Week 6

This week during one of my shifts I was pulled off the turnstiles to take part in a Feedback and Action Planning meeting. It was myself and five other cast members who also work turnstiles and three managers. The whole meeting was based off an employee survey that the entire resort took over the summer. The survey was area specific so your work location determined what survey you took over the summer. Since I was not with the company during the summer I did not take the survey but I was still invited to the discussion meeting.

The managers went over the results of the survey and they had listed on poster boards the top 10 things Disney does well (according to the cast members) and the top 10 things Disney can improve on (according to the cast members). The managers then left the room and we were instructed to put a check mark by three of results on the list that Disney can improve on that were most important to us. This was done completely anonymous.

The managers then reentered the room and we discussed what had been checked. The managers were taking notes on our ideas and our feelings. I generally felt like Disney was interested in hearing from me, a bottom of the barrel front line cast member who will only be with the company for five months. The managers led with questions and really were interested in hearing what we had to say. They made a point to ask every cast member int he room what they were feeling or thinking. If a cast member wasn't partaking the in the discussion they were asked direct questions. The managers wanted to hear from everyone and wanted to make everyone feel included in the discussion. No one was going to be left out or silenced in the room.

The meeting lasted about two hours and I came away impressed. The whole meeting was set up for the sole reason of hearing back from their cast members and generating ideas that can make the job better. I don't know how many companies the size of Disney do this but I thought it was impressive for such a large company like Disney. I sort of have this picture in my head of large companies making decisions and creating procedures by having the top executives sitting in a room far away from everything. Disney seems to genuinely care and what to know what their front line cast members think and have to say.