Staff Motivation: Do you teach youremployees how to point?Disneyland is a place of magic, but more than anything it’s a place of staffmotivation secrets. Behind the impressive facades are warehouses, costumerooms, and no doubt the stationary cupboards and canteens you’d find in anyplace of work. But employees – or cast members, as they are called – are part ofthe greatest show on earth, one that’s meticulously directed to achieve the beststaff motivation I’ve ever seen.

But I have a secret to share. I’ve seen a cast member break the rules, and I didn’tcare one bit!

Staff motivation starts with the little things

Did you know that Disneyland employees are taught how to point on their veryfirst day? It’s a terrifying prospect for staff motivation, with management teamsand training facilitators teaching a skill that is somewhat self-explanatory. But castmembers don’t feel insulted, or talked down to – they are too busy beingsurprised by the sheer genius of the notion that pointing with two fingers and thefront of your hand makes visitors feel more relaxed.

Every company has its own rules andguidelines that keep things runningsmoothly across every department.Maybe you have specific channels ofcommunication, or ways of workingwith external customers. But are thethings you teach your employeesinsightful, intelligent and inspirational?

For staff motivation to build,great team communication is essential.Your employees need clear and direct

guidelines on how to do their jobs, but – more importantly – these need to be theright rules, respected and understood by every member of your team. And youneed 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 therules, ignored the micromanagement. But nobody was insulted, nobody wasoutraged – because at the end of the day, it’s not really about pointing. Theimportant thing is that the team understands the friendly, welcomingorganisational culture that the Disney brand represents.

Team leaders often talk of the balance between micromanagement and employeefreedom, 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 youdon’t expect perfection all the time.

It doesn’t matter if your team aren’t pointing properly, because the fact that youtaught them to point plays a vital role in conveying the values of yourorganisation. Every small message that you send to an employee helps the teamto remember the bigger picture, the way that you should deal with people, howbest to remain productive.

Teach your team to point and then let them break the rule. Blend instruction withfreedom for unrivalled staff motivation.