Can you imagine how annoying it would be to be one of the bariastas working when Schultz shows up and is just in your way for 4 hours?
Just FYI they got a new CEO
Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
291–300 of 353 posts
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
First line: Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan told employees Thursday that he’ll work a half day every month at one of the coffee giant’s locations. Something tells me it'll be something like 1-5pm; not the 7am rush.
>Something tells me it'll be something like 1-5pm; not the 7am rush. 11am-6pm seem to be peak hours for cafes near me - and google data confirms this. Why would 7am be peak time there?
Friendly neighborhood barista here: actual sales numbers have always shown a peak somewhere between 7-10. If might appear busier later in the day, but that's more likely a function of having less staff for afternoons.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#293Earlier quoted context omitted.
These "king gets wisdom from dressing as regular person" stories are great, and it's definitely a great idea for higher level folks to sample the ground truth themselves on a regular basis. CEOs are at a real danger of being surrounded by yes-men, and it's very possible that through conditioning and repetition they might actually start believing insane corporate positions. However, there's a real smell of something g…
Sure, fixing the problem is great, but if the CEO needs to personally witness the issue for it to get fixed, then there must be thousands of other issues not being fixed. Keep in mind in a corporation like Starbucks, the CEO is likely a hundred or more levels removed from the daily operations of a cafe. That's a lot of internal politics for even a motivated regional manager to navigate.
If a manager at each level oversees only two unique people, then an organization with 100 levels has 2^99 + 1 (~a quadrillion quadrillion) employees.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#294Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
Why is why the user experience of Apple Retail has gone downhill after he left and Steve Jobs passed away. From CEO of Dixon, to CEO of Burberry and finally Apple veteran, Deirdre O'Brien. The improvement she made was like many of the recent Mac changes, reverting back to old design.
Form over function. It's what Apple does.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#295Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
These "king gets wisdom from dressing as regular person" stories are great, and it's definitely a great idea for higher level folks to sample the ground truth themselves on a regular basis. CEOs are at a real danger of being surrounded by yes-men, and it's very possible that through conditioning and repetition they might actually start believing insane corporate positions. However, there's a real smell of something g…
> Was there a manager in charge of the stores who did not notice the problem?
Probably. But there are often three to six layers of filters between the CEO and a service worker. Those managers may not see the effect of a small problem across the entire system. Sometimes those managers have incentive to hide problems to protect their bonus. Other times, the problem seems unimportant. In Starbucks case, a company with a great employer reputation is suddenly facing unionization, so there is a problem there. Unions don't happen because employees are happy.
> if the CEO needs to personally witness the issue for it to get fixed, then there must be thousands of other issues not being fixed.
In retail, nothing reveals subtle and not so subtle issues faster than being at the point of interaction with customers. Things that might look great on paper or sound good in a meeting at corporate sometimes aren't a good idea. Also, what works in one region, or even at a store across town, might now work well in another. You won't see any of this from a board room or flying in a Gulfstream.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#296Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
>obviously staff would recognize him I think it's probable that they wouldn't.
Reminds me when I was a bank teller - the area manager would come into our branch sometimes trying to like disguise himself...? But it was always SO obvious after about 10 seconds that it was him while he'd sit in the lobby and observe.
It was also impressive how fast word would go down the teller line that "corporate" was in the branch and everyone would sort of shape up for the hour they were around.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#297Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
Many years ago I did a few short weeks on an engagement at Wynn casino in Vegas. It overlapped with Christmas time and I was invited to a holiday dinner, which had several thousand people rotate through the huge conference room ballroom over an entire day. Everyone from casino from the dealers to cleaners and cashiers - and even us contractors - rotated through. It was very nice while also yet another unmemorable catered event. It would have remained unmemorable for me except for this part. Someone later asked me if I had some cake, and I said yeah, I went by the cake table and some guy in pink shirt served me a slice, I asked for a small one and he took care of it. Well, apparently that was Steve Wynn, the owners, he I guess did that at the holiday dinner, meeting everyone in a marathon session. I don't know if that is still true but I thought that was a nice way to meet everyone eye to eye.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#298Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
These "king gets wisdom from dressing as regular person" stories are great, and it's definitely a great idea for higher level folks to sample the ground truth themselves on a regular basis. CEOs are at a real danger of being surrounded by yes-men, and it's very possible that through conditioning and repetition they might actually start believing insane corporate positions. However, there's a real smell of something g…
> The CEO working a single shift noticed something that needed to be changed? Did none of the thousands of workers who work those shifts every day notice that problem?
Obviously, he's much more intelligent than all those other people, that's why he's the CEO and way richer than them. Rich people are more intelligent and better than poor people in most aspects. That's why the laws favor them.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#299Ron Johnson used to do this when he headed Apple retail. Would just go into a store totally undercover to the customers (obviously staff would recognize him) and work for a bit. Occasionally fairly major changes, both to the staff side and to the customer experience, were made based on his visits. I don't recall ever seeing a press announcement about it. Saying you're doing it to win brownie points sure makes it seem…
These "king gets wisdom from dressing as regular person" stories are great, and it's definitely a great idea for higher level folks to sample the ground truth themselves on a regular basis. CEOs are at a real danger of being surrounded by yes-men, and it's very possible that through conditioning and repetition they might actually start believing insane corporate positions. However, there's a real smell of something g…
"CEO does a day of actual work" is great if it helps the CEO better understand quotidian business process and customer needs.
It is a sham when it's used to counter disagreements from employees.
Re: Starbucks CEO will work a shift at the company’s cafes once a month
#300Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, fixing the problem is great, but if the CEO needs to personally witness the issue for it to get fixed, then there must be thousands of other issues not being fixed. Keep in mind in a corporation like Starbucks, the CEO is likely a hundred or more levels removed from the daily operations of a cafe. That's a lot of internal politics for even a motivated regional manager to navigate.
If a manager at each level oversees only two unique people, then an organization with 100 levels has 2^99 + 1 (~a quadrillion quadrillion) employees.
Your point being?
/sarcasm