Great stories highlight training sessions
VIVIAN Chen is often the first to greet new employees at Shanghai Disney Resort, now under construction in the Pudong New Area. The former learning and development manager with Disney English is now manager of learning and development at Shanghai Disney Resort — a job that puts her in charge of Traditions, the orientation classes for new hires.
Chen’s job is no small challenge. She is on the frontline training hundreds of new employees, called “Cast Members,” about Disney culture and stories and preparing them for the day when they too will be responsible for creating magical memories for the thousands of guests at Disney’s first resort on the Chinese mainland.
“Our class is the first experience employees undergo the day they begin,” Chen says. “We tell them about the Disney heritage, immerse them in our storytelling culture and prepare them for the day when they will serve guests from across China.”
While construction is still ongoing, the resort team is growing quickly and just welcomed its 1,000th locally hired Cast Member last month. This international team now includes global veterans of Disney and talented Chinese professionals and graduates from Shanghai and across China.
Once every week, up to 50 newcomers are invited to begin their Disney journey in a training room decorated with the company’s beloved characters. Two facilitators then introduce the Disney culture, history and traditions with stories, movies and interactive activities delivered in Mandarin.
Senior executives often visit the classes to greet the freshmen and join them for lunch to share their personal stories about working for one of the world’s entertainment giants.
The sessions, Chen says, are an excellent way for Disney employees to get to know one another since they often work on widely separated sites.
Most of the orientation sessions last two days, with “students” receiving a certificate from Chen and the executives on the final day. The trainers have designed various activities, such as teaching every newcomer to draw Mickey Mouse and inviting the class to select the best.
The second-day program has more local elements. Trainers show a video on the future Shanghai Disney Resort with a virtual tour of the various attractions and key features.
Chen’s workload looks certain to increase in line with the development of the resort. Thousands of new employees will be hired.
“I will have to recruit more trainers to face the coming challenge,” Chen says.
She has already started a program to recruit part-time volunteers from various departments to become trainers. She currently has 20, drawn from designers, engineers and project coordinators. Each of the trainers receives a 2-month course before beginning an 18-month stint.
Holly Hodges is one of them. She is a mechanical engineer for amusement rides who first worked for Walt Disney Imagineering in California. She was transferred to the Shanghai team in late 2013 and has volunteered to do part-time training, in addition to her regular work.
Both of Hodges’ parents and all her brothers work for Disney, so she feels perfectly suited to share her passion and experience as she teaches the company’s culture and stories to her colleagues in Shanghai. She has also previously served as a trainer for newcomers during her work with Disney in the United States.
“Chinese trainees are more enthusiastic, especially toward the Marvel heroes, but I get to share solid background information on Disney culture and history too,” Hodges says. Her training partner David Liu, a local postgraduate and interpreter for Shanghai Disney, has also signed up to do training classes.
“Our supervisor and team members fully support our training roles and share out our regular workloads when we are conducting classes,” Liu says. He and Hodges use weekend free time to prepare for the sessions.
Chen says she recruits trainers who know how to tell a good story because that’s the essence of their task in orientation sessions.
When interviewed by Chen, Hodges told the story of founder Walt Disney bursting into tears when he saw opening-day visitors walking in the first Disneyland in California, which he had designed with his daughter in mind. Hodges says she felt a similar anticipation about the opening of Shanghai Disney.
Liu told Chen the story of a trip to Paris Disneyland and how he tricked his mother into taking one of the scariest rides. In the end, she loved it, he says.
Chen has her own stories. She is the mother of 7-year-old twins, whom she has taken to Hong Kong Disneyland several times. “I try to be most efficient at work so I can have more time with my kids,” she says.
“I’m thankful to the trainers from various departments and the support I receive from their leaders who help me deliver our training programs,” Chen says.
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