Disney Institute inspires

[Tue 31/08/2010 04:24:14]

Disney employee of more than 32 years, Bruce Kimbrell, put forth his priceless knowledge while facilitating an all-encompassing presentation on People Management at Anaheim’s Disney Institute.

Since the Disney Institute opened in 1986, millions of attendees representing virtually every sector of business from all corners of the globe have witnessed Disney’s innovative business strategies. People Management is just one of the Disney’s many proven business modules that impart invaluable knowledge to any business looking for the competitive edge.

Hosted by Liberated Business founder Libby Dedman, with the help of Jennie McCauley and Dale from Rochdale travel, the experience was all encompassing with dinners, motivation aplenty and a mind-blowing breakfast at Goofy’s Kitchen all part of the magic that makes up the Disney Difference.

The Disney Institute experience evolved from the understanding that the Disney approach is one that not only receives worldwide acclaim but is a standard that can be incorporated into any business. Disney summarises its key People Management traits into four broad categories of Selection, Training, Communication and Care.

“There are so many things at Disney we are good at. It starts with service but filters onto brand loyalty and many other aspects but I’m going to show you our approach to People Management and how we support our people,” said Kimbrell.

Approximately 22,000 individuals work at Disney, making them the single largest employer in the United States. How do you get so many people to sing the same song and all become the culture of the brand? This was a discovery all guests were privy to throughout the course.

“The greatest piece to this puzzle is the feasible application of these principles to your business. Adapt these principles and practices for what you do and who you are,” said Kimbrell.

While not many people in Australia had heard of the Disney Institute, Libby effortlessly pulled together a group of 22, all from different backgrounds but sharing the common goal to improve their management and the morale of staff within their organisation. As one of the top ten recognised logos on the planet, the extent of the Disney brand can be somewhat underestimated.

The dynamic group was made up of professionals from hairdressing salons, training companies, aged care, beauty salons as well as a group of store managers from Beechworth Bakery and the big name in motivational speaking, Tom O’ Toole also attended showing that regardless of the type of small business, when it comes to People the language is universal.

Bruce Kimbrell has had 17 different careers for Disney in 30 years, from his first job working on the jungle cruise, he is a true advocate for Disney and after more than 15,000 trips to the 'jungle' he moved on to work in marketing and HR before becoming a Disney Institute facilitator.

“It was after 26 years at Disney that I was invited into the Disney Institute to teach other businesses the Disney principles,” Kimbrell said.
Disney refers to staff members not as staff but as ‘cast members’ and feedback in the recruitment process shows that the Disney culture is one of the top ten reasons they want to work for Disney.

“We work hard to protect our company’s heritage and tradition and we hope our story helps to inspire your story while building on your company’s own culture of success,” he said.

The course opened with a group discussion from each guest about what they wanted to get out of the course and the conversations ranged from how to better motivate people to how to make everyone a star

“Your businesses culture will be there already – there is a culture at your home, on the street, in your town and other successful brands like McDonald’s have a culture by design,” Kimbrell said.

The culture at Disney is underscored by the Disney Chain of Excellence where leadership excellence, cast excellence, guest satisfaction, financial results and repeat business all go hand in hand. The goal for Disney is to reveal to Institute guests exactly why they go and what makes them come back.

“We often isolate people with the language that we use. A business needs leaders that are brave, bold and honest,” Kimbrell said.
Kimbrell revealed the Seven shared Disney values of openness, respect, courage, honesty, integrity, divercity and balance that translate to a happy working relationship.

An important truth revealed by Kimbrell showed the honesty that is recognised by the Disney brand. With a clear indication of all the ‘non-negotiables’ involved when working for Disney they usually lose a lot of potential Disney employees before they even reach the application process.

“Whatever it is you are willing to do when nobody else is around is really who you are,” said Kimbrell. Disney culture quality standards were also revealed with courtesy, efficiency, safety and show taking precedent in everything to do with Disney.
 

“At Disney we aim to be transparent in terms of our expectations and what we won’t back down on so you can make an intelligent decision on what you want to do. A lot of people have open positions that have room to move and most of the time we get it right,” Kimbrell said.

The philosophy soon became clear that anyone who works in the Disney business acts as if they own the business. There is pride in ‘ownership’ so Kimbrell explained how to teach people to understand how they own what they do.

“Who lovingly cares for the business day in day out and what is real ownership? It isn’t a pink slip. It’s a deed to property and all the Disney staff carry it,” Kimbrell said.

Even the Disney advertisements for staff act as a filter to avoid people applying that would not accept the Disney brand. “Our ads are designed to only appeal to the people who are open to the magic of Disney. Even down to language we use – we are casting them for a role not hiring for a job.

“A highlight for me apart from the excellent content of the program was to network with progressive, diverse and motivated business people from a range of backgrounds. That added the fun to the development of my leadership style and practice. I can highly recommend a learning environment such as we experienced,” said attendee Viv Allanson from Maroba.

“I believe our conference trip was relevant across all industries, people are people nomatter where they work and they want to be treated like they are your customers. A lot of salons treat their customers really well but they don’t apply the same principles to their staff. The feedback since the trip has been so positive, a lot of people have already said they will re-book,” said organiser Libby Dedman.

“I would really love people to go to our website and register their interest so I can keep them updated and inspired. I plan to do another trip again next year focusing on Service – that will be another invaluable experience,” she said.

Whichever way you look at it the Disney philosophy is certainly one of supreme execution. Whether it is summed up in the word SERVICE alone; or with a smile, eye contact, respect, welcome and ending with a thank you – all guests were left with not only workable solutions for their business but the true magic of Disney.

For more information contact Liberated Business www.liberatedbusiness.com.au