Human Resource Frame
Overview of the Organization

The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world. Its products and services meet the needs of billions of consumers around the world, through storytelling and the creation of fantasy and entertainment. In order to produce these outcomes, the Disney Company needs to engage around 200,000 employees (Forbes, 2018). The Walt Disney Company is ranked as one of the best companies to work for. The essential strategy of Disney is that they company requires its employees to create amazing experiences for guests and consumers. In order to do this, the employees themselves must be inspired, and committed to delivering those types of experiences. The human resources frame can be utilized to explain how Disney is able to inspire 200,000 employees to deliver amazing experiences.

Human Resources Frame

Bolman and Deal describe the four frames by which to analyze an organization. The human resources frame places “emphasis on people’s needs”, including “giving employees power and opportunity to perform their jobs well” (Business Balls, 2020). The human resources frame lends value to an organization in a few different, key ways. The first is that it allows employees to be their best – when people feel valued, they are in a better position to give their best. Disney creates this sense of value for its employees by investing in them – some 80,000 of them have access to company equity and many more have opportunities for training and education (Walt Disney.com, 2020). This level of investment not only creates loyalty, but it shows that the company invests in its people, leading the employees to invest back into the company.

Furthermore, Disney creates opportunities for many who otherwise might not have such opportunities, including veterans, people without high school diplomas, new immigrants and more (Walt Disney, 2020). Investing in people who otherwise might not receive such investment gives the company the ability to get the most out of people – they are motivated by having the opportunity to be their best, and achieve their dreams, something that might not otherwise be available.

The second reason such investments are valuable for Disney is that they make the company an employer of choice for many. Disney has found itself on the Forbes list of best employers, not only ranked high but ranked high for a non-tech company. That means that many of the company’s employees might have only had a few options, and none better than Disney. When given a choice many employees specifically choose Disney. Because of this, the company receives a higher standard of worker, ones more likely to create the types of magical experiences that Disney sells to the general public. This is important – someone who wishes to get into the entertainment field will naturally gravitate to Disney, giving it a competitive advantage over other companies in the same business.

Role of Human Resources

Most of Disney’s workers are in the United States, where the unemployment rate is very low at 3.6% (BLS, 2020). At that rate, competition for any worker is high, let alone for quality workers. Disney typically competes with a number of other companies in its industries. Roles are often creative, or involve interaction with the public. In either case, the experience that each role creates is important to maintaining competitive advantage. Application of the human resource frame makes sense for a company like Disney that must compete for scarce labor resources, and win the majority of available talent for any role that it needs to fill.

On its website, Disney describes its mission as to “entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling.” This mission requires, as it states, the ability to inspire. Ultimately, that is the most challenging aspect of the mission statement to deliver, especially with as many employees as Disney has. Entertainment is also a challenge at times – that requires creativity and execution, whereas inspiration is something more emotional in nature. For Disney to do both of these things requires an incredible amount of talent at its disposal, and each employee, especially those with a public-facing role, must be inspired themselves in order to inspire others.

Attribute #1...…heart of high morale among employees and cast members, as they feel good making people happy and do not have many conflicts when it comes to their ability to do so (Jones, 2018).

In addition to the financial success attributable to attention to the human resources frame, Disney is also in a position where it has been awarded one of the best places to work by Forbes. This honor also reflects the result of the company’s commitment to meeting the needs of its employees. There are companies that might be better, but in its industry, Disney has distinguished itself as superior, and this success has not gone unnoticed. All told, it is reasonable to suggest that Disney has become a world leader in its field, and has done so in large part because it has done enough for its workers that they consistently deliver superior experiences even relative to some stiff competition in many of its industries.

Recommendations

A huge part of Disney’s success lies with the company’s attention to the human element. Disney focuses on fostering strong employee loyalty and on empowering them to facilitate the company’s mission. This sense of purpose in turn creates high morale, and a willingness to go the extra mile. It is reasonable to assume that Disney is not perfect in terms of its application of the human resources frame, but the company clearly pays attention to the needs of its employees, and many of its decisions showcase evidence that it is willing to do what it needs to do in order that its employees are empowered to deliver superior experiences.

There are ample opportunities for growth within the company, and employees are encouraged to pursue them. Disney rewards loyalty, and in turn receives it. In that sense, Disney seems to understand that it needs to be able to attract and retain the best talent, and uses its attention to meeting human needs as a way of doing just that. If an employee feels that their needs are not being met, then they might leave, but Disney has been able to retain 200,000 employees and deliver superior…