Say something nice to your boss today, then post to the OPEN THREAD

In case you didn't hear, it's National Bosses Day! Discuss your boss (nothing libelous, please!) or chat about anything else Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Comments

[spence]

There are some baristas at my store which are hungry. My SM would not tolerate food theft but she turns a blind eye to sandwich markouts being put into the partner food bin in the fridge. She also doesn't care if someone takes pastry items from the bins which are set aside for the food pantry. Marked out food is thrown out 24 hours after it has expired. No one steals from the pastry case and some of the poorer baristas aren't going to be hungry.

[spence]

Come on Peeps. Certainly you can think of something nice to say about your SM.

[east coast mgr]

ok, so I am an SM, have been for years ... what should I say about myself:) ??

[east coast mgr]

Currently have a pretty decent DM ... little micro manage-ish, but not too bad haha, thnx DM!!

[Barista Bandit]

My SM is by far the best boss I've ever had. A great trainer, very supportive, and a team player. You will find my SM cleaning drains, doing trash runs, and other grudging tasks. We have fun in my store. We may not hit every goal every time, but the SM makes you want to be there and want to strive for excellence!

[K8]

my SM is absolutely the BEST most incredible manager ever. she's a team player, incredibly understanding while still enforcing & embracing the company. she trusts & believes in us...encourages our throughts & ideas, as well as the customers. she's truly like a second-mom to all of us while still keeping it real. a wife & mother of 4, she is one of the strongest women i know. she has survived cancer 3 times & has the best attitude in the world...and the best laugh! she genuinely loves starbucks & its reflected onto her partners. i only wish everyone could experience working for her. she's such a blessing in our lives! sbux soro <3s M.P.!

[Hipsterdufus]

Bosses day. :( It has been 3 years since my employees have mentioned anything. Which is fine, I wouldn't even notice if it weren't for the sweet celebration my store I was in 3 years ago did for me. They got me a hilarious card (that was quite relevant to all of us) everyone wrote sweet messages and they suprised me! It was very nice.

I on the other hand, love my boss. My DM is supportive, understanding, reasonable, and is helping me get where I want to be in my career.

[Shifted]

Something nice about my boss? OK... my boss is not Howard Schultz.

[Hipsterdufus]

lol that post was all "me me me"!

I love my partners, they work their ass off and put up with my high standards, thats reward enough for me.

[AreYouKidding]

When mico managing isn't enough - nano managing (real word, look it up)! That is my boss. I would have given him a card today but since he did not tell me what to get, how much to pay for it, where to buy it, what color ink to use when signing the card, cursive or print, centered, left margin, right margin, envelope, not etc, etc, etc I did not get him anything. Hmmm - now that I think about it, he did get just what he deserves.

[AreYouKidding]

Whoops - I meant micro managing. Sorry, my boss was not here to tell me what to type.

[baristamclane]

On a scale of crappy to stinkin' awesome, my manager falls in the midrange. A lot of my fellow partners don't like him and claim he's the worst boss ever, but I've had enough nightmare managers (and bosses from other jobs) to be able to appreciate the hard work he puts into our store. When you take into account that he's only been with the company for a year, I can't help but be impressed by how much knowledge he has acquired in such a short amount of time. Sometimes his optimism gets on my nerves though...

[Guat.my.mala]

Happy Boss's day! (to myself...)

[formerpartner]

My boss ROCKS. He is fair, stretches me, gives me opportunities to work on projects and pilots outside of my normal job duties. He asks questions to guide me to the right answers, instead of just telling me the right answer.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that my boss does NOT work for Sbux anymore, nor do I.

Last Sbux boss drove me out of there after several years of hard work and dedication, and I've never looked back.

[DCbux]

Does anyone know when this year's Thanksgiving Blend will be in stores? This has always been my favorite seasonal variety.

["Guy"]

I was a barista from 2006 to 2007, when I became a shift and a Coffee Master. All my customers loved me and the regional management was great and appreciated my hard work. Then, another female barista was being sexually harassed, which I witnessed, so I stuck up for her when she reported it. Management didn't want to hear it and we were both forced to resign....we weren't given any choice. Fittingly, the sexual harasser angered a customer who happened to be a personal friend of Howard Schultz, so he was fired and management completely reamed.

So, things have changed for me in the past few years, my writing hasn't been as fruitful as I thought, and I probably need to return back in some capacity. I'm an intelligent barista and know what I'm doing, especially when it comes to increasing daily sales and holding coffee tastings. I would like to apply for my old job again, although I live in a different area of the country. I'm sure they'd check the personnel records and see all the drama that went on when I was trying to back up my fellow barista, and to do what was right. I'm scared this would deny me any chance at even an interview - what do you guys think? Should I go for it? This area could desperately use some coffee events and tastings!

Guy

[Hipsterdufus]

Guy. I thnink you should reapply.

You might be listed as "not rehireable" but the big secret is that it means nothing. Anyone can be rehired if the hiring SM deems them worthy.

[Dottie]

My boss is the biggest gossip of all. Don't ever make the mistake of confiding anything in her if you don't want the rest of the district to know. And then she will deny she ever said anything.

[Canada Rules]

I am a DM who has a great RD and an even better RVP....I have been with Starbucks for over a decade because of the fantastic people I have worked for, and for the great people on my team - from my SMs to the baristas!

[vanillabean]

So...my SM only lets two people per day request a day off, never is at the store past 3pm, gives herself every holiday and every Sunday off (which means only one other person gets those days off), micromanages us to the point where we feel persecuted, scheduled two baristas for 12 hour days recently, and plays games with our tips. If someone's till is short, she takes it out of the tips, and she has made it a store policy, if you work a holiday, that only those who work that holiday get the tips for that day-everyone else gets only 6 days worth.
Needless to say, no gift for Boss's Day again this year.

[Petie]

Vanillabean, Your SM is breaking policies, this should be brought to the attention of the DM or take it to the next level. Call the Business Conduct.

[dottie]

Vanillabean, if someone's register is over does it go into tips?

[cordelia]

Kate is an awesome store manager. She not only cares for the store, but also cares for us as people. She is kind, classy and beautiful. I feel blessed to have her as a manager.she is not arrogant and listens to suggestions.

[baristamclane]

I agree with Petie. It's one thing if your manager is less than likable, but what she is doing is stealing. She should not be handling tips AT ALL.

[baristabarbie]

Did anyone else see coconut listed in the syrups?? Are we getting it?

[Hipsterdufus]

actually there is no policy that says SM's can't handle tips. There is a policy though that tip money and register money should not intermingle. There is also an ethics problem with covering up overshorts with tip money. You should report that to the Business Conduct hotline asap.

[baristamclane]

Hipsterdufus, what I have always been told is that managers are not supposed to handle tips, including dropping them, or distributing them, since they are salaried partners and therefore not elligible to earn tips. I'm going to look this up when I work next though.

Baristabarbie, I did see the coconut button last night!

[Coffee Drinker]

My boss is generous with Starbucks coffee.

And now for the news: USA today say Starbucks is going to serve alcohol. See article http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-10-18-starbucks18_CV_N.htm

I give this idea a hearty thumbs down. I have drank plenty of coffee in pubs, breweries, and European cafes. I'm not against that experience.

However, I only do so in a pinch. I do NOT want Starbucks to be a bar. Don't want the smell, the ambience, the breath, the loudness. This is just about the end of Starbucks for me.

Thank you for listening ; ) I know some will violently disagree, which will only further prove to me why I don't like this idea. Nothing personal.

[Hipsterdufus]

barista mclane: most people have the same impression, but we had a meeting with partner assets protection last month and our PRM told us it was a myth.

[A Non eMoose]

I explicitly remember reading, during training long ago or on the portal recently, I don't remember, that SMs are forbidden to touch the tips. My SM follows the same rule. Also vanillabean, it's also policy that people who work one of the few Sbux holidays (don't remember which ones they are besides xmas and 4th of july) split that days tips between themselves. As everyone else has told you though, everything else your SM is doing tip-wise goes against everything Sbux says about tips.

[Dottie]

SMs not being able to handle tips is an old wives tale. Check with PA&P. We had a meeting with them back in March and that is what was one of the things discussed.

[Mrs. Tillinghamshackles]

I don't violently disagree, but I do take issue with the idea that you will lose the smell of coffee because an occassional beer or glass of wine will be served. Starbucks hasn't had a super strong coffee aroma in a long time either way, and in Seattle, the independent coffee houses (which ALL serve beer and wine) have much much stronger coffee aromas than Starbucks.

[Waltie]

Every store has different policies dictating who can and can't handle, drop, and dole out tips. I've worked in some stores where only shifts do it, and other stores where baristas do it. As a rule of thumb, I prefer just having the shifts handle tips, but I'm pretty sure there are no hard and fast rules documented anywhere.

However, using tip money to cover shorts in the tills is theft pure and simple. Have a shift talk to your manager about it (and if none will, frankly, they shouldn't be shifts), and then talk to your DM, and any other store managers you know. This is theft and it needs to stop.

That's your money, not the manager's and certainly not the company's. Tell the DM immediately, since if the manager has no problems with stealing tips to correct store mistakes that he or she is probably causing (because if over/shorts are that common, somebody isn't managing your store properly), who knows what other illicit actions he or she are taking in other areas.

[otterinthewater]

@The manager tip thing- Ew. Just... Ew.

@The booze thing- I'd say if you don't like it, don't pop in to the stores selling it, though I sincerely doubt it'd be available, say, at 6am.

[redcup]

VIA Christmas Blend... the end of coffee as we know it or the start of something great or we don't care anymore?

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[baristamclane]

@A Non eMoose, None of the six stores I've worked in divvy out tips to just the partners who work on Starbucks holidays, except for Christmas. I never questioned it, because working on Christmas is voluntary, whereas working on Memorial Day is scheduled. I'm going to be thoroughly disappointed if I've been getting screwed out of tips for the past five years!

[Alex]

VIA Christmas Blend is what it is. It'll be useful for upselling as a "stocking stuffer" and be good for busy businesspeople on the go during the cold season. It can also open up more people to Starbucks via the instant coffee market.

However, instant coffee certainly shouldn't be a main focus of the "world's finest purveyor of coffees". It's good to build one's name, but bad to focus on the recent fad/gimmick to sustain oneself.

[Hipsterdufus]

according to the tip policy, we are allowed to divy tips up on any starbucks recognized holiday we choose to do. Most stores do Christmas because it is THE holiday that we need to give people incentive to work on and is also one of the biggest tipped days, so the partners that work that day certainly deserve to have tips for that day to themselves.

It is not mandatory to tip out on any day like this, only optional.

[Cam]

Long time customer, year old partner, first time commentator,

Does anyone know what has happened to Ethiopia Sidamo? My favorite. I couldn't care less about my markout now that it's gone...

[crema_the_crop]

Coconut??? Bleh. Give me ALMOND or give me death. An almond, whole milk cappuccino. Mmmmm.......

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