Disneyland General
Topic: DLR Casting Center - No Longer Hiring?

#	Author	Message
31	Mickeyfan1 Fri 1/9/2009 3:02p	Jim....Stew Leonard's. Wow I had forgotten all about them. I use to have an entire workshop built around the video I have of their store, "It's Show Time". Years ago I was back in Danbury and made it a point to stop by the store. I think I spent the better part of 5 hours there. I introduced myself and told them how I use their company as an example of what can be done and got to meet quite a few family members including Stew Sr. and Jr. and was given the red carpet treatment and tour of the store. Even got to help out a little at the ice cream counter since I use to work at Carnation during my first tour at Disneyland. Also the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle is a great example of teamwork and attitude in the work place. I teach the FISH! Philisophy and a new program titled LeaderFISH! based on their company. When I visited Seattle a year ago, I stopped by to meet the folks at the Fish Market. They were great, and before I left had me behind the counter catching on of the "flying fish" that are so popular there. Life is too short to constantly complain about everything. Leave the problems to upper management. Do what you can to help. Don't sweat the small stuff either. Do everything you can to make your company the very best it can be not only in the product or service you provide, but also in the way you treat your customers. Another interesting book to read is by Fred Lee, "9 1/2 Things You Would Do Differently If Disney Ran Your Hospital." I had the opportunity to hear Fred speak a few months ago. Very insightful and very inspiring. It is a shame however that in some areas Disney does not operate this way anymore. Life is to short. Enjoy it each and every day....even while working.
32	FerretAfros Fri 1/9/2009 4:12p	Not that I really have much to add to the discussion right now, but I'd just like to say that I love the FISH video! We watch it every year, and I think it just keeps getting better.
33	monorailblue Fri 1/9/2009 4:27p	Just to jump in again--and I must apologize that I haven't read all the posts; I'm full-time-at-home-ing 3 kids under 4.5 right now--but I must clarify. I don't work at Disneyland now, and I haven't for some years. I did start 15 years ago. Every change I discussed began while I was there, and many have expanded since I left. It is, of course, true that things change. In hilariously terse recapitulation: I think it is great that they aren't hiring right now. The constant turnover was not good for business (used in its broadest sense). Hopefully, Casting will exercise increased selectivity and this will mean a happier and more effective Cast at the resort. Certainly, many of my Cast Member friends are hoping for that. And, to agree with an earlier post, when unemployment drops again, it is likely that Disney will return swiftly to high levels of turnover. I believe one big reason for this is the seasonal nature of the work--once off season hits, there are thousands of CMs clamoring for hours which are not available--so they add second jobs. Then hours come back, and many find they have to choose between jobs. Disneyland often loses that battle because of the factors I spoke of earlier, coupled with the Cast Member's knowledge that the paucity of hours will come 'round again during the next off season. Just an observation. NOTE: THIS POST WAS NOT MEANT TO CONSTITUTE ANY COMPREHENSIVE EXPLANATION OF ANYTHING OR TO PRESENT ANYTHING AS ABSOLUTE TRUTH IN ANY WAY OR TO REPRESENT THAT I KNOW EVERYTHING AND NO ONE ELSE KNOWS ANYTHING. Thanks.
34	fkurucz Fri 1/9/2009 4:30p	****<<>>Disneyland is now a business, nothing more.<< >>Hang in there....you can still make it a magical place if you just have the right attitude.<< Seems to me these are contradictory sentiments. Aren't they?**** Its Corporate America to a "T". There has never been so much pressure on the "little people" to do so much "heavy lifting", to perform magic, to jump higher, to take "ownership". Yet they are constantly reminded by management that they are talentless rubes, unworthy of a living wage, of a few perks. And while profits soar into the stratosphere management keeps taking things away from its employees. And its not just the "unskilled" crowd who are facing this, as vbdad will be quick to bear witness.
35	Jim in Merced CA Fri 1/9/2009 4:37p	<Just to jump in again--and I must apologize that I haven't read all the posts; I'm full-time-at-home-ing 3 kids under 4.5 right now--but I must clarify.> well, you can't blame upper management for that monorailblue! :)
36	monorailblue Fri 1/9/2009 5:27p	Well, if you consider the management structure in my house, I'm definitely not the upper tier.
37	Mickeymouseclub Fri 1/9/2009 5:39p	Hey, MonorailBlue, if I quote your "NOTE"... must I pay you for creativity rights?
38	monorailblue Fri 1/9/2009 7:43p	I give it to you freely.
39	VanFrance2009 Sat 1/10/2009 12:22a	MonorailBlue - Can we take a moment to step into the wayback machine? I wrote - <<I find it hard to believe that the Cast Member experience is so much worse than it used to be. I think that may be people wishing for "the Good Old Day" without knowing what they were really about.>> Your response to this statement was: <<BEEEEEEP. Wrong answer. Try again.>> Which was then followed by a quick list (not to be considered comprehensive) of changes that supported the following statement <<I can say with absolute certainty that the work environment, perks, etc. are worse than they used to be in many ways.>> I posted my response to each one of those items...which you claim not to have read (if you did, you’d see that 1. where I agreed with you and 2. that I simply disagreed with you on other items and explained why I disagreed with you. I didn’t say that you were wrong...okay...I did say that you were wrong about the BTMRR boots...I’ll give you that...but that’s because you were. In response to my *ahem* "exposé,” you responded with. <<But I *must* point out that my entire premise was to support the statement that the workplace is not what it once was.>> And once again, I have to disagree with you. I whole heartedly agree with you that in 15 years, the Cast Member experience has changed significantly. Any casual observer would agree with that. My statement that you clearly disagreed with (remember, you buzzed me and told me to try again) was that I don’t believe the Cast Member experience is worse than it used to be. Every example that you gave was about trying to prove that the Cast Member experience IS worse that it used to be. Maybe it is just semantics but to me there is a significant difference between something the workplace being worse than it used to be and the workplace is not what it once was. I also acknowledged in my response that you and I were going to disagree on this. You also invited a response from me (remember the Buzzzz, Wrong Answer. Try again). I made no personal attack and your response back can be summed up in one word - “duh.” You can go ahead and say I’m some nut that doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But I think one also needs to take a look at the big picture to truly understand what has been the Cast Member experience. Examining the Cast Member experience from one point of view (being either a single person or a single department) does not make it true for all. VF
40	VanFrance2009 Sat 1/10/2009 12:43a	Jim in Merced CA wrote: <<I will agree that the farther away we get from Walt Disney, and the people who worked with him, the harder it will be to maintain some of that 'family' feeling that seemed to exist in the early days of Disneyland.>> Jim - I think that is only part of it. I think that as time passes, Walt Disney simply does not have a direct connection to Generation Y and the Millennials. You and I grew up watching Walt on his Sunday night show. He was in our living rooms every week. For the Cast Members that were born beginning in 1980, how are they expected to come in the door at Casting with a connection to a man that for them has only been a statue on Main Street? I think the leadership of the Resort has done an admirable job of keeping Walt’s spirit alive by having older Cast Members pass down their experiences (either in person or on video) but there is an entire segment of our population (and it is quickly becoming the LARGEST segment of the population) that has no natural connection to the man. I also think that the family feeling that you refer to has been gone for much longer than one would suspect. I think the strike of 1984 damaged that feeling beyond repair and then the Resort expansion beginning with the purchase of the Wrather Corporation followed by the purchase of the Pan Pacific Hotel and then finally the Resort expansion of DCA, DtD, and the GCH effectively ended any sense of family - because it’s just too big to have that family feel. That family feel is created when it feels like everyone knows each other. You can probably have that with 6k Cast Members. I don’t think it can exist across the Resort with 20k Cast Members. Also, Jim in Merced CA wrote: <<That said -- to write that companies are only in it for money, and they don't care about their employees, and they only 'owe' them an honest wage, and employees shouldn't think they're 'entitled' to anything beyond that -- >> I believe the other items that companies owe their employees (beside the paycheck) is to be treated with respect and dignity. If there are Cast Members out there that feel that they are not be treated with respect, it’s time to get HR involved and have them investigate that particular leader. And finally, Jim in Merced CA wrote: <<Every year, Fortune magazine publishes '100 Best Companies to Work For in America' -- and provides information about why these companies are what they are. http://www.greatplacetowork.co...tusa.htm I see Starbucks on the list quite a few times over the past 10 years. And Stew Leonard's (I remember them from the 'In Search of Excellence' movie). 3M shows up quite a bit. Even Wal-Mart. Men's Wearhouse. Nordstrom. All considered excellent companies to work for. I can't remember the last time any division of The Walt Disney Company made this list. Why is that I wonder?>> Jim - do you know how Fortune determines what companies are included on this list? I could be totally wrong but I believe that companies that want to be on this list have to apply for it. If you don’t apply for it, you won’t be selected. On a related topic, just three years ago Business Week ranked TWDC as the number one company to launch a career at. I know it isn’t the Fortune top 100 to work at but that is a pretty significant achievement. VF

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