Part 2: Discuss Thursday's conference call here

The first conference call thread has over 100 comments. Please continue the discussion here. || Read "Starbucks details plan to navigate current economic conditions"

Comments

[Hmmmmm?]

Back to the FLSA issue, can someone shed some light on this for me?

[Lilith]

I wonder how quickly someone will file a class action on behalf of SMs...we definitely should be paid overtime now.

[lattegal]

Soypls -

I love what you wrote...it is so true...

The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

Continue to ask partners to take on more and more and more...and then take away the team and time to do it in. I am just shocked. I work at a DT and we are so busy...we are already at least one person short...we have a DTR, a bar person who makes all the cafe drinks and DT drinks...we don't have a 3rd espresso machine...we have a R1 and a floater that needs to be calling drinks in the cafe and also be the DTO. Not to mention getting sandwiches, brewed coffee and trying to keep the bar flowing so that we meet our 3 minute time...

It's literally impossible to change out milks, sanitizer, clean up spills, do dishes so that you have more containers to make more product, do lobby spins, empty the trash, put the RP and standing order away as well as all the retail...the list is endless. I come home totally exhausted and I'm just not enjoying the job anymore. I'm a very hard worker but man, there is only so much you can physically do...we haven't been given magic wands.

[Hanging in There]

Its apparent that those who make these ridiculous decisions do not work in the stores. I truly understand the need to control costs - but cutting more labor is not the answer.

Lets cut costs by not being forced to take auto-shipments of product we cannot use. Lets cut costs by using our buying power to cut the price of paper and chemicals. Lets figure out some other way!

So many stores are taxed to the limit at this point. We have been told to invest in our labor budgets to drive sales, go out into the community and bring in mew business etc. God help me, I can't even consider a 3:00 p.m. coffee tasting, a ten minute lobby sweep or actually comming out from behind the counter to help sell someone a machine as it is.

We are headed down a slippery slope at this point and when you begin to ask managers to work a lot more hours (off the clock) and begin to cut SS hours, we are going to lose some really good people.

[Barista Joe]

Yikes. From a guy who works at a store that never seems to stop in foot traffic, this is BAD. Sure, I can understand the company trying to save money, but cutting hours is NOT the way to do it.

-J

[Melody]

Is this conference call still set for about 4 today?

[lattegal]

I wonder if there will be a huge exodus from this or a revolt? I know we are in hard times...but lets not frustrate our partners and customers with expectations that can't be reached.

I'd like to know when and what stores do these decision makers actually work in a regular basis (and not an hour here and an hour there) to come up with their great ideas? Or do they sit behind a desk looking at numbers? I'm really frustrated right now.

[IndySM]

Just got off of our region's call. A few initial thoughts:

--Is Holiday really the right time to run at 3% under labor? Is there really any right time, based on the "personal connection" job that we supposed to be able to do?

--My district's current expectations are to spend 4 hours a week of non-coverage for cleaning and 2 hours a week non-coverage for a shift supervisor to process tips (an expectation that came about from a potential lawsuit). That right there is almost 2% of my store's total earned coverage hours. Where is the time alloted for all the extra things my DM has asked me to do, including: partner 1:1s, promo setups, schedule making, ordering and inventory control, to name just a few?

--Our former Regional Director (before he was let go by the company in the first round of severances) one told me that "A Store Manager's work week of 40 hours should be the expectation, not the exception." Not that he intended it as such, but this new information essentially makes that statement a total and absolute lie.

--Finally, when our customer Voice scores come to us in the upcoming months, and we are below 60% Overall Satisfaction with all the "bad" comments saying things like "You need more people working" and "None of your employees have the time to connect with me personally anymore," I know I for one will stand proudly behind that Customer Voice score and sincerely thank those customers for their comments, because both the score and the comments will be absolutely right on target, and nothing will change until the number-crunchers in Seattle realize that this is NOT the answer.

Thanks for listening! :)

[confused partner]

Ok I understand cuts need to be made and what they are trying to do. Labor is one of the largest expenses of any company. Maybe RD & DM's should stop with all these last minute conference calls and get out to the stores and WORK!!! Work with only one other partner and see how it feels.
I am confused that a few weeks ago during our conference we were told how important our stores, partners and customers are and to the success of the company!!! How can you connect with a customer running a store with 2 people on???? How can partners have health coverage when they can not get 20 hours a week? There is noway we can do all of this and run at the labor they want. This is NOT the time to be doing this. Those people who are not regulars are going to think we suck with long lines, slow service, dirty stores and unhappy partners begging for hours so they can keep their health coverage. Pretty soon our partners will be sitting outside our stores shaking an empty old coffee cup looking for money to pay their bills!!!
I am willing to do what it takes, but this is TOO MUCH.
Thanks for nothing, I would of rather stayed in more store the week of conference if I knew they were going to pull something like this.

[FLA SM]

Regarding the exempt manager position...
Here's the argument as I understand it. Currently, SMs are classified as "exempt" meaning they do not earn overtime. Most people believe that an exempt manager must spend a certain percentage of their time doing "manager work" in order to be considered exempt. If they spend the vast majority of their time doing the same job as those they supervise, then they shouldn't be considered exempt and therefore should be paid for any hours worked over 40 in one week.
I'm sure it's different in each state, but I ran into this same situation with another company in the state of South Carolina. I contacted the Dept. of Labor to inquire about getting back overtime pay. They informed me that I didn't have a case because they don't look at how much time you spend doing specific tasks. They look at how many hours report to you. Unfortunately, every hour worked in a store (by baristas or shifts) reports directly to the SM. If, for instance, the baristas reported directly to the shifts, and did not have personal contact with the SM, then only shift supervisor hours would count as reporting to the SM and a case might be had but (at least in South Carolina, as it was explained to me) I don't think this is a winnable argument. Regardless of what the SM is doing at any given time, 100% of the labor hours being worked in that store report to him/her.

I used to love what I do and always wanted to share it with others.. now... I tell everyone I know... run the other way!! The expectations they are putting on us are unattainable. I know, we'll hear that this is where "the best of the best" will rise to the occasion, but you know what? I am not willing to kill myself at the expense of my sanity or my family. I'd rather be jobless!!

[Mystery]

Hmmm... here I was thinking that someone had to be in the stores to serve customers. So we are going to cut labor, and brew .25 batches- what exactly are we selling. Maybe we should turn the bars around and give the customers the PRIVILEGE to make their own lattes....

As Starbucks chairman, Howard Schultz received a salary of almost $1.2 million, options valued at nearly $8.6 million and "other" compensation of over $860,000 in the fiscal year that ended in September.

WHY???? His salary = 150,000 barista hours.

[BOSTON STARBUCKS REBEL]

It becomes ever more apparent that the senior leadership at Starbucks remains disconnected from the everyday realities of store operations.

[Tracy]

lattegirl: you didn't get your magic wand? Must be stuck in the mail. :-)

[NYASM]

once again our customers suffer. and we do even more work. here's to more work "off the clock". that's the only way it will work. then bring on the lawsuits.

the one question that's not being asked is, how do we improve the customer experience?

until that is done, nothing changes.

labor is not the answer.

[beantheredonethat]

WHY???? His salary = 150,000 barista hours.

But Howard can make a great French Press. You know, we are always coming out from behind the bar, holding a coffee tasting with the customer, using a French Press. blah, blah, blah...

Remember, this is what Howard thinks you can do every day.

[Mystery]

Sampling, connecting, cleaning, proper staffing during blackout.

These are the activities that will be eliminated.

Fortunately, the head-honchos have figured our that to survive the economic crisis, we need to present our remaining customers with a bad experience!

FYI, Stock dropped $1 during the conf. call this morning.

In my opinion, the shift supervisors at Starbucks need to communicate to one another and their manager before stabbing them in the back. It's not your managers fault that you cannot follow company policy and you stole $ from your peers. I curse you with DUI's that put you in jail, and miscarriages that force hysterectomies and your ADHD kids to never improve you lying bitch. Let's just hope the next sucker doesn't fall into your spell.

[beantheredonethat]

WHY???? His salary = 150,000 barista hours.

But Howard can make a great French Press. You know, we are always coming out from behind the bar, holding a coffee tasting with the customer, using a French Press. blah, blah, blah...

Remember, this is what Howard thinks you can do every day.

Howard and the rest of the suits can bite me.

Oh, wait..they just did.

[GRTL]

AMEN Mystery...AMEN!!!!!

People are going to walk. Their reaction to a bad economy is to force a smaller workforce to work harder, providing substandard service with the idea that the economy is so bad they will suck it up and deal and wouldn't dare quit now!

Barista=slave in new english

[lattegal]

Yes, lets find ways to cut expenses other than hours...how about..

1. Partners bring in their own personal reusable cups for partner drinks instead of getting a new cup or cups at every shift?

2. How about charging customers for all the extra, extra, extra caramel sauce they put in their drinks?

3. How about not filling up carafes of milk that people don't use and we have to dump tons and tons of milk down the drain?

4. How about not putting one roll of stickers in a big cardboard box in the
RP order?

5. How about letting us use larger steaming pitchers to steam more milk so that we can get people out the door quicker?

6. How about brewing coffee a little longer than 30 minutes?

7. How about charging for iced teas and coffee's instead of letting customers bring in their same cup day after day and just paying for a refill?

8. How about not selling items that really don't sell...like Thanksgiving blend...we still have a bunch of it. I'm sure this cost a few million.

9. How about we hold off on all of the new Mastrena's and use what we have? I think this cost a few million.

10. How about not marking out breakfast sandwiches every day and using them for display...6 sandwiches at about $3.00 per sandwich per store $18 X 7,000 stores is $126,000 PER DAY, and is $45,990,000 per year! How about a nice picture of all of the sandwiches to use on display.

11. How about not closing all the stores for espresso training and then a few months later telling all your partners to disregard the training and to now not pull shots into the shot glasses. I think that meeting cost a few million.

I'm sure there are more ideas that IN STORE partners can think of.

Just remember that when you cut labor, you cut sales. It's a basic business principle. I don't know if the people in the ivory towers really know how stretched the team is at the bottom...you know the ones who have to face the customers everyday when we just can't get their drink to them in 3 minutes.

[azprtnr]

How about factoring the cost of training so many of new people- who are FAR less efficient and cannot connect with customers the same way tenured ppl who know them can- to replace all of the people we've driven away? Has anyone looked at the turnover rates lately? That is the greatest cost to a business- training people, and subsequently losing them.

[a little bitter now]

At this point, I'm getting fed up. I have no clue how I can run my store when we normally run on a two person floor. I now have no time for clean sweep, tips, one on ones, reviews, training, setups/take downs of promo, etc. Starbucks is going to lose a lot of great people because we are being pushed to the brink. Yes, you want us to sample, connect, provide great customer service, TRAIN, and yet we get a measley 2% non coverage and we have to be negative in our labor. Geesh. This is why I left my last job.

[beantheredonethat]

don't forget to factor in the true, long-term costs which results from laying off the most senior, experienced staff. short term gain, long term pain. But wait, it was these more experienced staff that stood up to all of Howard's crazy ideas. Wait, maybe that is why they were fired, uhhhh, laid off.

[exmgr11yrs]

Write a mission review and photo-copy it. Get every partner to do the same. Keep record of it and coordinate so all are sent on the same day. Most importantly let it be known that it is happening. You get 100+ mission reviews and the local paper will pick it up, hopefully it grows. Your customers can get involved too, have them fill out customer comment cards. If you love this company, change it. Take it back.

[sad; incredibly sad]

I'm old enough to remember Starbucks from 20 years ago. I remember driving 25 minutes every day, each way, to get my capuccino.
Today, tears are rolling down my face. It's the beginning of the end.

[lattegal]

azprtnr -

Good idea....let's keep em' coming! There are other things we can do to cut costs other than cutting labor...which we don't have much of anyway.

[iokua79]

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

If anything, we should be UPPING labor to try to stand out above our competitors during these harsh economic times. This decision appears to have been made without giving enough thought to the many tasks that are required of us on a day to day, second by second basis.
Why didn't they give direction at the same conference call to stop sampling, stop PDP conversations, Stop reviews, Stop going out to do slides, stop going out onto the sales floor to sell a machine, stop filling out your passport, stop changing light bulbs,
START taking numerous shortcuts like:
Not brewing coffee until its gone, no matter how long it's been sitting there.
Letting Prep get used after it's expiration date.
Sweeping and mopping around the floor mats.
Ok, I'm gonna stop now. I'm just really really frustrated.

[GRTL]

No wait...just hit the Warming button over and over...hit it on every transaction! Then hit the Cup of Water...lots of cups of water.

Warm that oatmeal!

[lattegal]

exmgr11yrs -

Good idea too! I mean, what is it going to take for the management to hear and really listen to those on the front line?

I was talking to my SM the other day and asked them why we were doing something a certain way and I was told because our RM said to. I then asked if the RM had ever worked in a store and the answer I got was "No". I wasn't surprised.

[lattegal]

iokua79 -

Why didn't they give direction at the same conference call to stop sampling, stop PDP conversations, Stop reviews, Stop going out to do slides, stop going out onto the sales floor to sell a machine, stop filling out your passport, stop changing light bulbs....

They didn't tell you this because they expect you to do it...that's why. They want you to keep doing more with less...much less.

But the sad thing is is that people are all ready taking shortcuts and now they will take even bigger ones which will dilute our brand.

[sad; incredibly sad]

I'm over my tears. I'm done pouting. I can't change much. But I can continue to make perfect drinks. I will no longer take pride in the store but that's no longer a requirement. I will still feel bad for the people who pull their cars in; can't find a spot because the line is long, and pull out without a drink Sometimes, I see that happen 20 times in an hour. Whatever. I'll do the best while I'm there. It wont be good enough but it is what it is.

iokua79: "Sweeping and mopping around the floor mats"
I laughed. But seriously, how long do you think it would take for the milk to start to stink? In the winter, maybe 3 days. That will save time. Maybe we could put "out of order" signs on the bathroom doors. More time saved.

[Mike]

I don't know how they can't see this backfiring. One of the things that used to be drilled into partners is the difference between preventative maintenance versus corrective maintenance. Preventative came from non-coverage and includes tasks such as cleaning the drains, cleaning the refrigerators, cleaning the coils, cleaning air ducts, things of that nature. So now that we've completely had any possibility of those things being done taken away from us, what's going to happen? Drains will start to back up, fruit flies will increase, refrigerators and coffee grinders will start breaking down, ventilation systems will crap out and break down. So a few months from now, all that money that was saved in cutting labor and non-coverage will get re-invested in facilities costs (corrective maintenance).
It doesn't take a genius to see the complete and utter failure of this decision. I won't even earn enough non-coverage to have a complete admin day! It makes me think there's something else going on, like maybe they're trying to make themselves look better to potential buyers.
We can't believe in our leadership anymore. Their words are simply to try to motivate us for a little while longer by giving us false hope and then stabbing us in the backs.
The worst part is that it's our baristas and our shift supervisors who have to take the heat from customers. I sure hope our customers don't think it's our fault when they're standing in a line to the door looking at a dirty store and two very pissed off and burned out partners behind the line.
Nice job senior leadership...just when we thought you couldn't do anything dumber...

[snagger]

Almost all of the people who dealt with forward looking projects were terminated at the SSC back in July.SBUX is looking forward to next month not next year.Preventative maintenance isn't needed if the store is closed down.HR's work on bonus and incentive programs is tossed aside if you don't plan on having employees.

[Zenster]

Times are tough for all. There was a time when they took all of our NC away. I agree it's a bad idea to cut labor and it won't take long for your sales and CV to tell the story.

[SoOverIt]

It's not the non-coverage that's the issue. The larger issue is a labor compliance of negative three percent. That is what will kill off Starbucks.

Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining Mister Schultz.

[THE VOICE]

it seems foolish to cut labor right in time for the holidays! but yet, they expect for the month of Dec to be extremely busy, and maintain our customers with being short staff. I think what Howard should do is drop his annually labor to $1 just like the google founders, and now GM, Chrysler, Ford are doing! I'm sure that would make at least a dent! Why is it that it's all on the hands of the SM's??

[Kathy]

Sounds to me like you need to unionize. I have been a union member for many years. There are pros & cons to being in a union but for the most part employees who are in a union have fairer working conditions. I have seen (and been on the receiving end)of some nonfavorable situations come about as the result of a union contract but in the long run I believe I have benefited from being in that union.
I am in no way trying to ruffle feathers here, just stating my observations.

[lattegal]

Yes, December with Christmas in just 3 weeks it does seem CRAZY to cut labor anymore than it already is. This is when you will have a flux of people in who may not have been in for awhile, celebrating with friends, giving themselves a little gift, Christmas shopping...

And our leadership team decides that cutting the staff back is a good idea. Ummm....

[Zenster]

So what do you do? How do you make a positive change to what seems like a bad leadership choice? I don't think now is a great time to go looking for a new job.

[Hanging in There]

A quote from our conference call today. "Starbucks is still a very healthy company. We will still make Millions of dollars this year." - at what cost!

[erstwhile]

So, my question is... what does the company do when SM's can't meet these expectations? Fire us all?

[kathy koffee]

I am so looking forward to meeting the schedule geni's and deep clean geni's that will be coming into our store after we are closed for the night. No way would Howard leave us out there all alone to deal with this.

[blah]

really guys?! you are the biggest bunch of babies that i have ever heard of!!!! you all must be really shitty managers if you can't figure out how to manage your time. i get all my admin done in 4 hours, with my schedule posted 3 weeks out and working on the 4th. all my #'s and labor are fine too. don't blame it on ss either. if they truly suck thats your problem your problem...your the boss..hold them accountable!!!

[jr brown]

No big deal. 2 hours a day to trim. my sm explained it to me and she stated it means less overlaps and sharper focus.

[green_cup]

You know, I'm pretty critical of Starbucks position now, regarding costs and shareholder value, but I'm right there with the baristas on this issue.

You have to INVEST in your business to make it grow. While it's smart to adjust things like labor hours on a continuous basis, I think this reeks of desperation. Why does Starbucks say work at negative labor? Why not just adjust everyone's labor hours down to where "par" should be.

From the customer standpoint, having a dirty store to sit in only after waiting in line for a beverage whose cost goes up every year or so sounds so infuriating to me. I can imagine that this will only drive business down further. It's like a death spiral!

Less Hours Now => Service Issues => Less Happy Customers => Less Customers Spending Less Money => Lower Sales => Less Hours ... and on and on and on.

As a customer and investor, this has to be the absolute worst move I've ever seen executed by management. If I were a barista, I'd just about quit. I would never (even personally) want to hold the current Starbucks' employees accountable for running a decent show for customers and return any profit to the investor under these conditions.

This is disrespectful to so many people, but, in this case, the employee does come first and I'm so sorry!

[Take BackBux]

exmgr11yrs- I absolutely agree with you; we should take back the store...but how?

Sbux is happy that the economy is bad, jobs are scarce, and for some of us, Sbux is the ONLY job we have (or can get) now, so the bosses feel that we have no choice but to take whatever they dish out. (That's not just Sbux, by the way, it's a familiar scenario all over).

So...being that I am all for a change, but still need the job...what to do?

[SirenBlazing]

And this is why I have always believed that those chosen few who work at the SSC should be required - yes, REQUIRED - to work in the retail store environment for at least 2 weeks prior to stepping foot in the SSC. These people have no idea about what the store environment is like, how things operate, where the pain points are, etc. Yet they are largely responsible for developing these asinine policies, promotions, and procedures that are rolled out to all the retail locations. It's no wonder Starbucks is failing. They control everything centrally and give little trust or authority to the stores - to the people who really know best how things are working - and it's just not working.

When you know better, you do better. The SSC people don't understand the retail environment. It's just a fact. And they don't trust you or your judgement. If you haven't figured that out already, you better do it now.

Starbucks is quickly devolving into a soulless, irrelevant, and unimaginative company that cares more about the numbers and shareholders than the things it used to truly value. It's very sad to watch. But, they've taken their eye off the ball.

It may not be about the coffee. But it's certainly not now about the people. It's about the money. Plain and simple.