In a quick service food and beverage, being assigned to multiple tasks and working long hours is inevitable. According to the article by John T Self and Ben Dewald, these are few of the factors of why quick service food industry faced a big percentage of turnover rate. Fortunately, most of my co workers have been a full time cast members for more than a year. Although sometimes our role can be stressful and frustrating, great leadership and teamwork have a huge impact on the employees’ satisfaction of the job and their decision whether to stay with the company.
This read and react assignment made me realized that I’ve worked at Outdoor food vending at Hollywood Studios for almost three months now. In three months I can say that I’ve answered the same questions every single shift that I’ve worked. It had gotten to the point that I feel like an answering machine for repeating myself every day. As frustrating as it can be, I always keep in mind that guests are just simply misinformed. I would place myself in their shoes and immediately realize that they are just as lost as I was on the first day of my job training. However while repeating myself all the time, I often question why are the guests weren’t provided with important information prior their visit to Walt Disney World? For example, I’ve been asked if we grant discounts for annual pass holders or vacation club members. Although me and my fellow cast members know the answer, I have to constantly remind myself that as a cast member we have to keep the guests inform at all times even if it is not food and beverage related.
Patience is the key. This is one of the most important traits I developed throughout this program. It is important to understand what it is like to be a guest in Disney World because once we changed our costume, we are consider a guest as well. Being a guest myself outside of Hollywood Studios, the last thing I need is unpleasant guest service. I like to make the guests feel comfortable for asking questions with no hesitations. If I ever get frustrated, I would tell myself “it is just as frustrating as a guest getting lost in a huge park.”
Keeping the Magic Alive is so important. What do you leaders do to assist in you developing patience? Do you feel you were trained well enough to really understand what a guest may be asking if they are asking for a place to buy food/drink/souvenirs? What additional information might you be able to provide in addition to answering the exact question asked?
We were given basic information on most frequently asked questions and these information are provided from our core training via online. There were so much information that they can provide us trainees. We developed more knowledge on our products as we progress in our role. Our leaders did a great job working with us and were helping us with adjusting into our role, they are always more than willing to answer any questions we have. They also motivate us by praising our work and encourage good showmanship on “stage”.