In the Words of Rebecca Fleury, City Manager, Battle Creek, Michigan
“The City of Battle Creek began The Disney Way Customer-Centric program in August 2016 and finished in January 2017 with 500 of our 519 employees completing the three-day sessions. Feedback from the groups has been overwhelmingly positive and I can honestly say it has changed the outlook for me as the city manager as well as the majority of our employees. Each employee is committed to the value statement and codes of conduct we developed together with the help of our Disney Way facilitator, Bill Capodagli.
This program has allowed us to look inside our organization to understand our culture, identify our ideal culture, and recognize the barriers to achieving our ideal and find ways to work together to overcome those barriers. All of this by learning and embracing The Disney Way leadership and customer service principles. As a leader, there is no greater value than to find ways to help our employees succeed and this is what the Disney experience is allowing us to do!
While we are early in our implementation, the value is already starting to show through customer feedback, good service compliments and recognition as well as supervisors and managers working more closely with employees to understand needs and reduce barriers to success. None of these things would have been possible without the guidance and expertise of Bill Capodagli, our facilitator and Disney Way mentor.
Bill’s passion and knowledge of Walt Disney’s principles shown through with every session he led. While every agency is different, Bill is able to modify his delivery to make it personal to the participants and relevant to the organization. As a clear leader in this field, Bill effortlessly guided the City of Battle Creek employees through all aspects of the program. We know that our work is just beginning as we strive to achieve our customer-centric environment, but it is clear that Battle Creek is a better organization for having participated in and embraced The Disney Way.”
