UNIVERSAL'S MINIONS

Posted on August 19, 2013 @ 6:43am

We just got back from a Universal Studio’s vacation in Orlando Florida.  On the advice of a friend, we purchased the Photo Connect package available at the park – a service whereby dedicated photographers take your picture throughout your visit. 

Since Florida is hot in the summer, we arrived at the park when it opened, stayed a few hours and then left by lunch.  We would return later in the evening when it was cooler.  What I noticed is that the Photo Connect Sales folks who worked in the stores were there early in the morning and late at night.  So I asked, “How long do you work?”  They replied, “Ten-to-twelve hour shifts.” I said, “How many breaks do you get?”  They replied, “One – a forty-five minute break for lunch.”  I said, “How about any other breaks?”  They said, “It’s at your Manager’s discretion…but they usually say no.”  I said, noticing they were always standing, “And they you don’t give you a chair to sit on?” The two sales associates just shook their heads no. To their credit, they did not bad-mouth their employer. Yet they left me to draw my own conclusions about the situation.

Have you ever tried standing for the better part of ten hours? That alone is a challenge. Then add in demanding tourists who are by the nature of being on vacation are pretty self-focused and you’ve got an even greater challenge.  Not exactly sure what the Management staff at Universal Studio’s is thinking -- perhaps they are confusing the real live people that work for them with the fictional minions that work for Gru from Despicable Me.

I wonder if they know that companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%? (Source: Corporate Leadership Council)  And out of the 75 drivers of engagement, the one that was rated as most important is the extent to which senior management had a sincere interest in their well-being. (Source: Gallup)

I invite any one of the Senior folks at Universal to trade jobs for one day with the Photo Connect gals.  When their legs start to ache, my guess is that there may be a change in policy.

© 2012 DillonMarcus, Executive Retreats