(Replay) The employee experience at Disney with Francesca Tempestini – E8

Release date: 7. February 2021

The CX Goalkeeper had a second smart discussion with Francesca Tempestini.

Francesca is speaking about the employee experience at Disney, as she worked there for 5 years.

Are you smiling when you are speaking about your former employer? Francesca Tempestini continuously smiled also during the second discussion about her experience at Disney as a cast member.

Francesca Tempestini is an enthusiastic disseminator of Disney approach.

In the following discussion, she explains the whole employee journey.

It is important to invest in the employees for 2 main reasons:

– Employees will be in touch with customers – “happy and engaged employees creates happy customers”. It’s really about “feeling”. Employees want to be understood and valued

– Employees can service in a proper way each customer. If they feel involved and they are enabled to solve customers’ inquiries, everything is easier.

Therefore, it’s an investment in the company itself.

About motivated employees:

You can smile mechanically or because you feel it (personal implication). If a person really wants to help you, he/she can make the difference compared to a person which executes a pre-defined script.

One key principle at Disney is “Leading by example” – even Walt Disney picked up the trash from the floor. The feeling of “we are here together” is key.

Employee journey

1) Welcome Letter:

– It starts before the first working day: It starts with a letter with the contract. It’s a “Welcome” letter with a lot of details about the job and to make the employee life easier

– They make you feel WELCOME

2) Two days of intensive training about the park itself and cultural references you need to learn

– Respect what other people are doing

– Curiosity is really appreciated

3) Collaboration with other people

– Everyone is there to help you

– No silos mentality, working together is a key success factor

– Engaged employees, happy customers

4) Motivation

– Employees get motivated in different ways: rewards, team building activities, community events

– Gratefulness is one of the Disney value

5) Communication among cast members

– Continuous exchange of information at all levels

– Other cast members are helping you and showing you your tasks by providing feedback (and helping you to improve)

6) Internal mobility

– Internal mobility is supported. You can stay some hours or some days with another division and they show you the jobs

– It’s also an opportunity to show to others what your team is doing

Summarizing

– EX is a pre-requited for great CX

– Employee experience must be planned

– Clear focus on the human being – well treated, safe and empowered employees make the company successful

– Brand loyalty is a reality. Employees are the first fans

Francesca is sharing her GOLD NUGGET – (quote Walt Disney)

You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world but it takes people to make the dream reality Francesca Tempestini on the CX Goalkeeper Podcast
Tweet

Francesca’s contact details:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-tempestini-cx/

Thank you Francesca, it was “magic”.

Transcription:

Gregorio Uglioni 0:03
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome again to this CX talk. I am really very happy to have again Francesca Tempestini with me. I Francesca,

Francesca Tempestini 0:12
Hello Gregorio

Gregorio Uglioni 0:14
Thank you very much Francesca for being here we had really a great feedback from the last CX Tslk. This Disney magic steelier People are asking what you’re doing, and what you did. And therefore I said, if I have the option to have you again, on the show, it’s really great to think you’re here.

Francesca Tempestini 0:34
Of course, I mean, it’s this thing, magic. It’s magic. So that’s why everyone is attracted by but I’m very happy, I’m always happy to talk about Disney. So anytime, just call me I’ll be there.

Gregorio Uglioni 0:46
Thank you very much, Francesca. And we already see that you are laughing because you are speaking about your passion, Disney and what you’re doing. And therefore, let’s really start the discussion. For today. It’s about employee experience. And we have really Francesca that can share our experience with with what she did at Disney, what she learned and Disney. And therefore, we will try to go through the complete employee journey from the wave comb training, culture, communication, and so on. And I am really, really excited to kick off this discussion. But let’s start with with the basics, why it’s important to invest in the employees.

Francesca Tempestini 1:28
Employees are people like clients, so every person relates itself to the environment around with experience and emotions, and what those provokes in them. So that’s the experience management that you know very well. So it is important to invest in your employees, especially for two main reasons. First of all, because they are the employees, the ones that will be in touch in direct contact with, with your clients. So if you have if your employees are not motivated, they’re not happy, they’re not active, that doesn’t mean that they have to be very much paid, it’s not a question of money, it’s a question of feeling, if they’re not happy, and if they don’t have the necessary tools to work. And if they don’t know where to look for them, they’re not they they do what they can offer to the client will be limited will not be 100%. And then then you will have that feeling of not being pay as a client not be taken in charge, just just you won’t be feeling like a person, you will be feeling like a number if you want or the user, not a customer or user. So something which is a little bit more distant. So every person as I said, the client or your manager, everyone, we are people we want to be considered, we want to feel appreciated, evaluate, and we want to be feeling part of something of a mechanism we work better, where we where we are inserted inside something, and that well we know that we are for, for the, for the functioning of the machine. And that’s the first reason the second reason is because every happy employee is is a person that is not going to be calling see every now and then is not going to to be there physically, but not mentally, is a person that it feels involved, it feels as the responsibility of being there. So you will actually see it, you will feel it even over the phone, you will feel it did someone it’s really, really means to be helpful to you or not. So all these these reasons are the reasons why you have to invest in your employees because at the end of the day, it’s an investment that you do on your own company, because employees are happy, they will feel welcome. They will let your clients feel welcome. And client, of course will be happy to come back to you.

Gregorio Uglioni 4:04
Thank you, Francesca. I think we can reuse one one very well known sentence that we are all employees at the end. And we are not robots. And we have also emotions, feelings. And if you’re feeling well supported and helped, then it works every time better. And we can also understand better our customer. Perhaps it’s also important. And I think let’s not really discuss too much about the difference between being a manager and being a leader because everybody know that it’s it’s very well known, but why it’s important to motivate the employees to explain why instead of telling Francesca now you need to do this and that and then come back and we’ll give you the next task.

Francesca Tempestini 4:52
Hum it’s a question of feeling involved into it. It’s a question of not being a robot and if you tell a person to smile I can smile mechanically, you can smile, because he feels it, you can actually give them give a meaning behind that smile. So that’s the difference and an implication personal implication, what makes everything different. So, my experience, I wasn’t this long periods, but I’ve even traveling to the other parks. And since I’m a fan of the, of the environment, I went even to other parks out of this knee, and you can tell whether a smile is mechanical or not whether a person really wants to help you. But even if you consider at your everyday experience at the post office, or at the bank, or wherever, if you have a problem, you might happen, that there’s a person that cannot really do something, but he will do the extra mile to actually help you, or at least direct you to where the right person or the right service. Or you could just have a person I was I’m sorry. I know, I understand. I’m very sorry for you. But I can’t do anything else. And it’s different. And I believe that the the difference between the two is if you really, if there is, it’s the being really there, because you want to not there because you need to do any work in the day, which might be one or the other without any significant difference.

Gregorio Uglioni 6:26
And we see that with with smiling and laughing, what you’re doing that’s very, really genuine laughing and smile. And and we see the passion that you have, I saw an example where it could help to tell people to smile in in a context sensitive eyes so that every employees on the on the desk they have posted with stars because my link, and also if it’s mechanical, it helps but for sure, if it’s really genuine, then it makes a difference and really create the setup the environment, in order to support support customer.

Francesca Tempestini 7:06
When we’re talking about this, it is true as well, that one important feature of this is leading by experience, meaning that I’m sorry, leading by example. It means that whatever job you do at the park, you will always find managers doing the same job sweeping the street, you will find responsible people for that team that will go there and help them or in, especially in times of necessity when you have someone was sick, they will go and fail. Or even the managers that don’t have anything to do with sweeping the streets, but they happen to be strolling in the park just to have a look and how it’s going. And if they if they do see something out of the trash bin, they will pick it up and and throw it away. So this is something that I have been noticing. And that even we have proves we have photographic proves that even what this himself when it was a hand hand used to do that it will go around and pick up the production right away. So and that’s a good example of showing your employees that you’re not telling them to do. You tell them that together you do that?

Gregorio Uglioni 8:15
Sure. And I think this this example is very well known. And it’s something that we can really use. Also the most important people in the company can make something to change the culture and to thrive to culture forward. But let’s talk about you, Francesca because you started at Disney the last time you spoke about ilevel about what happened, why you decided to work at Disney. But let’s discuss really about your employee journey. What happens? And what what was the first touch point or the first touch points that you had with Disney?

Francesca Tempestini 8:50
Well, it’s not just the day in which you arrive is tasked before with the letter that they send you. Yes, of course there is the selection. But that when you receive at home letter saying saying hello, your we were happy to have you beginning from them less than next month. This is your contract. So that letter with the contract, I believe it’s a personal touch point. And it’s not a letter that says okay, come this day, we will tell you then what happens? No, you have everything in there. Everything meaning all the definition related to the contract and everything they have to tell you by by law, but it’s not. So not everyone does it because I happen to be receiving letters from other companies, they will just state the general name of the job that I was going to do without any other notice and they will asking me if I had any questions. Yes, I’ve had so many while in this knee. They even tell you where they’re going to pay the money for your retirement for reason. So it’s very, very detailed. They tell you no they have additional paper in which to tell you where you can open a bank account to whom you have to talk in order to open it, how to get to this knee or to the place in which you’re going to sleep for the first days, by taxi by by bus, and they give you the taxi number. They really, really help you out with anything you’re going to need. And of course, this applies to that that’s a company that receives people all day all year long. And they know that they’re always going to have the same questions. But if we go back and we think about a little in small business, maybe you’re going to work in a town next two years, you don’t even have to open a bank account. So this information would actually be needed. Okay, but you might still need some extra information which might be even, okay, you come into work here, the best place to park would be over there because you have some shadow or if you’re during lunchtime, we don’t have a canteen here, but you can go there. So you almost have to there is the possibility of giving extra informations that means that you you care, and still talking about my touchpoint with them. It was a counter okay, it was the lateral that that would give me the details of my of me on my first day there. But I have a huge welcome written on top of the paper. So you open in you see welcome. And of course you feel welcome. So that as well is an important matter when you when you when you go into another job because you feel that they want you so it’s not that feeling of. So why would you like to walk with us, like if you’re actually making them if they are making your favorite? No, it’s actually happy to have you. So that’s the that’s something that can start let you start with the right foot in any company walk into.

Gregorio Uglioni 12:01
I think what you’re saying is extremely important to have all the steps planned and created, create this experience around the employee to make him feel comfortable to enable him and empower him or her then really to achieve what what Disney wanted to achieve. And also with one one small letter, you can really start creating engagement, instead of sending a letter or wait, we are sending you the contract, please sign it and return it by tomorrow. And this This is this is really, really interesting. But let’s say let’s go Sure, let’s continue on deep diving. What were the next touch points what happened afterwards?

Francesca Tempestini 12:47
Well, we go everyone that comes that goes to Disney in every Disney park around the world, they have two days of training, intense training in which you have the basis of the story of the park and our will Disney and how they get from from 1923 until recent days. So you really happen to know the culture of the company. But they give you a seat they give you even term speaking French they give you even the the important cost cultural referent of the wants you to learn from the one and appreciate and achieve and practice which might go from how you have to dress, how you have to have your hair done or your makeup even they go really into detail and the barrel, the beard and Bevy even the mannerism and how you have to dress the people how you have to answer to the phone. So why those because you you have to respect what a lot of people before you did it in the same company and the values that they want to transmit to customers to the guests. So you have to admit to them. And it is nice that they tell you right away because it’s it’s talking clear, they want you to be helpful. They want you not to say I don’t know, but to look for someone that knows and can help help you or the other person out. So they tell you right away so the right Ratner later during your, your path with them. You cannot just say well, you didn’t know no one told me. There’s no no one told me everywhere and it’s not only the management that has this task of telling new cast members, what they have to do is everyone. Curiosity is something really appreciated there. The fact of maybe posing questions about why this is yellow

Gregorio Uglioni 15:00
That’s a that’s a that’s really nice. And I think it’s it’s important really to understand why staff, why experience are created like that. And and I think we always do that and get information that Disney is really putting quite a lot of importance on continuous training, learning by doing sharing experience, and so on, what’s your experience, also, perhaps with the collaboration with other people at Disney and how did they help you? and so on?

Francesca Tempestini 15:35
Well, I’ve been in Disney for five years, and I have worked in different places for a long period or even for short period, because, as I said, they like curiosity, they like you to go around, and change and division, and even for a couple of days, just to see how it works. So I sort of had these kinds of experiences as well. And what I love is that everyone is there to help you, whether you’re just there for the day, so the shield 100 in a way that you are going to discover what they do and how they do it, and why. So they take pride in actually telling you how it works with them, and why it works so well. Because they are the actors of and the reason why everything goes so well vary, but then even on a daily basis, in any innovation in which I was thinking longer, we will constantly talk during the day, whenever we didn’t have people facing us about what the experiences we were we were having and the people who we just talked to, this helped me not only and how we overcame obstacles during the day or helped clients that had issues that helped us not only seeing an issue from a different point of view, and having ideas or anytime this could happen to us to have already someone experienced that had a solution, but even to see that a certain person if when I was in gastrulation for instance, someone that came Talk Talk to me and a half an hour later he went to see another colleague just to see if he could have this for answers. Since we were talking constantly among us, my colleague knew that this person has already talked to me so he gave exactly the same answer not because you might have necessarily different different answers it just because it is nice to know that you do not work in silos that you work together you coordinate and it is a good feeling to the client as well. Maybe not in this case, but when they see that each other then you know what the other is doing, not the day after right away it’s like if they’re all coming from the same, you have an all big mind and all the information goes so to speak mine and everyone knows well I thought it was very, very interesting and it was part of the myth

Gregorio Uglioni 18:06
and and also there we see also now the engagement and people that are engaging and trying to find solutions. I think everybody everybody is people speak about epi employees epic customer I think the next level is engaged employee epic customer because if you’re engaged and you can make your customer happy, and you did did you you explained us the two great example about the bees and the story and I think quite a lot of people will remember them because they’re these are really simple example that you can really understand touch it understand it, feel it and and it’s it’s key. At the end we are all people we are all employees we are human beings and therefore we want or we desire also to be reward rewarded and to be thanks for what what we are doing and for sure I’m not going to speak about the salary and so on because it’s this order topics and not relevant for this discussion, but I’ll get people valued I’ll get people reward that at Disney,

Francesca Tempestini 19:15
you have so many different reward awards in this day and top quality programs as a person as a team for achievements for even there is one aspect the first program that I happen to know was when I was there was the feedback the clients will give the guests will give to a certain employee. So they will go either to the section of the hotel or to to city hall in the answer Park and they will explain they will explain why a certain person was so important that day for them and what did he or she do to make Him their their day fantastic. and they will leave a note and and then these notes will be collected and they will transmit into a big thank you to the to the concerned person starting from the very first for the for the very day and night or the day after, they will thank everyone that was being quoted by client. But if you handle added up these once you arrive to five to 10 you will purchase you will, you will be invited to participate to a dinner of thanking for all the cast member that we’re doing during the year that were recognized by the client. And I happen to be part of one of those dinners, which was very, really fantastic because well, you you thought you felt the energy of people of the participant that were there and they were just normal cast member that they will just do their job normally happily with engagement. And it because it was a normal way of acting for them. So it was not a duty, but at the same time you will feel the energy that the the company gives you back because they’re grateful they are grateful for for what you do. So and this recharges battery if you want because yes, we can work in the happiest place on our wiki we can be the the happiest person for ourselves. But we always have issues we have private lives, you have things around the go wrong. So it’s not so easy every day to go and smile. So but if you do it because you’re taught to sometimes just as a word instead knowing that you are appreciated for for how you interact with others, being able to leave everything aside and just to concentrate of giving your best and trying to be helpful. That is something that affects you.

Gregorio Uglioni 22:10
Sure, and I always like to speak not about work life balance but life work balance. Because at the end, it’s what you are saying we are all human being and it’s extremely key that we are feeling well we are epi and and we can really then start working because everybody has phases where they have private problems or they are not feeling well. And therefore and therefore it’s really important to take care of the employees not only from our business point of view but also from as a human being point of view

Francesca Tempestini 22:43
maybe I should mention that Disney did something very nice which was more than once per year they will organize parties for cast member that was right before the starting of the of the crazy summer season crazy because we will have extra hours sometimes I will start will stop working at 130 in the morning for instance when I was in operations so so you have this appointments fun and it was really really nice. Though these are important because it creates team building first of all, because I’m even talking about sport competitions, we had a family competition or inside the park so that was very early in the morning like seven o’clock in the morning and you have to go canoeing in the lake and set like the park or a fun run in the park which means that when the park is close, you will run five kilometers inside the parks and outside and or you will have the team building nights out and the barbecues and those are important moments as well because you construct I was talking about feeling part of a mechanism well that’s when you construct this mechanism if you want so you see that you can rely on others on during the work day. But even for fun I mean they are they are you realize that your manager is human that they you’re the person that you really cannot stand and work well he hasn’t that you he can be a funny guy as well. So those moments as well are very important.

Gregorio Uglioni 24:15
No And and I think that’s that’s great. And if we elaborate a bit on this mechanism that really need need to work one extremely important piece it’s also about how the communication works between the castmember with the managers and so on. How did that work at Disney.

Francesca Tempestini 24:35
Well we have continuous exchange of information I was as I was saying and for a final every level you are whenever you go and you change and you go into a new division as I said you are welcomed of course and then you are taken in charge and someone is going to show you in practical what you’re going to do so you already have the general training of two days but then They will give you specific tools for everything you do, they will. And then the end, they will give you feedback of how you’re doing it if it’s fine or not. So they will. Thank you, if you’re doing it right, they will be grateful, if they should, they see that you are really part of the mechanism and famous mechanism. But at the same time, if there is something wrong, they will help you out with it, but not pointing at you, because I told you, you’re not doing this, not at all they will, there is an important moment of communication between management or as an employee, and it’s in this thing was an annual evaluation in which you will analyze your goals and your objectives, which were personal, as an attitude and the quality of your work. And you will see that we will discuss what was going good, what was improving, and what was actually stalling and why. So that you had like homework, but say in here to work on. So it was in a constructive point of view. I did several of those, of course in some been there for five years. And even if sometimes not everything was good, or I was thinking that I was fantastic. And I was not so bad. You never was at least my experience is you when you walked out of that moment, not with angry feelings, and whatever. Because it was really something that was the which purpose was to help you. And if you were open minded to receive it in this way, you will, you will have benefits during the year because you will try to change something, even asking others for feedback through through the person to say hey, do you think should I do this this way? So it’s not just one one day, one month per year? In which use you say yes or no, no, it’s it’s a growing environment. And that helps you as a person as well, because of course, it’s not only something that you apply to the work, but when it comes to your personal attitude, you it’s something that you might use even after. So it is always good for for a person as well.

Gregorio Uglioni 27:21
Sure, and and I fully agree it’s about continuous feedback, and not at the year end this assessment, you did that go to you did this well. And this was not good. Start again. And this can give you if you’re doing it very well now. And perhaps let’s let’s quickly already come to an end, we could speak for hours about about this topic. And I’m sure we will continue the discussion. Also in the last weeks and months. As we speak, we spoke about the role the start the wave coming. We spoke about training, we spoke about our motivate people. And these are really key steps during a career of somebody. And I used the word career and what’s about the development of the employees are their opportunities for internal mobility. So you stick into a role and needs to wait that somebody goes away to get a new role. What’s what’s happened?

Francesca Tempestini 28:32
Well, in this the these are theories, at least you have more than 505 unwritten job’s not I mean, division if you like. So it is, it is impossible to know them all. In any something that you keep learning. Remember last time we talked about the visa that you mentioned. And in that occasion, I learned that we had this phone survive that savage animals division would take care of any animal that were not the famous dogs or mouse’s, but less. So in that one way that they let you know what possibilities you have in the park is to give you the opportunity to go visit to go stay one day or two days or even eight hours, depending on the task with with another division. And there will be someone that they will teach you like if you were entering in there like if you were really going to work, you will do their live and their hours and go through the main task of all of them to see that gives you an idea if you like it, if you might be interested in knowing it or not. And it’s important as well because it gives you it is a possibility for the team to increase their view. Because as I said we had this name, some values that were the same for everyone, but might be applied in different ways. So when someone From another division comes, and he will look at this and say, Why is this yellow? Can we make it blue because I think that he might solve this problem. So that gives you points on reflection, and any help, he helps the person as well for the same thing, because it goes back to his team if he goes with another perception. So in this knee, you have this possibility of changing as I was saying, Before, Curiosity is not seems like something out of something raised scared to be scared off to be because you’re actually putting your nose in someone else’s affair, none at all. Constructive curiosity, it’s actually welcomed and encouraged. When you have an internal communication tools like little magazines like this, for instance, in which, which were released every 15 days. And in any of them, you will find many information regarding the company, but especially focus on a team or a vision, you will have the ambassador so the the spoke people for for the park, that will actually go interview and say with a with a division with a with a person for for a day, and then they will share the stories. That’s a good tool to like, get to know what’s happening in the park.

Gregorio Uglioni 31:23
Thank you very much, Francesca. And I try to summarize what what we discussed. And and then we can we can close the discussion, I think and perhaps our bold statement, but let’s start discussing and then we see what we come and how to close this discussion. First of all, I think the prerequisite for our great customer experience is a great employee experience. What we learned today is an sorry to use statement that everybody’s using a great employee experience doesn’t happen by accident, I think what you are saying what you are explaining is not something that one managers stand up in the morning and said, Now, we define the employee journey like that. But it was created, defined around the needs of the employees to serve the customer, for sure. And to end with a clear focus on the human being. And it’s all the example that you shared also for being with part of the team, get invited to the nurse and so on, it means really taking care of the employees and ensuring that they are feeling well safe, well safe. And then they get also empowered to do what what they need to I think if we speak about the Maslow Pyramid, then you’re really covering everything that you need in order to make an employee successful. And at the end, if employees are successful, then it’s also also the company can be can be successful. Therefore my last question, I know that you left Disney, what happened afterwards? Do you still have contact with your colleagues at Disney?

Francesca Tempestini 33:07
Absolutely, yes. Oh, well, I left now eight hours, eight hours, feels like when nights eight years ago. And I have been back there very, very often this year because of the pandemic and have been only twice, bred before and right after. But yes, I’m in constant contact with them. I am even a fan of course of the brand. So sometimes I happen to call my colleagues that still work there. And I say, so I know that there is this new tea. Oh, I don’t know about because I’m really following it. 24/7. And, yes, I’m in constant I friends there and integral often. Then, as I said, I’m a fan. So I have plenty of books related to all this thing. And I know what’s happening in this new around the world. This is brand loyalty. And this is something I didn’t have before I mean before going to Disney. Yeah, of course. I like Mickey Mouse. But that was it. I wasn’t really aware what who was this world this thing what he did. So if you don’t mind, I would like to finish this. This meeting today with what was sentences related to people which is you can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make that dream reality so well. You always have to add a little bit of magic to, to your to your people.

Gregorio Uglioni 34:40
Sure. And I fully agree and I don’t want to add anything. We see also in your background that you are a Disney fan. And this is this is the key day employees need to be the first fans of your brand. And then you can start really creating magic moments. Thank you very much, Francesca. It was great.

Francesca Tempestini 35:01
I loved it. And if I’m gonna win, you have to talk about Disney. I’m ready.

Gregorio Uglioni 35:06
Thank you very much. Also to you ladies and gentlemen, it was great to have you again. If you like what we discussed, please follow us share this this webcast, I’m more than happy to get also your feedback. And let’s keep in touch over LinkedIn or if you want to want to contact me to any other channels. Thank you very much and have a nice day. Bye bye, Arrivederci e grazie.

Francesca Tempestini 35:29
Grazie

⚽️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The CX Goalkeeper Podcast ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⚽️

👍 Do you like it?

Please tell to 2 friends, colleagues or family members about the CX Goalkeeper Podcast. Only with your support I can continue share amazing discussions!

🎙 CX Goalkeeper what???

you can find it on your preferred podcasting platform:

www.cxgoalkeeper.com/podcast

PLEASE 🙏 don’t forget to

✅ subscribe it

Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3qYr4nh

… if you are an Apple User please rate it & review it!

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3rxRm0aCXGK

Spotify: https://bit.ly/3GhCGXeCXGK

Amazon Podcast: https://bit.ly/3xYYDaECXGK

Stitcher: https://bit.ly/3pws7ISCXGK

📹 as a Webcast you can subscribe it on YouTube