Resorts World Genting

Dr. Saberi Sepawi

Fun in a serious business but most fulfilling. Creating exceptional guest experiences in the theme park industry requires a lot of discipline and commitment from all stakeholders. The intrinsic value of running a theme park business is to bring people from all walks of life together at the parks to create unique lasting memories and help them to forget about the real world, even if it’s only for a day. The theme park is a storytelling business. The design and the content of the park are crucial for the team members to understand and deliver to the guests.

High expectations from the guests always create high stress for the team members. The low salary scale and limited career growth make this industry not attractive enough to hire high-quality employees and high retention of good employees. A new talent management programme is crucial to address all the main issues above.

A healthy organization is not just based on financial results but also based on the mental health of the employees. The cost of medical care can be alarming and it also creates low productivity. Employee well-being should be the main focus for all leaders. Holistic training and engagement programmes need to be introduced in the training calendar. Having a proper coaching and mentoring culture will definitely help to reduce the level of anxiety, stress, and uncertainty about the business, especially when every day employees are bombarded by unsatisfied guests.

Not all theme park operators have the luxury of having a career counsellor or even a certified coach. Worst scenario, they do not even have structured certification programmes that can drive the growth and transformation of their people and business. Most of the theme parks are open seven days a week and some with double shifts. This will also limit their potential to learn and engage with the company planned initiatives. Creative ways need to be introduced, i.e. a short engagement programme, digital learning, gamification, and team briefing by line trainers, leaders, and coaches.

"The ideas-sharing culture needs to be embedded into the systems and bottom-up approaches are crucial to create a sense of belonging"

Team bonding activities and employee engagement surveys need to be conducted on a regular basis. Positive appreciative inquiry technique can be one of the ways to drive this engagement initiative. For the team building programme, the focus should not be on the competition concept but more on the collaboration or synergy concept. The team can focus on competing with the timeline, external competitors, and strategy in partnering with other stakeholders. The advantage of working in the theme park is that the park is a very suitable place to organize team bonding activities, especially since all must experience all the rides and know how to sell and promote the products and services.  

The learning, development, and engagement team must partner with all dept, especially the operation content department, in customizing suitable packages for the guests. The ideas-sharing culture needs to be embedded into the systems and bottom-up approaches are crucial to create a sense of belonging. High-potential talent can be appointed as the sounding board for the senior leadership team as part of their succession.

Most importantly, the performance management system needs to be transparent, fair, and aligned with the corporate KPIs. Unhappiness and biases always arise due to poor appraisal processes and rewards and recognition programmes. Scientific approaches are highly recommended in measuring the results of business and individual performances. Leadership styles can be different, but the business objectives must be the same and clearly defined to all. Communication must be fast and transparent so that the employees are not put in limbo and end up creating unnecessary stress and conflict among all stakeholders.

To achieve international standards and high-performance culture, the current talent management model needs a new innovative and strategic approach to compete with other theme park operators in Asia and even the world. Based on Bob Iger, Disney CEO, "Our guests want to be amazed, delighted, and entertained; they are looking for the kind of magic that will transport them from their everyday lives into worlds that can only be created by Disney. This must be a culture for the theme park industry to compete with the big players”.