Working for the Walt Disney World Company can be very frustrating at times. As all hospitality jobs can be. You are constantly working with customers who are unsatisfied, and our jobs can seem a bit repetitive. But one thing I have noticed is that Disney has a lot of employees who have stuck with the company for 15 years and more. So there must be a reason to why they stay.
Although there are some quirks to the Disney cast member appreciation, Disney has a good way of keeping the moral of employees up thus keeping them around for longer. I think this is by the cast member appreciation days that sometimes occur during the seasons. When I first started to work for recreation at WDW I was told of a recreation cast member party at typhoon lagoon. Although I did not attend, I heard that for a few hours typhoon lagoon was shut down for just cast members, the rides were open and there was also free food. I also remember a day that they had housekeeping appreciation and there was a BBQ for those cast members as well. Along with the free admission to the parks, Disney shows there appreciation towards employees very well, better than I have seen from previous jobs. I have even had two coordinators buy the entire recreation staff boxes of pizza on a slow working day.
According the article “Why Do Employees Stay? A Qualitative Exploration of Employee Tenure” there is many factors that affect why employees stay loyal to their companies. Two factors that stood out to me is the financial need to work and friends at work. It explained that friends at work can motivate other friend employees to work harder. When someone sees a friend working hard they are motivated to do the same. With financial needs to work J. T. Self and B. Dewald explained that “They expressed that it was their experience that applicants who did not have a financial need to work, often did not stay because they did not feel any real obligation or real need.” Speaking to other college program students including myself, paying rent and being able to have extra cash are one of our main motivations for coming to work every day.
Yes, financial need is paramount in retaining employees but knowing that Disney does not provide the most competitive salary it must be recognized that other other aspects of the workplace are just as, if not more, important. This understanding is evident in the various programs they offer and the perks provided, like the ones you listed.