How Disney Motivates Its Employees

Motivational Strategies at the Walt Disney Company Since the 1920s, the Walt Disney Company has been providing world-class entertainment for millions of consumers around the world and is now a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise. The company's consistent success is attributable in large part to the human resource policies that the Walt Disney Company has in place that motivate employees to provide consistently high quality customer service.

To determine how this company has achieved this consistent level of success, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and corporate literature concerning the Walt Disney Company and its motivational strategies, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion Motivational strategies that relate to the corporation's success outlined in detail Organizations that are successful at motivating their employees are characterized by a consistent approach that recognizes motivation "works across any and all disciplines where people are involved" (Yeager, 2005, p. 163). Today, the Walt Disney Company (hereinafter alternatively "the company" or "Disney") is famous around the world for its consistently high quality customer service (Dumas, 2008).

This level of customer service is provided by the company's highly motivated employees who are referred to as "Cast Members" (always capitalized) by Disney (Dumas, 2008, p. 80). The company's subsidiaries and affiliates include media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media (Company overview, 2014). Initial theories that relate to the corporation's unique design outlined The company has created the Disney Institute to standardize its approach to employee motivation and customer service (Dumas, 2008).

In this regard, Dumas advises that, "Disney reminds us of the critical role that employees play in the delivery of service excellence. Customers form their first impression in seconds, and since you never get a second chance to create a first impression, that first impression is absolutely critical" (2008, p. 80). According to the Disney Institute, the company succeeds in motivating its employees by providing an organizational culture that ensures everyone is engaged and recognized for their efforts.

For instance, the Disney Institute reports that, "At Disney, we believe that creating a culture of care, one that supports our Cast Members, is the best way to keep Cast Members engaged" (Jones, 2013, para. 2). In fact, a survey of Disney employees found that while many believed that increased compensation would serve as a short-term motivator, the company's organizational culture was far more important over the long-term. As Jones concludes, "Long-term motivational needs are best met through a genuinely supportive culture of care.

We have learned that emotional engagement is a much stronger indicator of discretionary effort" (2013, para. 3). Strengths and weaknesses of the corporation in relationship to motivation based on text references The main strengths of the company with respect to motivation are its commitment to consistently high customer service standards and helping its employees self-actualize. To this end, the Disney Institute has developed the "Traditions 101" training program that highlights what is expected of new employees and goal-setting to demonstrate how they can achieve these expectations.

According to Nelson (1999), "New hires get a view of the company through the eyes of its employees and they get to know exactly what their job is, how to do it, and what's expected of them. In turn, the program reinforces the Disney culture in the trainers" (para. 3). The main weakness of this approach is an organizational culture that brooks little dissent.

Techniques, strategies, and best practices identified to motivational theory Some of the techniques that are used by the company to motivate employees include the use of so-called "Wow!" cards that are given for exemplary customer service and the Spirit of FRED Award (FRED is an acronym for Friendly, Resourceful, Enthusiastic, and Dependable) (Nelson, 1999). The strategies that are used by Disney to motivate its employees are applicable to virtually any type and size of organization: 1.

It all starts with a philosophy -- Create a philosophy and start to live and apply it. 2. Recognition comes in many forms-- A single recognition program is not enough to motivate employees. Combine informal, frequent methods of recognition with more formal long-term methods. 3. Systems must support corporate values. If you say you value your employees, do not support systems, policies, or procedures.