Management at Starbuck's

My interview with Matt, general manager at a busy Starbuck's on a mall property in the Phoenix area was squeezed in on a Monday afternoon, his best down time of the week.

The organizational structure is not unlike other retail/service stores. Each store has a general manager and an assistant manager, each with varying levels of duties. The difference between a general and assistant manager is basically the ability to order certain products. District managers oversee between 8 to 12 stores. Regional managers cover, of course, larger geographic areas, for example, part of Arizona, all of New Mexico and parts of Texas. Significant travel is a requirement at this level. Regional managers report to one of two vice national presidents of retail. Starbucks has over 12,000 stores and is moving toward a goal of 40,000 in the next few years. This means that district and regional managers' territories are always shifting.

Managers and assistant managers are the only employees considered full-time. All other employees are part-time and participate in benefits.

Matt is responsible for supervising about 18 employees. He sets their schedules does their performance evaluations. His theory of supervision is clear, "I work for them." If they have roadblocks to success, Matt removes those barriers. Like customer relations, supervision is based on relationships. When he talks about the supervisory aspect of his job, he uses words like coach and teach instead of supervise or manage.

Few of Matt's baristas have second jobs. Their motivation for work is that they work for a successful organization and they share in that success. Starbuck's is one of the Best 100 Places to Work. Starbuck's has a policy of promoting from within the organization. Approximately 60 percent of Starbuck's work force promotion is internal.

Matt has managed three stores in the past few years and took over his current store which was, at that time, considered under-performing. He used his management skills and gained the trust of the employees to change the culture of the store.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
STARBUCK'S RESOURCES
Here's a link to the Starbuck's unofficial gossip blog. Very interesting insider information about everything Starbuck's usually from the employee perspective.

Starbuck's union blog. Industrial Workers of the World's blog site to unite Starbuck's workers.