Living Learning Earning
Register for and watch HOSPITALITY AND EQUITY: Let’s Blow Up the Boundaries for an Equitable Future, the link is here.
Many concepts are presented. Choose three concepts and connect them with what you have experienced during your time working as a CP.
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In the video and conference from Cornell many points and concepts are brought up to further improve the hospitality and tourism industry. Three concepts that I took from this were how important Diversity and Inclusion are, fighting against food waste and treating employees with respect. All three concepts are very important, and I have learned more about all three concepts while working for the Walt Disney Company.
The first concept I took from the lecture was how important Diversity and Inclusion are for a company to operate and in general. Everyone should feel included and feel that they have a voice within the company. It is important to have people of all generations, genders, ages, cultures, and race within a company, so everyone feels like they can be themselves. It is my experience at the Walt Disney Company that diversity and inclusion is very important to them as they want to create a safe space for everyone. We as cast members have 5 values we implement and inclusion in one of them. Inclusion and Diversity are taken very seriously here as they want everyone to feel safe and to be their true selves. I appreciate this very much and admire the company for doing this as many other companies are not accepting who people are.
The second concept I took from the lecture was combating food waste and what we are doing about it. Food waste is a very real issue as lots of the waste unfortunately can end up in the dump while it could be reused or turned into something more sustainable. At Walt Disney World we take food waste very seriously. We have specific bins for food waste only and all across the property the food waste from each location is then turned into special fuel for our vehicles. This is a great way to turn the waste into something that can help a different part of the company and to reduce the amount of food in the landfill.
The third concept I took from the lecture is to treat your employees with respect. Your employees can help the guests to the best of their ability if they do you feel appreciated and seen. If your employees feel like you have their backs, they will be more open, honest, and loyal to you and trust you to make decisions that will better them and the company. Also, if you are not treating your employees well, you will have high employee turnover and it will badly affect the company. Disney truly looks after their employees by offering benefits and perks that other companies do not. They also regularly check in with you to make sure you are okay and taking care of yourself.
Hospitality and equity have their own advantages and disadvantages that are closely related to the world around us. As a DCP, I can attest to the fact that some companies are committed to both promoting hospitality and preserving the environment. Working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I can assure you that they are dedicated to taking care of their animals and their habitats. For example, we use compostable spoons and cups, as well as food boats, to reduce our impact on the environment. In addition, we don’t offer lids for soda cups as many people tend to be careless with them, which can harm the animals living in the park. Disney wants to ensure that the animals feel safe and at home, since we are just guests in their environment. Disney is known for standing out in terms of recycling, animal conservation, and cleanliness. During a recent speech, there were a few other companies that stood out for their hospitality and tourism. Unfortunately, not everyone around the world respects these small details. Luckily, at Disney, there are security and cast members throughout the park who ensure that guests don’t harm the animals or disrupt the exhibits. Additionally, there are custodians who clean every corner of the park to prevent contamination that could harm the guests or animals. In Animal Kingdom, there are no fireworks to avoid disturbing the animals’ sleeping hours. All of these efforts align with what Aradhana Khowala said, that there is a possibility for everything as the world keeps evolving. We should strive to achieve new goals because nothing is impossible as everything is still modernizing with time.
Disney definitely takes recycling seriously. As you mentioned compostable plate, spoons and cups are used throughout the parks. In my response the refillable mugs and reusable bags are also apart of the sustainability list. In addition, recycling bins are everywhere. Sustainability is a trait of good hospitality in my eyes, caring for the environment and people which is why Disney will always stand out.
I suspect all areas of the property will have lessons to learn from the way that Animal Kingdom ensures a safe environment. Please identify the three concepts that inspired your words.
The first concept explored in the video was diversity and inclusion which is one of Disney’s 5 keys. Disney’s 5 keys are the company’s code of conduct: inclusion, safety, show, efficiency and courtesy. Inclusion is the heart of all the keys as it’s deeply connected to all the other keys. Disney is a place where everyone is welcome no matter your race, sexuality, age or religion. At Disney I’m seen both by the guest and my leaders. As mentioned in Week 9 photo journal, at my location we have teams that are led by the Managers, a survey on guest interactions and check in process are done after our shift that gain points for our team. The points go towards the overall team and us individually. When you have the most points for your team and it also exceeds the point of each individual person on the other teams you win MVP of the week. I won MVP for that week and won lunch with a Manager of my choice. This shows inclusion and recognition.
The second concept was sustainability. Disney practices sustainability by placing recycling bins all over their properties. Walt Disney World reusable bags are also available for purchase at checkout at the merchandise store cutting down the use of plastic bags. Refillable mugs are popular at the resorts to promote sustainability. There are refillable stations at my resort in every other building to use those refillable mugs and eliminate plastic bottles.
The final concept is respect. Ms. Khowala mentioned that leaders should have respect for employees and not be mean because of their power. All the leaders and supervisors at my location is respectful to the cast members. I was actually speaking with another CP the other day that I don’t think I could’ve worked with my leaders if they weren’t respectful.
I like how your leaders recognize, and make it public, guest service. This is the core of what Disney does so it is good evaluate how you are doing every day.
One concept is that within the job, food waste is not a stranger to us. One way or another the products will get thrown in the garbage despite them still being edible, I have been into a similar case where my fellow cast member working in the churro cart stocked up the a lot of the cheese sauce in the warmer but ended up having to throw away all of them at the end of the night because they are not allowed to be reheated for safety reasons. There are also several occasions where we had a situation of calling the cooker to make another batch of pretzels and churros an hour before closing and having to throw away the rest that didn’t get sold. Recently in the West Side Foods, there is a new implementation of the straws being out of reach for guests and can only be given away when they request for it.
The second concept is about how the leaders can treat their employees like a vending machine, where their staff only exists to sell the products. But for Disney, this is not the case. We can get to be a part of the magic by creating magical moments by giving away free food to the guests within reason of not exceeding the limit. The leaders and coordinators that I have on my home location have been welcoming and courteous They are always there for us whenever we need them. There even was this time where I was working side by side with one of them in Aloha Isle because I was working the register and the filler role alone but when they saw me, they offered to help. It is also worth mentioning that they even set up a whole meeting for the CPs when the middle of the program hits, creating an ice breaker meeting and giving assurance letting us know that if we need any sort of help, we can always go to them. There are times when I am scheduled to be a hard closer of the stands and the leaders that walks and inspects the closing allows us to have some of the left over foods that didn’t get sold before it gets in the food waste.
You mentioned a lot of food waste but not how to avoid it. What would you do differently than was was mentioned?
Disney is good at employee (cast) relations.
When it comes to hospitality we have to be careful with everything. If we are not careful that one life we have is in our hand. But also there many steps that come with it as well. Having to understand and trying to be understanding with people that are helping us. If we want something done it starts with you, and it pass along with other people.
Knowing how things work in big companies, it make it easy but hard. I mean is that the food in the end if the day we don’t save it. I have seen it firsthand and it’s not pretty to look at, and it’s a crazy amount it. I’m being hospitality. It’s a very serious thing and everything is taken seriously. It’s a good thing because I want to make sure everything is safe for the customer and good quality for them.
I have picked up at various locations and was able to get an understanding of different leadership styles. There was a location where I was at where the Leaders were different. Their cast members were like vending machines and the leaders were trying to force a result their cast member was not able to perform. Leaders are supposed to lead by example and from what I can see their way of leading was not helping the cast members perform at their best. At my location whenever it gets busy our Leaders/Coordinators jump in and help the stations which are struggling. I have Leaders coming into stations and asking if we are okay. I had a Leader help me restock because I was alone at a station and could not step away. Learning how to work under different leadership took time to get used to and I noticed how they lead depending on the location.
Working in Food and Beverage we spoil a lot of food. However, the food which gets spoiled gets composted which is recycled into the soil. During orientation, they shared Disney’s goal to have zero emissions and be able to dispose of food waste properly. Anytime I spoil food I know it is going to a better place. Disney is a big company, so I was surprised as to how organized their system was. There are recycling bins in the kitchen as well as outside which include a bin for hard plastic and has signs labeling what counts as hard plastic.
Persevering the environment is a crucial part. We have Oasis which is disposed in a specific drain. We have labels to make sure we’re getting the right product into the spray bottle. There is another solution which is next to Oasis and we have to make sure we are using the right one. Whenever we dispose of a liquid we make sure to ask our Coordinators were dumping it in the right location. We keep our resort clean by removing any stickers left by guests. There are still some stickers left by guests which have been there for so long their difficult to remove.
The vending machine annalogy is profound. I will think about this in my own leadership role.