Staff Motivation: Do you teach your employees how to point? Disneyland is a place of magic, but more than anything it’s a place of staff motivation secrets. Behind the impressive facades are warehouses, costume rooms, and no doubt the stationary cupboards and canteens you’d find in any place of work. But employees – or cast members, as they are called – are part of the greatest show on earth, one that’s meticulously directed to achieve the best staff motivation I’ve ever seen. But I have a secret to share. I’ve seen a cast member break the rules, and I didn’t care one bit! Staff motivation starts with the little things Did you know that Disneyland employees are taught how to point on their very first day? It’s a terrifying prospect for staff motivation, with management teams and training facilitators teaching a skill that is somewhat self-explanatory. But cast members don’t feel insulted, or talked down to – they are too busy being surprised by the sheer genius of the notion that

1. Staff Motivation: Do you teach your
employees how to point?
Disneyland is a place of magic, but more than anything it’s a place of staff
motivation secrets. Behind the impressive facades are warehouses, costume
rooms, and no doubt the stationary cupboards and canteens you’d find in any
place of work. But employees – or cast members, as they are called – are part of
the greatest show on earth, one that’s meticulously directed to achieve the best
staff motivation I’ve ever seen.
But I have a secret to share. I’ve seen a cast member break the rules, and I didn’t
care one bit!
Staff motivation starts with the little things
Did you know that Disneyland employees are taught how to point on their very
first day? It’s a terrifying prospect for staff motivation, with management teams
and training facilitators teaching a skill that is somewhat self-explanatory. But cast
members don’t feel insulted, or talked down to – they are too busy being
surprised by the sheer genius of the notion that pointing with two fingers and the
front of your hand makes visitors feel more relaxed.
Every company has its own rules and
guidelines that keep things running
smoothly across every department.
Maybe you have specific channels of
communication, or ways of working
with external customers. But are the
things you teach your employees
insightful, intelligent and inspirational?
For staff motivation to build,
great team communication is essential.
Your employees need clear and direct

2. guidelines on how to do their jobs, but – more importantly – these need to be the
right rules, respected and understood by every member of your team. And you
need to understand when a team member decides to ignore them.
Staff motivation is about your organisational culture
At Disneyland, I saw a cast member point with one finger. He had broken the
rules, ignored the micromanagement. But nobody was insulted, nobody was
outraged – because at the end of the day, it’s not really about pointing. The
important thing is that the team understands the friendly, welcoming
organisational culture that the Disney brand represents.
Team leaders often talk of the balance between micromanagement and employee
freedom, but in practice these things are not opposing ends of a scale. You see,
training and instructing your team on every small detail is fine, as long as you
don’t expect perfection all the time.
It doesn’t matter if your team aren’t pointing properly, because the fact that you
taught them to point plays a vital role in conveying the values of your
organisation. Every small message that you send to an employee helps the team
to remember the bigger picture, the way that you should deal with people, how
best to remain productive.
Teach your team to point and then let them break the rule. Blend instruction with
freedom for unrivalled staff motivation.