Page 41 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

22 The Disney Way

Last December, the newsletter, Bridges, was introduced to CMA Canada
employees in all provinces and territories across Canada. The first issue
focused mainly on introductions and explained some of the roles and new
initiatives taking place at the national office. As Richard Benn, vice president
of program development explained, “We were very pleased that the newslet-
ter met with such a favorable response. Later this year we will be encouraging
submissions from our provincial partners about the exciting things that are
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happening with them so as to further ‘bridge’ our interconnectivity.”
The CMA Canada intranet was designed and built to provide seamless
access to a host of internal information from CMA Canada’s current Strategic
Plan and its Mission, Vision, and Values to a library of documentation for
all key projects and activities. CMA Canada also instituted a virtual calendar
of events that provides online access to events and projects planned and hap-
penings in and outside of its regional offices. There is also an ongoing effort
to hold regular interdepartmental meetings to help realize common goals.
Results of a staff survey show that these efforts have not been in vain.
Although there is still more work to be done, CMA’s leadership is encour-
aged by the data, and the staff continues to work together toward a culture of
excellence.
Never is employee participation more important than when a company
decides to embark on a program of change. Perhaps customer service is suf-
fering, or employee turnover is reaching unacceptable levels, or the product
offering is tired and stale. Whatever it is that provides the eventual impetus,
one thing will be clear: the old way is no longer working, and a new frame-
work of operation is needed. When that happens, companies invite disaster
if they don’t involve front-line employees in the process. As we have seen so
many times in working with our clients, such involvement is a key part of
communicating with people during times of change.
A Dream Retreat has proved to be an ideal way of helping companies
initiate needed change. Besides involving employees in strategy and facilitat-
ing their understanding of the vision and direction the company is pursuing,
a Dream Retreat environment propels participants into a world of new ideas
that often spark innovative solutions to the problems at hand.
The retreats, which can last anywhere from one to five days, are conducted
away from the company premises. We have found that off-site gatherings
are a great way to break down barriers and begin the planning process for
the kind of change that ultimately revolutionizes a culture. When people are
removed from daily routines and placed in an atmosphere that encourages