Page 225 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

206 The Disney Way

end up caring for the properties as much as they care for their own homes,
picking up trash dropped on the floor, straightening a lampshade as they
pass by, and tidying newspapers left scattered about the lobby. Everyone
from the desk clerk to the banquet manager is trained to react rather than
overlook.
One of Dunn’s managers insists that every item on the breakfast bar—
coffee, juice, rolls, butter—be placed in exactly the same place every day.
Now you might ask what difference it makes if the coffee pot is on the left or
the right. But the manager recognizes that repeat guests, and particularly the
targeted business traveler, will appreciate not having to hunt for the decaffein-
ated coffee or figure out which is the apple juice and which is the orange.
At BellSouth, attention to details means that when an installation and
maintenance crew is at a particular location, members know they should
make the appropriate preventive repairs that will head off future problems
and save another time-consuming, money-devouring visit at a later date. Just
as with the Dunn hotel employees, being proactive is an important ingredi-
ent in balancing quality and costs.

Measuring for Success

Paying attention to detail also means measuring results. This concept seems
almost too rudimentary to mention, but experience has taught us that many
organizations make little or no effort to assess results, either in terms of
operating objectives or in terms of performance standards and customer
satisfaction.
In our Dream Retreats, for example, we frequently ask participants,
“How many of you feel that you would be more successful if you made fewer
mistakes and produced your product more quickly?” Everyone always raises a
hand. But seldom does even one hand stay in the air when we follow up with,
“How many of you are making quality and time measurements for your key
business processes?”
YMCA Camp Kern took the question to heart. YMCA Camp Kern is
located between Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio. This 420-acre facility located
along the Little Miami River outside of historic Lebanon, Ohio, was founded
in 1910. Camp Kern offers year-round programs serving as host to over 30,000
guests a year. Programs include: Summer Camp, Ranch Camp (Equestrian),
Outdoor Education (“Hands-on Learning for Every Season”), Conferences