Feeling like you work for a Mickey Mouse organization?
Larry Lynch would like to be the first to offer his congratulations.
And now he wants to show more companies how they can bring a little Disney into their business plans – not through daffy accounting or goofy annual reports, but by changing the culture of their companies to one of superior service and the understanding that employees are not just another line on the balance sheet.
Lynch is director of the Disney Institute, the professional development and training arm of the Walt Disney World Resort. Facilitators from the institute are coming to Calgary next month to offer a day-long training session on management and service techniques – Disney style.
“It really focuses on people,” says Lynch, describing the importance of integrating a company’s corporate culture into all aspects of its business. “It’s understanding the elements of hiring the right people, providing the kind of training they need to do their job well, and the recognition and care and concern for people. Basically, it’s to reward them in a variety of ways for providing extraordinary service to guests and customers on a regular business.
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| Larry Lynch |
“You’d like to think it’s good business,” he adds. “But you’d be surprised at how many people don’t practice it.”
The Disney Institute, based out of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., charges about $3,000 US per person for corporations to enrol their employees for an all-inclusive three-day training seminar, which includes behind-the-scenes visits to park attractions at the 47-square-mile resort.
But Lynch says there is enough demand from the corporate community to bring the Disney message to companies and smaller businesses across all sectors who can’t make the trip, and so the Disney Key to Excellence program hit the road.
The full-day agenda includes learning how to select and hire “right-fit” employees (the Disney organization calls them “cast members”), creating a supportive work environment, and developing a service philosophy.
“The base concepts really did start with Walt back in the 1950s,” explains Lynch, adding that Disney realized that people and service are an integral part of the theme park experience above and beyond the attractions.
Bonnie Laycock, events and sponsorship director for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce which is hosting the April 9th event, says this is the first time such a Disney program has been available to the business community in Calgary. “We hope that everyone will take away a new, innovative and exciting approach to service and management,” she said.
Lynch says the idea is to get businesses thinking about their hiring and training practices, and how to best recognize the value of employees.
(For more information on the Disney Keys to Excellence program, call 750-0429.) Lisa Dempster Disney teaches companies to improve business culture
Feeling like you work for a Mickey Mouse organization?
Larry Lynch would like to be the first to offer his congratulations.
And now he wants to show more companies how they can bring a little Disney into their business plans – not through daffy accounting or goofy annual reports, but by changing the culture of their companies to one of superior service and the understanding that employees are not just another line on the balance sheet.
Lynch is director of the Disney Institute, the professional development and training arm of the Walt Disney World Resort. Facilitators from the institute are coming to Calgary next month to offer a day-long training session on management and service techniques – Disney style.
“It really focuses on people,” says Lynch, describing the importance of integrating a company’s corporate culture into all aspects of its business. “It’s understanding the elements of hiring the right people, providing the kind of training they need to do their job well, and the recognition and care and concern for people. Basically, it’s to reward them in a variety of ways for providing extraordinary service to guests and customers on a regular business.
“You’d like to think it’s good business,” he adds. “But you’d be surprised at how many people don’t practice it.”
The Disney Institute, based out of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., charges about $3,000 US per person for corporations to enrol their employees for an all-inclusive three-day training seminar, which includes behind-the-scenes visits to park attractions at the 47-square-mile resort.
But Lynch says there is enough demand from the corporate community to bring the Disney message to companies and smaller businesses across all sectors who can’t make the trip, and so the Disney Key to Excellence program hit the road.
The full-day agenda includes learning how to select and hire “right-fit” employees (the Disney organization calls them “cast members”), creating a supportive work environment, and developing a service philosophy.
“The base concepts really did start with Walt back in the 1950s,” explains Lynch, adding that Disney realized that people and service are an integral part of the theme park experience above and beyond the attractions.
Bonnie Laycock, events and sponsorship director for the Calgary Chamber of Commerce which is hosting the April 9th event, says this is the first time such a Disney program has been available to the business community in Calgary. “We hope that everyone will take away a new, innovative and exciting approach to service and management,” she said.
Lynch says the idea is to get businesses thinking about their hiring and training practices, and how to best recognize the value of employees.
(For more information on the Disney Keys to Excellence program, call 750-0429.)
