Like the fun-loving guests who frequent the place, Andrew Chan sees the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort as a place of abundant happiness. A former social worker, Chan joined the park when it opened in 2005. Today, he is the area manager of attraction and guest services for the theme park's latest attraction, Toy Story Land.
'I thought it would be a great opportunity to work here,' says Chan. 'It has been a fruitful six-plus years for me at Disneyland, as I have been exposed to different duties.'
Training is taken seriously at Disney. Every newcomer - full-time or part-time - must undergo routine training to learn the tradition, culture and service standards of the park.
Chan says he has absorbed a lot of know-how since joining. 'I have learned hard skills, such as how to operate the facilities safely and, more importantly, the soft skills to communicate with and serve others,' he says.
Starting out on the front line, and now a supervisor, Chan has experienced being managed, as well as how to manage cast members. He greatly admires the management mentality of the theme park. 'At Disney, we believe in 'Happy me, happy guest',' he says. 'The first step to make our guests happy is to keep our cast members happy. We have a policy where the supervisor meets with cast members one-on-one and once a week to listen to their feedback. We very much treasure the feedback and suggestions of cast members. We not only want to work smoothly as a team, we [also] want to get to know the person.'
Chan says Disney treasures output from cast members. 'In our new attraction, Toy Soldier Parachute Drop, cast members have come up with a theme greeting - 'Hi, soldiers! Please put your equipment into the storage boxes.' It's a good example of [staff] serving with their heart and coming up with fantastic results,' he says.
