May04Perspectives

Every time a guest interacts with one of your employees, there is the potential to create a “critical moment of truth.” This comes when a guest’s perception of your facility is brought into sharp relief. For example, if a guest asks: “Where is the nearest rest room?” your employees should be able to answer that question without hesitation. If they cannot, then you have created a critical moment of truth—and a poor impression, because the guest has an immediate negative perception of your facility. If, on the other hand, the employee not only tells the guest where it is, but walks her to it, then you will have created a positive critical moment of truth. It may seem trivial, but such moments happen a thousand times a day in a facility and greatly influence a customer’s decision to do business with you.

Successful attractions help create these critical moments at key points during their business cycles in order to stimulate and maintain business. From the ticket seller on the front gate who says “Welcome!” to every guest, to the cashier who says “Thank you and have fun” as guests are leaving the gift shop, such details help maintain a positive perception of your park.

Training in a Vacuum
Critical moments of truth are the products of a number of steps: good hiring practices, sound management principles, and training. A mistake many companies make is viewing training as a product to be bought off the shelf to fill a need or solve a problem. Often the problem is not an issue that training can address. For example, poor customer service is sometimes more the result of poor management of employees (bad scheduling, etc.) than a lack of training in customer service. Such training in a vacuum is almost guaranteed to be a waste of money because any effect on employees will be negated if underlying problems are not solved. In addition, training programs tend to reflect a company’s culture, and a good program cannot be developed outside that context. You are not just teaching facts and figures; you are letting them see what the company looks like.

The Vision
Companies that excel in training (and business) tend to have a clearly defined vision. They have a well-understood mission statement and set of values that support what they do. Does your facility have a mission statement? More important, do your employees know and understand that vision? Incidentally, a mission statement is not a slogan that you slap on a T-shirt. It is a clear statement of what your organization stands for. That statement or vision has to be the filter through which all your decisions, including training, must pass.

It is important that you communicate that message to all employees: Print it in the company handbook, hang it in the break room, make it part of your orientation program, and make it part of every decision you make.

A Training Environment
There are several steps to take when establishing employee development.
• Have a sense of your employees. Do you value your employees as a key resource? Do you seek their input into improving the business? Do you have an awards or recognition program?
• Know your facility’s history and place. Companies that have a strong sense of where they have come from and
where their place is in the community tend to have a strong culture. When was your facility founded and what important contributions has it made
to the community? Do you celebrate these things and communicate them to
your employees?
• Maintain open structure: Are your employees free to move upwards (or laterally) in your company? Career paths offer employees a way to grow with the company. Even a facility employing seasonal staff can build a sense of community by keeping in touch with them during the off season and offering full-time work to seasonal staff first.
• Maintain a good environment. This is a combination of things, including pay, working conditions, management style, and benefits. Employees who enjoy the environment in which they work will always be more receptive to training.