Managing Service Quality: An International Journal

Employee morale and its impact on service: what companies do to create a positive service experience
Laurie Jerome Brian H. Kleiner
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Laurie Jerome Brian H. Kleiner, (1995),"Employee morale and its impact on service: what companies do to create a positive
service experience", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 5 Iss 6 pp. 21 - 25
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 Vital to the success of any business today are
Elaborate the relationships established between the
Employee morale and organization, its employees and its customers.
In companies where service is important,
its impact on service: people provide the product. This product is
what companies do to the personal day-to-day contact with cus-
tomers, and these individual service contacts
create a positive determine the success or failure of the prod-
service experience uct.
When service companies put employees
and customers first, a shift occurs in the way
Laurie Jerome they manage and measure success. As compa-
and Brian H. Kleiner nies today become more and more competi-
tive, they must be able to differentiate them-
selves from the competition. Top-level execu-
tives of outstanding service organizations
spend little time setting profit goals or focus-
The authors ing on market share; instead, they understand
Laurie Jerome and Brian H. Kleiner work within the
that, in the new economics of service, front-
Downloaded by New York University At 19:57 14 April 2015 (PT)

Department of Management, the School of Business

line workers and customers need to be the
Administration and Economics at California State University,
centre of management concern.
Fullerton, California, USA.
Successful service managers pay attention
to the factors that drive profitability in this
Abstract
new service paradigm: investment in people,
States that people are vital to the success or failure of
technology that supports front-line workers,
services. Companies are now becoming people-oriented,
revamped recruiting and training practices,
not profit-centred, providing training and technology and
and compensation linked to performance for
investing in people. Examines three amusement parks,
employees at every level[1].
including Disney, and considers several common practices
In a study of excellent entertainment/
and some unique ones. Covers recruitment, orientation,
amusement parks in Southern California –
customer service strategies, employee programmes,
Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Univer-
morale and motivation. Concludes that although compa-
sal Studios – several success factors have been
nies perceive customer service as being vital, most copy
Disney’s models, including those of staff motivation and
identified which they believe contribute to the
employee morale.
service level provided by employees to cus-
tomers. This article considers the common
themes that are practised by all three and
some unique practices that each one has of
their own. Although much of the information
in this article relates to all three companies,
Disneyland far exceeds the other two theme
parks in its practices and its focus on employ-
ee-related activities that encourage and sup-
port strong customer service.

Recruiting and selection of employees

All theme parks believe that creating and
maintaining the environment requires far
more than the physical facility. In fact, more
than anything else, it requires dedicated and
motivated employees who truly enjoy the
business of entertaining and bringing happi-
ness to others. This is they key ingredient that
Managing Service Quality
Volume 5 · Number 6 · 1995 · pp. 21–25 contributes to the service level in any organi-
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0960-4529 zation.
21
 Employee morale and its impact on service
Laurie Jerome and Brian H. Kleiner
All three theme parks operate on a seasonal
basis. They therefore require an ongoing
effort to recruit individuals who are willing to
work during holidays and summer season.
The typical profile of an employee is a college
student who can work these hours around
their school schedules. Each year, Disneyland
hires approximately 4,000 new seasonal
employees. It interviews more than 10,000 to
find the right type of person who can meet its
needs[2]. In 1980 it introduced a peer inter-
view concept (the idea was taken from the
airline industry), usually made up of two or
three applicants and one interviewer. This
technique also allows it to see more candi-
dates in a given day.
All three companies are primarily looking
for the same type of skill – that is, excellent
communication skills. By interviewing two or
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three applicants at a time, a company is able
to measure or evaluate communication skills
through the interaction between the inter-
viewer and the candidates, as well as the
communication that exists between the candi-
dates. All three companies look for friendly,
outgoing people who will return a smile. If a
smile cannot be returned, how will they be
able to initiate one to a customer? This critical
job requirement is one which has a direct
impact on customer service.
During the interview process, the inter-
viewers discuss other job requirements such
as availability, transportation, commitment
and grooming. Disney has the most stringent
of standards, which is probably why it sees
more applicants per year than the other two
organizations.
Orientation
Although park visitors see the people helping
them on and off attractions as service employ-
ees, they are required to be trained and moti-
vated so that they can perform repetitive,
sometimes routine work while keeping a
positive attitude.
All three companies schedule new employ-
ees to participate in an orientation on their
first day. The basic programme content
includes the company history, philosophies
and traditions. Once again, Disney spends
more hours on the programme than the oth-
ers. Knott’s has more history and is able to
capitalize on many traditions which employ-
ees can later share with customers while
working in their respective areas. Universal
22
Managing Service Quality
Volume 5 · Number 6 · 1995 · 21–25
Studios spends the majority of its time con-
ducting “on-the-job” training that prepares
employees for the lengthy “spiels” they are
required to conduct as part of the park enter-
tainment.
For the most part, employees gain an
understanding of the company culture and
how they fit into the larger picture, followed
by more specific technical training related to
their individual job descriptions. All employ-
ees need to understand policies and proce-
dures, as well as the service standards which
keep customers returning year after year. At
Disney, emphasis is placed on the importance
of teamwork and maintaining a sense of
humour to meet the stress and realities of
working with thousands of “guests” each
day[2].
One of the many areas that all theme parks
are concerned with is customer service. It is
during the first day that these companies
share their established standards of service.
All employees are given name tags to wear. It
allows the customers to address the employees
on a personal basis. It has been estimated that
the average customer comes into personal
contact with approximately 75 employees
during any given day and that means that
there are 75 individual opportunities to affect
the customer experience either positively or
negatively. A customer can have 74 wonderful
contacts with employees, but it only takes one
negative experience to ruin the day. Unfortu-
nately, that is the experience they remem-
ber[3].
These companies develop their employees
to be people experts, to anticipate needs, to
know the services available in the park, and to
be able to answer questions. Employees must
have answers to many questions beyond the
scope of their technical job descriptions. If
employees do not know the answer, they need
to know whom to call or where to direct the
guest for an answer.
Customer service strategies
The foundation of customer service is intro-
duced extensively in the orientation pro-
grammes and throughout the on-the-job
training which follows orientation, but it must
continue to be reinforced and measured on an
ongoing basis. Service is a priority with all
excellent companies. It affects everything and
everyone.
 Employee morale and its impact on service
Laurie Jerome and Brian H. Kleiner
Each park has a formal customer com-
plaint department. Every official compliment
or complaint received is logged-in and a
monthly report is completed and distributed
to management. Based on the research done
under the auspices of the White House Office
of Consumer Affairs Technical Assistance
Research Programe (TARP), for every one
customer who stops to complain, there are at
least 12 who did not take the time.
Each of the three theme park organizations
conduct ongoing exit surveys with customers
to measure the service level received, among
other things. Stanford research conducts an
annual survey on theme parks and one of the
factors evaluated is service level. This past
year, Disney ranked second in service (9 on a
scale of 1-10) behind Sea World (10), fol-
lowed by Universal Studios (7). Knott’s Berry
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Farm ranked 4. All theme parks know that
they have strong competition and must keep
service as a major priority to compete in the
growing service industry.
At Disney, even employees who do not
come into contact with customers are trained
in the area of customer service. They believe
that for service and courtesy to really exist, all
employees must be responsible at all levels.
They have developed a full-day “Disney
courtesy” class to emphasize the importance
of management’s role in ensuring that service
exists throughout the organization.
The programme is divided into three dif-
ferent sections which include:
(1) The service industry, the effects of the
competition, the changing values of
today's employees and customers and the
customer demographic profile. This
section also concerns itself with the
effects of the environment. In other
words, how do crowding and tempera-
ture, design, flow, lighting, colour and
music affect the relationship of employees
and customers?
(2) During the second section, participants
are divided into pairs and they participate
in a two-and-a-half hour walk-through
evaluation looking at Disneyland from the
eyes of a customer. Their observations are
recorded so they can be reviewed and
later analysed for developing trends. Part
of the walk-through takes place “back-
stage” to observe the courtesy and service
levels between employees.
(3) The final section of the programme
allows participants to review their
23
Managing Service Quality
Volume 5 · Number 6 · 1995 · 21–25
findings and form additional recommen-
dations, which are then distributed to
senior management.
One of the major findings of this service
commitment was that the Disneyland perfor-
mance appraisal systems did was adequately
explain service as a factor of individual perfor-
mance. So the form and process was updated
to include this. Today, positive service, both
with customers and fellow employees, is one
of the factors in promotion of both salaried
and hourly employees.
Knott’s Berry Farm has a programme
where managers are responsible for recogniz-
ing employees who have provided a positive
service experience to a customer. It is similar
to Ken Blanchard’s theory of “catching” an
employee doing something right. It seems as if
management has a tendency to catch employ-
ees doing something wrong and will immedi-
ately reprimand them for it. Through this
programme, managers are enjoined to spend
more time walking through the park than in
their offices. They can recognize any employ-
ee, it does not have to be someone who works
directly within their area. They are issued
business-size cards that have “Berry special
service” on the front, and room on the back
for the manager to fill in the positive customer
interaction or behaviour that was observed.
The benefit is that employees are recognized
immediately for outstanding service behav-
iours, and will continue to do so knowing that
it was noticed by management. After receiving
three cards, they receive a service pin and, as
they acquire more, other rewards are issued.
Special employee programmes
To be successful, organizations need to have
strong employee programmes. A commitment
to people that is practised throughout an
organization will in turn produce positive
service results. If people enjoy the work en-
vironment, they are more likely to be in the
frame of mind necessary to provide positive
customer service. Through special employee
programmes, companies can maximize the
job and enrich the work environment. All
three of the theme park companies provide
some form of service and perks to employees.
Some of them include:
• photo processing;
• entertainment, arts and sporting tickets;
• video tape sales;
 Employee morale and its impact on service Managing Service Quality
Laurie Jerome and Brian H. Kleiner Volume 5 · Number 6 · 1995 · 21–25

• passes to the theme park for friends and organizations offer service recognition
family members; awards, peer recognition programmes, atten-
• discount on company merchandise; dance awards and milestones for years of
• special previews and parties when a new service.
attraction opens;
• sporting leagues and recreational pro-
Conclusion
grammes.
Customer service is a fundamental element of
Each of these services and perks motivates
any service provider’s success. The excellent
not only employees, but their family members
organizations mentioned in this article believe
as well. This enhances the understanding of
that addressing customers’ problems is given
one’s job, company and products.
top priority. Employees are empowered with
varying degrees of authority to do this. Many
Morale and motivation organizations today are using Disney as a
model for excellence in service, and are even
A lot of literature and books account for the
attending seminars held by Disney which
concept of motivators defined as increasing
share the secrets that link employee satisfac-
the productivity of an organization. However,
tion to customer satisfaction. While many
job satisfaction is not how hard one works, or
organizations have translated the Disney
how well one works, but rather how much one
Downloaded by New York University At 19:57 14 April 2015 (PT)

magic to fit their own business strategy, all of

likes a specific kind of work. In other words,
them have focused on making the employee
job satisfaction refers to one’s feelings about
feel as important as the customer[5].
specific aspects of the job. Job satisfaction is a
The service-profit chain establishes rela-
set of attitudes that people have about work.
tionships between profitability, customer
Although a majority of people are generally
loyalty, and employee satisfaction. The links
satisfied with their jobs, people often have
in the chain are as follows:
varying levels of satisfaction for different
• Profit and growth are stimulated primarily
aspects of their jobs such as pay, working
by customer loyalty.
conditions, benefits, supervision and co-
• Loyalty is a direct result of customer satis-
workers[5].
faction.
A high concern of these entertainment
• Satisfaction is largely influenced by the
organizations is “satisfiers”. They feel the
value of services provided to customers.
more that is offered, the greater satisfaction
• Value is created by satisfied, loyal, and
employees can experience not only in their
productive employees.
work, but also in their personal life, thus
• Employee satisfaction, in turn, results
resulting in a better overall job performance.
primarily from high-quality support ser-
What matters to one employee may not mat-
vices and policies that enable employees to
ter to another. These excellent organizations
deliver results to customers[1, pp. 164-5].
believe that by providing a variety of “satis-
fiers” you can be assured of having something
for everyone. What we have learned
All three of the theme park organizations
After studying, researching, reading about
conduct annual employee surveys to analyse
and talking with the three theme park organi-
employee morale and satisfaction. At Disney,
zations, we have concluded that Disney has
when asked, “What would you work harder
set the standard of excellence in this industry
for?”, the top three responses were:
and really stands alone as the achiever of
(1) increased pay;
highly successful programmes which are
(2) recognition;
supported and practised by upper manage-
(3) additional involvement.
ment. This is probably why much has been
The point here is that all three are motivators; written about this organization and little or
however, by far, pay is much more costly to an nothing on Knott’s Berry Farm or Universal
organization and it only satisfies in the short Studios in the area of service. Disney is the
term. The company’s goal is constantly to model that other organizations (even those
look for a variety of ways to tell employees not in the entertainment industry) follow.
how much they are valued. This appreciation The common themes which all three com-
comes in many forms. For example, all three panies use are most likely those established by
24
 Employee morale and its impact on service
Laurie Jerome and Brian H. Kleiner
Downloaded by New York University At 19:57 14 April 2015 (PT)
Disney and then learned and practised by
Knott’s and Universal. There is nothing that
these companies do that any other service
organization cannot do. It is a matter of com-
mitment from the top as well as involvement
at all levels. Employee success has not been
achieved through any single effort. It is a
combined effort of many individuals. It starts
with hiring the right people for the right job
and then providing them with an orientation
that indoctrinates them to the company cul-
ture that believes in its employees and focuses
on customer service. This is then reinforced
by the company’s policies and practices along
with a management style that recognizes and
involves employees.
Excellent customer service does not hap-
pen by itself. It has to be created. Today, there
are few schools which talk of “service man-
agement”. The product of service in no way
25
Managing Service Quality
Volume 5 · Number 6 · 1995 · 21–25
relates to products which are manufactured. If
customer service is an important issue to an
organization, then people have to be impor-
tant.
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to work”, Harvard Business Review, March-April
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2 Solomon, C.M., “How does Disney do it?”, Personnel
Journal, December 1989, pp. 50-7.
3 Peters, T. and Austin, N., A Passion for Excellence,
Random House, New York, NY, 1985.
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ship: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, Irwin,
Boston, MA, 1993.
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