COO, Midway Attractions and executive champion for inclusion and diversity, Merlin Entertainments
Photo: Merlin Entertainments
In October I was delighted to welcome Merlin’s first cohort of young people starting our brand-new accelerated management programme, which is targeted directly at our global frontline staff. Entitled XCalibre Rising (we always love to continue a theme), it is the sister programme to our senior management scheme called XCalibre – which has been running now for over a decade. This new Rising version, however, was created with two main goals in mind.
The first goal was to really live our values. As Merlin’s executive lead of inclusion and diversity, part of my role is to champion and drive real concrete actions, to deliver the words of our I&D vision: ‘Everyone Matters at Merlin’.
At Merlin we see a good amount of diversity in our frontline staff – both ethnically as well as in gender. Many young people come to the industry as seasonal workers or take up a role as part of a summer job, but as you then move up the company and our grading system, we start to see less diversity and a larger disparity between the genders. It’s something that myself and the whole of the Merlin executive team are resolute about changing.
We knew that if we wanted to make meaningful change, we needed to start from the beginning of the career journey: cue XCalibre Rising. The idea is much like one of our fast rollercoasters (think Rita at Alton Towers or Stealth at Thorpe Park). We need to get talented individuals on board early, build a robust and sturdy framework, ensure there are tools and power which allow for quick acceleration and then LAUNCH…..with real momentum!
We first communicated the programme in June, and I was delighted to hear we’d been inundated with entries from across the world. The final cohort was eventually whittled down to 14 successful candidates, who come from across a range of attractions in the USA, Australia, UK, Germany and the Netherlands. For some of those candidates, it was the first time they had travelled away from home and out of their country – a huge, but very exciting step.
Coming back to the main aims around the programme, the second reason it was created was more broadly around showcasing this industry. We want to demonstrate to these young people that as a business within the industry, we offer a long-term and really exciting career – one which, unlike many other sectors, can take you anywhere in the world - is creative, exciting, inspiring and ultimately, immensely rewarding.
"Let’s fast track our future leaders and show them an industry that can deliver a career like no other"
For us the programme is about more than just supporting our talented young people; it’s about showcasing the fact that you can have a long and rewarding career in the attractions industry.
Sometimes personal circumstances don’t allow people the same opportunities to get formal qualifications or really pursue the career of their dreams, or they just don’t see this industry as a long-term option. But with the right opportunity put in front of them, and the right guidance, they can go on to achieve a career like no other.
I’ve always known we have talented individuals across all of our businesses; but where I think this new XCalibre Rising programme will really deliver is the fact it will bring whole new and fresh perspectives right across our business, at all levels. This new cohort will not only change their own career story, but others around them too. Maybe they will challenge traditional company views, come with new ideas around innovations or technology, or tell us the next IP we should be working with.
One thing I do know these 14 ‘rising’ participants will bring to the programme is passion. Passion for their own career and others – and that won’t just last for the 12 months of the programme, but hopefully for the rest of their lives.
