591: GM Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
Why is Employee
J ob Satisfaction H igh
a t Starbucks?
Course Project : Due Week 7
Presented to: Sharolyn Hergott
By: M iasauma Wigfall [e-mail]
8/21/2011
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GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
Introduction
Starbucks is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle Washington.
Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 50 countries,
including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, and over 700 in the United
Kingdom. Donald, Jim (2007)
Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks,
coffee beans, salads, hot and cold sandwiches and Panini, pastries, snacks, and items such as
mugs and tumblers. Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the
company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the companys products are seasonal or
specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also offered at
grocery stores.
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/starbucks_corporation/index.html
Starbucks was founded in 1971 where the first store opened in Seattle, Washington. Part
of their mission is to positively contribute back to the community and environment. Many of the
employees who work at Starbucks take this mission personally and they volunteer throughout the
communities in which they work. Part of the Starbucks training encourages employees to go out
and do volunteer work in their community. Starbucks also has each store pick a charity in which
they donate pastries and coffee to each month. They work with quite a few charitable
organizations and are a huge part of the communities that they are in.
Starbucks was brought into the market to offer the Coffee drinker a new and pleasant
experience. Since Starbucks came into the market coffee became friendship, comfort, quality
beverage, and a moment of pleasure. The different strategies that they used in order to make the
customer feel comfortable enhanced the whole coffee drinking experience. Moore, John (2006)
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I worked at Starbucks for one summer a few years ago. This is why I decided to do my
paper on the organization. I was a cashier and had to provide suburb customer service to all the
customers and ensure that they had a happy experience from the moment they walked through
the door. Starbucks employees were well trained on how to provide superb customer service to
its customers. We had to make customers feel welcomed and satisfied from the moment they
walked in the door.
Starbucks has recently announced a new corporate structure to accelerate its growth
strategy. Currently Starbucks is structured as Starbucks U.S. and Starbucks Coffee International
(SCI). This consists of 54 markets outside the United States. They will now move to a new
three-region organizational structure which includes the following divisions:
China and Asia Pacific
Americas which include:
o
United States
o
Canada
o
Mexico
o
Latin America
EMEA which consists of:
o Europe
o UK
o Middle East
o Russia
o Africa
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
Culver, John (2011)
Problem Statement
The issues that are being discussed are employee job satisfaction. Most employees are
satisfied with their job because management treats them as part of a team. Employees are called
partners because it is not just a job, it is a passion. Everyone is trained to treat each other with
respect and dignity and they are held to that. When you work at Starbucks you are part of a
group of people who all believe in the T in team. Top level management all the way down
makes sure that employees are trained well and can voice their opinions, let them know that their
opinion means something rather than just words.
Starbucks is a haven from any worries in the outside world. When you walk through the
door of Starbucks you are supposed to be worry free. This goes for employees and customers.
Stores are set up to meet new people and friends. Employees feel welcomed, customers feel
welcome and the whole atmosphere is a positive experience.
According to the Human Performance Institute there are five ways employees can create
a high performance work environment. Starbucks offers all of these to their employees.
1. Build employees' competence and self-confidence through training, feedback
and recognition.
Starbucks makes sure that all employees are trained to work together in a constructive
manner and they train their employees how to voice any concerns in a professional
manner. Being part of a Team is one of their main priorities in their trainings.
Employees are encouraged to offer feedback to management. The General Managers
phone number is placed in the front of the store as well as the back for employees. There
is an email address as well for employees to go right to top management. There is an
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employee of the month each and every month and management offers rewards and prizes
for employees going above and beyond their job title.
2. Communicate the value of the organization's products and services, and the
role the organization plays in the marketplaces where it operates.
3. Encourage and reward thoughtful risk-taking.
Starbucks encourages it employees to take some risks. They believe that employees
should not be scared to take some initiative, speak up and make the workplace a great
place for all.
4. Encourage positive workplace relations
Employees are encouraged to have fun while working in a professional manner.
Employees play work related games in order to make the atmosphere more pleasant for
employees as well as customers. Employees are also encouraged to learn frequent
customers names and call them by their name when they come into the store. This
makes the customer feel like they belong and are part of the Starbucks experience. They
want to keep coming back.
5. Encourage meaningful rest breaks and light diversion.
Management encourages employees to take meaningful breaks when overworked or
extremely tired. If it becomes extremely busy in a store for a couple of hours straight
managers ask each employee to take a five minute break just to unwind and relax for a
moment. Of course this is when staff permits and the store has slowed down. If
employees are overworked and grumpy it will show to the customer and that is something
that the corporation does not want to happen.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Five-Tips-for-Improving-the-Employee-Job-Satisfaction28097.shtml
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
Starbucks has a culture where management respects its employees, inspires them
and this passes down to the employees attitudes. All of the employees at Starbucks are happy
go-lucky and very outgoing. The employees of Starbucks have proactive personalities, they are
not afraid to identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, take action, and persevere
until meaningful change occurs. According to Shawn Achor when employees are satisfied they
are more productive workers. Achor, Shawn (2011). According to our textbook, research shows
that proactive personality is positively related to job performance, creativity, leadership and
career success. Schermerhorn (2010)
The pay at Starbucks is another factor in which makes employees satisfied with their job.
Starbucks employees are paid slightly above minimum wage when hired as well as medical and
dental insurance if they are full time. This factor in itself can make an employee happy.
Starbucks knows that if you treat the employees (partners) right, they in turn will do a great job
at treating the customers right.
Dave Pace, the companies Vice President of Partner Resources says that offering
competitive wages and good benefits, coupled with an intense training program, is a calculated
strategy designed to fuel company expansion and generate greater profits in the long run by
maximizing the potential of its frontline employees. In 1987, Starbucks became one of the first
retail companies to offer part-time employees the same benefits package that full-timers are
offered.
http://www.workforce.com/section/recruiting-staffing/feature/preserving-starbucks-counterculture/
Pace says also that what draws people to work at Starbucks locations around the world
from Portland to Paris--and what keeps them there once they are hired--are the practices and the
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culture the company has developed as a result of an intentionally strong mission and values
statement that emphasizes creating a respectful and positive work environment.
http://www.workforce.com/section/recruiting-staffing/feature/preserving-starbucks-counterculture/
Starbucks offers an experience to the employees as well as to the customers. When the
general manager calls at 8 in the morning and reaches the employees just to ask how their day is
going and if they have any concerns, this makes the employees feel very important. Most
managers dont have time for the small guys and to think to call and reach them on the phone
just to see how things are going. That seems to me like a manager who cares about the well
being of their employees.
Another thing that keeps Starbucks employees satisfied with their job is the benefits that
Starbucks offers to their employees. They offer comprehensive benefits for full and part-time
employees and their same-sex or opposite sex partners includes medical (hypnotherapy and
naturopathy are covered), dental and vision coverage, tuition reimbursement, stock options,
vacation and a 401(k) plan.
http://www.workforce.com/section/recruiting-staffing/feature/preserving-starbucks-counterculture/
The reason that Starbucks gets and retains employees is because they have a great staffing
strategy. They have interview guidelines that hiring managers must use in order to ask questions
in order to reveal if the candidate has the core skills necessary for the job. These guidelines
provide lists of behaviors that outline the ideal employee for each position.
Starbucks uses software developed by Taleo, which is an enterprise staffing management
company. Through this software they have the ability to maintain a database of hundreds of
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
thousands of candidates who have applied for jobs online and answered a variety of basic
informational and skills-based questions. This helps them to filter out the employees with the
proactive personalities and who are the best fit for the job.
Starbucks offers an excellent training program. According to Carmine Gallo, trainers
must be enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Gallo offers a few tips on getting employees engaged
in training sessions. Starbucks has used this model in order to get their employees engaged when
training for positions within the company. They are:
Make a connection early- make it a point to learn attendees names and some
information about them ahead of the session. This shows them that you care, you
took time out of your schedule to learn about them. By doing this, the attendee
may care more about listening to what the trainer has to offer them.
Embrace Multimedia- Powerpoint is one of the most powerful tools to transfer
knowledge. By using powerpoint in an engaging way such as, photos and video
clips helps to get the attendees attention. Starbucks uses video of different
settings of their stores and the different communities. In these videos it shows
how they offer different products according to the community in which they are
located. Staff are well trained about the community and the different things
offered. It is also explained why these things are offered in one community and
not the other.
Give attendees a wonderful welcome build the relationship, and end the
conversation with a memorable experience- Starbucks makes their training
sessions interactive and each employee has to learn something about another
employee. At the end of the training each employee has to get up and tell the rest
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a couple of things about the employee they learned about. This way people are
not just acting like they are listening, they must really engage in conversation and
take part. Gallo, Carmine (2010)
Literature Review
My analysis was supported by a few books and articles which are listed below.
I decided to use an article by Carmine Gallo who is a communications coach for the
worlds most admired brands. Gallo is an Emmy Award winning journalist and former anchor,
host and business correspondent for CNN, Fox, CNET and CBS. I used his article Improve
Your Employee Training Sessions to show how Starbucks uses these techniques to help
improve their trainings and to motivate their employees.
Another source that I used was John Moore, Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed
from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture. This source was used to show how Starbucks
mission made drinking coffee into a whole new experience. Moore offered a lot of background
on Starbucks and helped enlighten the different techniques and methods which were used to help
Starbucks grow into a billion dollar industry.
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
John Culvers article Starbuckss Announces New Leadership Structure was used
to help me research background information on the company. I used this information to inform
my readers on the background of Starbucks and how they are now moving into a third region in a
few different countries. This information showed how Starbucks has gone International.
Shawn Achor spent a decade at Harvard University researching and teaching. He then
went on to work with Fortune 500 companies and schools, lecturing in 42 different countries on
how happiness affects performance. He founded Good Think Inc. which is a consulting firm that
uses research to enhance individual achievement and cultivate a more productive workplace. I
used Achors work the Happiness Advantage to help with my analysis to show how happy
employees are productive employees. This has helped me to show the correlation of happy and
productive workers at Starbucks have been satisfied with their job.
Jim Donalds Taking the Starbucks Culture International was used to help me get some
background information on the company. I used this information to explain how Starbucks are
in different cities and moved forward to go international.
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Jim Donald is Starbucks Chief Executor and was a former grocery store executor. In this
article he talks about his job and the growth of the company. He joined Starbucks in 2002.
I also used a few internet articles which are listed in the reference page. These articles
helped me gain me knowledge of the organization and helped support the analysis of my paper.
Analysis of Problem
Causes of problem
GM 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Course Project
a ) Direct cause is that Starbucks trains it employees to act a certain way and
they learn how to make a customer want to come back.
This is because employees are happy and pleasant and they
treat their customers in a happy and pleasant way.
(1)
b) Another cause is that Starbucks offers its employees a good rate of pay
and great benefits and they are satisfied with their job.
Since they are getting good pay and great benefits they are
happy and content and perform well at work.
(1)
B. Leadership and Organizational Behavior concepts present in problem
a) The employees have proactive personalities so they do what they have to
do in order to get the job done in a pleasant manner.
I.
Possible Solutions
C. Employee Training
1. All new employees go through an extensive training session before starting
employment
D. Monthly Team Meetings
1. All employees have team meetings at least once a month
E.
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References
Achor, Shawn (2011) The Happiness Advantage
Culver, John (2011) Starbucks Announces New Leadership
Donald, Jim (2007) CEO Exchange Quick Talks: Jim Donald: Taking the Starbucks Culture
International
Gallo, Carmine (2010) Improve Your Employee Training Sessions
Moore, John (2006) Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of
Starbucks Corporate Culture
Gallo, Carmine (2005) 10 Simple Secrets of the Worlds Greatest Communicators
Webliographies
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/starbucks_corporation/index.html
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Five-Tips-for-Improving-the-Employee-Job-Satisfaction28097.shtml
http://www.workforce.com/section/recruiting-staffing/feature/preserving-starbucks-counterculture/