep your staff in good spirits. That is best accomplished when management tries to be as close to them as possible. Management wants to always be in the know if employees are dealing with any situations.

The founder of Disney University, Van France, used to walk around the school to see how the staff were doing. One day during a walk, he realized that there was an issue with the orientation program for recently hired staff. The business and the park itself had grown so much that the trainees were having difficulties with the old orientation program since it had become too little and was no longer relevant.

As a result, France created a new orientation program that was more accommodating to what was needed by both the business and their trainees. Businesses should always be in the know of what is happening at the core as well as constantly figuring out ways to make it the most optimal and fun.

Business is a mixture of science and art

Is creating a successful company a science or an art? It’s actually a mixture of both. The “scientific side” of a company includes things such as its infrastructure and physical products. In Disney’s case, their science deals with building and maintaining both the parks as well as the attractions. A lot of Disney’s success comes from the way their parks are laid out, the quality, cleanliness, as well as the fun rides. However, a nice infrastructure and well-engineered roller coasters can only do so much. The artistic side of the company is what completes them as well as differentiates them.

The staff are the ones that are crucial to the company’s art. It is up to them to make the customer’s experience as special as possible, and that’s exactly what makes Disneyland so unique and famous.

They manage this challenge and keep their artistry a couple of ways.

First of all, their staff learn the interpersonal skills that will be beneficial to them to have good interactions with the customers. Since the kids are are often the most excited about going to Disneyland to see their idols such as Snow White or Donald duck, staff have a lot to live up to. As a result, they need lots of training.

Those who play Disney characters have to get used to the fact that there are always people around them, and so they need to know how to communicate with all of them, regardless of their age.

The performers also need to have many technical skills. Since those who come to Disneyland want to feel as if they are in a fairytale as they’re walking through the park, Disney wants to make sure that their staff look and act as if they’re the movie characters in real life. For example, whoever plays Snow White must know what each of her movements should look. In other terms, she has to become the character.

Strong companies look to the future and the past at the same time

A few names most likely come up when you think of businesses that used to dominate their industry, but then became bankrupt later on. A few examples are Nokia, Kodak, and Blockbuster. How come?

Businesses tend to fall apart when they don’t keep up with changes. They hold on to what first made them successful, but unfortunately, those practices don’t work anymore.

However, a business can also fall apart if it changes too fast as well. If it gets rid of strategies that actually work, and start using new ones that don’t, then businesses may end up killing themselves.

Therefore, how do you figure out the middle ground between changing and remaining the same? Disney, for example, has one foot in the past, and the other in the future.

Disney makes sure that they are up to date with their animation as well as their parks, but there definitely isn’t a business that has so much value in their history.

When Walt Disney died, the company understood that they should still keep him alive in spirit. As a result, they created a new program to keep the Disney tradition alive. Here, recently hired staff would learn about the how the business started and what initially made them amazing.

Neither saving their past and going into the future is more important than the other. However, they are both useless if they don’t get feedback. There’s no way you’ll be successful without that important tool. You need to hear back from the people that you work with.

When a Disney executive had gone to one of their traditional programs, Disney Traditions, he realized that there was a flaw. The new member’s initial questions were about their work schedules, salaries, and how their costumes looked. The program, though, first taught them about the company.

Therefore, that executive altered the order of it. Now, first the staff find out about their personal information and thus they were more focused on learning about the company later on since they viewed themselves as a part of it.

Speak the language of success and adapt yourself to different cultures

The main difference between humans and the rest of life on Earth is language. However, companies don’t take advantage of that. Instead they focus on aspects such as “dynamism”, “energizing”, or “going the extra mile” which aren’t relevant whatsoever.

Additionally, those words aren’t even captivating. If you want to step up your business language, you need to bring it up a notch.

The language of success is a little trick that you can incorporate in your company to make both your customers and staff feel more significant. Here, you use unique language that will differentiate you from the rest of the companies. A little change goes a long way. Disney has their own, unique name for different parts within the business. The staff, for example, are cast members while customers are actually guests. Also, the Disney parks have audiences instead of crowds.

They may seem like foreign terms at first, by they really impact how the staff and customers feel. The unique language of Disney engross them in the magical Disney environment that they are known so well for. They alter these words to better suit the other parts of the business that speak other languages, too. If you want a global successful business, you need to spend some time to ensure that it is relatable to the people of various backgrounds and cultures.

For instance, each Disney park from a different country have their own rules. When Tokyo Disneyland first opened, they applied the same drinking rules as they do in the states which is that alcohol is not permitted anywhere. Japanese people were very grateful for this. In fact they thanked Disney with a number of letters. One of them had stated that if they had sake at the park, her husband would not have joined.

In France, though, they didn’t appreciate not having alcohol. The press had criticized them for being so insensitive to their culture, so now wine is allowed within the park.

A good business never gives up and always strives to keep its employees happy

Having your own business is similar to being in a marriage. It has its good days and bad ones, and days where you just want to give up entirely.

Even Disney, despite being so solid and well structured, has dealt with some issues. For instance, in 1971 Roy Disney, who was the inspiration behind the company, passed away two months prior to the opening of Walt Disney World. His passing was very difficult on the cast members since many of them knew him well. As a result, the staff overall weren’t highly motivated and they had a hard time working and performing with a smile on their face.

When Roy Disney passed away, the managers had emergency meetings in Cinderella’s castle tower. They talked about the problem, got feedback for the team members, as well as came up with some solutions to help motivate and encourage the team. A few solutions included amping up staff training as well as the HR department. After a bit, the business became even stronger than it once was before.

Another reason why having a company is like being in a marriage is that the key to keep them alive is the same: you can’t think of only yourself. On the contrary, you need to think about all you have to give.

In a company, that means that you can’t only care about money and your profits. You also need to make sure that your team is having a good time.

Walt Disney really understood that which is why his motto was “Work hard, play hard”. He was always thinking up of events for his team to have fun at.

Final Summary

The power of a team really defines the character of that business. Since Disney understands that really well, they don’t only provide their staff with a nice salary. They also make them a part of the Disney magic by having the same shared values and making them understand how great the legacy that they are joining is. Disney doesn’t neglect their traditions, but they are also always evolving and looking for new ideas. They also work together when things get tough. Even if your company isn’t as large as Disney’s, don’t let that stop you from using many of their foolproof ideas.

Practical Advice:

Enjoy yourself!

The man who created Disney’s original training process, Van France, once stated, “The business we’re in, if we can’t have fun, how could we expect the public to have fun?” Therefore, help your team have fun! Not only will they feel better, but they’ll also work more efficiently.