Volume 2, No. 16. August 23, 2002
Ark
de triumphs
The lifeguards smile. The sweepers say hello. The food servers ask about your
day. With due respect to the park that calls itself the “happiest place
on earth,” Noah’s Ark Waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells stakes a legitimate
claim as fielding the happiest employees on earth. There, employees know that
while a smile may not be worth a million bucks, it could be worth a laptop computer,
stereo system or mountain trek bike.
When Tim and Dan
Gantz took over ownership and management of Noah’s Ark from Jack Waterman
in 1994, they inherited an employee appreciation and rewards program that culminated
in the giveaway of a Hyundai parked all summer long in the middle of the park.
“It worked, so we kept it going,” Tim Gantz said.
But the car was
a bit much, they determined; not for them, but for the employees. “We didn’t
want to tone it down, but the car had to count as income, and that would mess
up their student loans.” So the Gantz’s turned to more palatable prizes
with a total worth of $20,000, that appealed especially to the park’s 600
mostly college-age employees, of which about 200 are international students.
Individual prizes this year include bicycles, Walkmans, boom boxes, stereo systems,
televisions and VCRs. The top employee for the season in each of the company’s
six divisions will receive a laptop computer.
The awards are
based on points the employees earn throughout the season. The points come from
three sources that represent three areas of employee responsibilities. First,
park patrons may submit a ballot voting for any “Courteous Arker”
they encounter on their visit to the park, a testament to the importance of
customer service. Signs around the park explain the program, and Gantz said
guests actively participate. Second, each employee votes for a fellow employee,
a testament to the role of teamwork. Third, the division managers weigh the
number of votes from both patrons and employees and determine a winner by weighing
in factors such as performance levels.
The honors are
bestowed at an end-of-season party where every employee receives a T-shirt and
a crew book to list their colleagues’ addresses, phone numbers and E-mails.
“Everybody wins something that night,” Gantz said.
The rewards program
is only one of a three-prong employee retention program. Each employee also
earns a $1-per-hour bonus for every hour they work payable at the end of the
season. “That’s a way to make sure we have enough staff through the
season,” Gantz said. “It’s also a disciplinary too, because an
employee could lose it. And they can earn it back.” Management also throws
a number of parties and employee events, ranging from weekly basketball and
grilling parties to organized outings to the cinema, bowling or a pig roast.
“We feed them at least twice a week,” Gantz said.
The program, he said, pays off handsomely.“Especially those who have worked a few years here and returned and know they are appreciated.” Of his 200 international student employees alone, on average of 80 return the next year. “When we took over in 1994 we acquired a great facility and a great staff,” Gantz said. They also took over a great program to keep both going strong.
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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