The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 11:34 am
From MiceAge
Culture Change
Although the spin being given to these uniform changes is that they were made to keep Cast Member morale up, this type of peace offering to the hourly CM's is a drop in the bucket. We've reported before that the annual retention rate for hourly CM's in many operational departments has edged over 80% this year, and that is still the case in areas such as Foods, Stores and even the traditionally glamorous world of Attractions. It's probably a good thing that new nametags are arriving in September, because walking the park and seeing nothing but "Class of 2005" or "2006" on every CM you meet doesn't say much for the "Disney Difference" package of benefits the Human Resources department continues to flog to death.
The Casting Center at TDA continues to hire a couple hundred of people a week, only to replace the hundreds that leave each week. Traditionally, the Casting department would have practically shut down by late August as it prepared for a quiet fall season with more CM's than it needed. That's no longer the case, as Disneyland can no longer seem to keep its head above water when it comes to hiring replacement CM's.
That turnover rate that has been increasing for the past decade reached the breaking point this summer, and the retention problem seems to have finally affected the very culture of Disneyland's work environment. Traditionally popular activities like the annual Canoe Races saw a steep decline in participation this year. Where once the final day of the races would find literally hundreds of CM's along the riverbank cheering on the winning teams, this year the final race day could only muster a couple dozen onlookers, many of whom were working for TDA's Cast Activities department that runs the event. Some were wondering if they should even attempt the Canoe Races again next summer.
The highest honor at Disneyland is to be awarded a Sprit of Disneyland Award, a hyped once-a-year process that involves Cast Members nominating their fellow Cast Members who clearly excel at their jobs. The winners are feted at a lavish banquet ceremony, and they get the honor of wearing the award on their nametag for the rest of their career. This year the nomination process was dutifully announced, the ballots and splashy posters were all delivered to the areas... and hardly anyone from the parks or hotels was nominated. After two weeks of balloting the situation was so dire that the Cast Activities group extended the deadline for nominations by a week, and still the ballot boxes sat empty.
When the average tenure of the employees is measured only in weeks or months before they quit or get fired, there isn't much chance to develop a community that would care about traditions like the Canoe Races or the Spirit Awards. In 2006, it's become increasingly obvious that very few hourly Cast Members seem to care, or they simply haven't been there long enough to know what they are supposed to care about. And yet the problems that have caused this sad situation still seem so easy to fix. Certainly Disneyland could pay a bit more, or at least approach the level of In N' Out or Costco. But the dilapidated shuttles in use since 1998 that transport CM's from the employee parking lot without working air conditioning, shocks that wore out a hundred thousand miles ago, and torn seats that literally fall out from underneath you don't set the stage for a successful shift. And once those CM's finally get to property, they inhabit dingy 1970's break rooms with broken-down furniture, or they simply create their own break areas in an alley using milk crates and cardboard boxes.
Even worse are the very tired CM cafeterias built to service the smaller Disneyland workforce of 1965 but that now feature long lines, questionable food and high prices. And all of it is served on paper plates and with plastic utensils, with another long line to pay at the overburdened checkout lanes. Ironically, the main CM cafeteria located behind the Plaza Inn is decorated with big pictures of Walt Disney eating at the Studios cafeteria in the 1950's, with smiling chefs in starched uniforms carving prime rib and offering up a freshly made bounty to the Studio employees served on real plates and with real silverware. (The one exception to the dreary cafeteria rule is the Eat Ticket cafeteria next to TDA, which is designed and staffed to handle a big lunch rush all at once and is clearly kept to a higher standard when it comes to cleanliness and courtesy.) In an era when so many large companies are pouring money into the work environment to make their employees happy, even to the point of subsidizing food service, Disneyland seems to have done just the opposite and the impact on retention and morale couldn't be clearer.
Matt Ouimet acknowledged in a recent salaried town hall meeting that in their zeal to fix up the onstage areas of the park over the past few years that they had "let things get too bad" backstage for the hourly CM's working at Disneyland. Let's hope Ed Grier doesn't insist on a years worth of studies and Human Resources department excuses to determine just how disgusting the Shepherds Pie served in the employee cafeteria really is.
Ed, just get in there and fix this stuff, because the very culture of Disneyland is now being affected. Or, more realistically, go ask permission from Jay Rasulo to let you fix it.
Culture Change
Although the spin being given to these uniform changes is that they were made to keep Cast Member morale up, this type of peace offering to the hourly CM's is a drop in the bucket. We've reported before that the annual retention rate for hourly CM's in many operational departments has edged over 80% this year, and that is still the case in areas such as Foods, Stores and even the traditionally glamorous world of Attractions. It's probably a good thing that new nametags are arriving in September, because walking the park and seeing nothing but "Class of 2005" or "2006" on every CM you meet doesn't say much for the "Disney Difference" package of benefits the Human Resources department continues to flog to death.
The Casting Center at TDA continues to hire a couple hundred of people a week, only to replace the hundreds that leave each week. Traditionally, the Casting department would have practically shut down by late August as it prepared for a quiet fall season with more CM's than it needed. That's no longer the case, as Disneyland can no longer seem to keep its head above water when it comes to hiring replacement CM's.
That turnover rate that has been increasing for the past decade reached the breaking point this summer, and the retention problem seems to have finally affected the very culture of Disneyland's work environment. Traditionally popular activities like the annual Canoe Races saw a steep decline in participation this year. Where once the final day of the races would find literally hundreds of CM's along the riverbank cheering on the winning teams, this year the final race day could only muster a couple dozen onlookers, many of whom were working for TDA's Cast Activities department that runs the event. Some were wondering if they should even attempt the Canoe Races again next summer.
The highest honor at Disneyland is to be awarded a Sprit of Disneyland Award, a hyped once-a-year process that involves Cast Members nominating their fellow Cast Members who clearly excel at their jobs. The winners are feted at a lavish banquet ceremony, and they get the honor of wearing the award on their nametag for the rest of their career. This year the nomination process was dutifully announced, the ballots and splashy posters were all delivered to the areas... and hardly anyone from the parks or hotels was nominated. After two weeks of balloting the situation was so dire that the Cast Activities group extended the deadline for nominations by a week, and still the ballot boxes sat empty.
When the average tenure of the employees is measured only in weeks or months before they quit or get fired, there isn't much chance to develop a community that would care about traditions like the Canoe Races or the Spirit Awards. In 2006, it's become increasingly obvious that very few hourly Cast Members seem to care, or they simply haven't been there long enough to know what they are supposed to care about. And yet the problems that have caused this sad situation still seem so easy to fix. Certainly Disneyland could pay a bit more, or at least approach the level of In N' Out or Costco. But the dilapidated shuttles in use since 1998 that transport CM's from the employee parking lot without working air conditioning, shocks that wore out a hundred thousand miles ago, and torn seats that literally fall out from underneath you don't set the stage for a successful shift. And once those CM's finally get to property, they inhabit dingy 1970's break rooms with broken-down furniture, or they simply create their own break areas in an alley using milk crates and cardboard boxes.
Even worse are the very tired CM cafeterias built to service the smaller Disneyland workforce of 1965 but that now feature long lines, questionable food and high prices. And all of it is served on paper plates and with plastic utensils, with another long line to pay at the overburdened checkout lanes. Ironically, the main CM cafeteria located behind the Plaza Inn is decorated with big pictures of Walt Disney eating at the Studios cafeteria in the 1950's, with smiling chefs in starched uniforms carving prime rib and offering up a freshly made bounty to the Studio employees served on real plates and with real silverware. (The one exception to the dreary cafeteria rule is the Eat Ticket cafeteria next to TDA, which is designed and staffed to handle a big lunch rush all at once and is clearly kept to a higher standard when it comes to cleanliness and courtesy.) In an era when so many large companies are pouring money into the work environment to make their employees happy, even to the point of subsidizing food service, Disneyland seems to have done just the opposite and the impact on retention and morale couldn't be clearer.
Matt Ouimet acknowledged in a recent salaried town hall meeting that in their zeal to fix up the onstage areas of the park over the past few years that they had "let things get too bad" backstage for the hourly CM's working at Disneyland. Let's hope Ed Grier doesn't insist on a years worth of studies and Human Resources department excuses to determine just how disgusting the Shepherds Pie served in the employee cafeteria really is.
Ed, just get in there and fix this stuff, because the very culture of Disneyland is now being affected. Or, more realistically, go ask permission from Jay Rasulo to let you fix it.