Abstract
Employee training is critical for any organization to succeed. A company such as Starbucks takes pride in the quality and consistency of its products. The company has a need for a new training program. The training needs assessment, setting up of objectives, choosing training design, the mode of training delivery, and training evaluation have already been completed and delivered to Starbucks. This paper will outline the Starbucks training program. It will enunciate the advantages of the training for the individual as well as the organization.
Keywords: Training Design, Starbucks
Introduction
Starbucks has a philosophy of treating employees as partners so that they act like partners. They are aware that the strong loyalty that Starbucks enjoys with its customers is directly related to the way the employees are developed. The tradition at Starbucks is to create a learning community, right from the new hires to the existing employs, by having the right new hire orientation and the right professional and personal development training programs. For Baristas, they follow the 70/20/10 training approach where they get 70% of their training on the job, 20% through feedback and mentorship, and 10% through online modularized curriculum.
Requirements for the training program
The earlier assessment that was done reports the following findings.
The training should be a formal training with and delivered in a blended mode that is a combination of classroom, on the job, internet-based or computer-based, and one-on-one training that is easier for the new employees.
The training programs must help the employees learn to deal with real-life scenarios as well as help them with their continuous learning. The employees must be provided with training material that they can take home to learn.
The evaluation should culminate in the successful trainees receiving certifications.
There should be a basic training program for baristas, a program for shift supervisors, and another for those in the retail management.
New Employee Orientation
New employee orientation is an opportunity for the company to make the best first impression. It can be used to introduce the employee to the company, its staff, and its policies and procedures.
Benefits for Starbucks: If done right, it reduces the start-up costs as the employee can be up and running quickly once he is up to speed on the various policies and procedures. It makes the employee feel valued, it provides the employee with the knowledge of the tools available for performing the duties, and it lets the employee know about Starbucks values thereby reducing the turnover. It reduces the time that the employee needs help to perform the duties so that the supervisors and co-workers’ productivity is affected.
Benefits for the employee: Feels less stressed starting a new job due to the orientation. Will be able to perform quickly as the employee is aware of all the tools, policies, and procedures. Will not have to rely on and trouble his supervisor and coworkers too much.
Apart from this, every employee has to do mandatory training once a year in the following, at their convenience: 1) Ethics, 2) Sexual harassment, 3) Multicultural, 4) and Communications training. These can be delivered via internet-based or computer-based training, with questionnaires at the end to evaluate that the employee has understood the subject matter. This will ensure that the company is doing its due diligence in case of any lawsuits and it will also ensure that the employees know how to avoid behaviors that are not sanctioned.
Barista Basics Training Program
The Barista Basics will be as follows and will be delivered in-house using instructor lead training for a group. The total time the training is expected to take is about three hours to 4 hours.
Overview/Agenda
Welcome/Coffee Tasting, Learning Objectives, Message from Howard, Customer & Barista Video, and Starbucks Espresso Standards
Breakout Groups
Espresso, Milk, Delivering the Espresso Excellence, Team Challenge, Barista Accountability, and Team Commitment and Close
These tasks will include the trainees actually performing the tasks. The trainers will lead them through the tasks and each action and the reason why these actions are performed are explained. For example,
Delivering the Espresso Excellence
Steam fresh milk in small pitchers
Explain the Why: 1) Freshly steamed milk has better flavor, body and texture than re-steamed milk, 2) When using a small pitcher milk will be incorporated into a beverage in the shortest amount of time possible after steaming, 3) A small pitcher allows the thermometer to be submerged far enough to get an accurate temperature reading
Pour double shots into shot glasses
Explain the Why: 1) Double shots obtain the desired flavor profile for our Espresso, single shots do not, 2) Shot glasses allow Baristas to visually inspect shots and see the rate of pour
Time shots on an hourly basis and adjust grind as needed
Explain the Why: 1) Timing shots on an hourly basis allows us to monitor quality, 2) By adjusting the grind to the shot time standard we will achieve the desired flavor profile
Handcraft the perfect beverage by following the recipes and ensuring the beverage made is what the customer ordered
Explain the Why: 1) Through feedback, our customers have let us know how important it is to receive the beverage they ordered and paid for.
Handoff Connection Behaviors: 1) Engage the customers with a smile or eye contact, 2) Get to know the customer by drink or name, 3) Present customer with a high-quality beverage customized for them, 4) Express genuine appreciation and invite customers back
Explain the Why: 1) Customers tell us that they are more likely to return and recommend our store to their friends when they are recognized by name/drink and we engage them in conversation
Benefits for Starbucks: The employee has a firsthand experience of the Starbucks operations. The employee understands the sequence of steps that have to be taken for preparing each beverage and the specific reasons about why those steps are required due to which the employee will remember those steps and practice them. It becomes clear to the employee that, due to these steps, the beverage that is prepared is of the highest standard and hence will take pride in the preparation.
Benefits for the employee: The beverage making is accomplished through a series of steps and they do not vary. They can, therefore, be documented and the employee can refer to those instructions at a later date. This is especially important as there are many different types of beverages and the employee may not be able to memorize the making all of them. Once these instructions are documented, the employee will be able to follow them easily.
Shift Supervisor’s training
The training for the shift supervisor is designed as follows:
The roles and responsibilities of a shift supervisor, knowledge about culture/mission/vision, soft skills to evaluate customer cues and anticipate needs, coaching and mentoring (Six stages of coaching) skills, how to assist in partner training by providing one-on-one coaching and mentoring, the Key Performance Indicators, managing behaviors and managing results, the process to Improve communication abilities, the principles of motivation (the four R’s), managing the cash handling activities, delegation of tasks, and health and safety standards.
The shift supervisor gets the new employee orientation training at some point (mostly at the time of joining) and is expected to complete the mandatory in-house training. The training is delivered in a blended mode over a 12 to 15-week mode.
Benefits for Starbucks: Clarity of roles and responsibilities will help the employee perform better, which is always good for the company. Team motivation, coaching, and mentoring skills will help the team perform better and reduce separations. This saves money and costs.
Benefits for employee: The employee will be able to perform and come up to speed quickly. This helps the employee’s self-confidence. The soft skills that are learned here will be something the employees can take with them and will help them in their life, beyond the job.
Retail Manager or Store Manager’s training
The training is designed to let the Retail Manager or Store Manager understand:
The roles and responsibilities of a store manager (Managing the store and the team), the Key Performance Indicators, managing behaviors and managing results, coaching and mentoring (Six stages of coaching), the process to Improve communication abilities, the principles of motivation (the four R’s), the process of Goal setting (SMART Goals), delegation of tasks, the Individual and Store-level activities, and the process for driving towards daily accomplishments.
Apart from the above, there are break-out activities for understanding the impediments to long-term success such as hiring decisions, training, score carding, inventory, merchandising, marketing, and compensation. The process for expectation setting and communicating them to the team, advising, coaching, and mentoring, managing promotional activities, and similar activities are taken up. The store managers should have received the new employment orientation at the time they had joined Starbucks, they must have completed the Barista basic training, even if they are never going to be Baristas before they are eligible for this training. This training happens over 10 to 12 weeks (not full time). The training is delivered in a blended mode with some aspects delivered through instructor lead training and others through one-on-one training, on the job training, and internet-based training.
Benefits for Starbucks: The store managers have a clarity of what the roles and responsibilities are. This is always helpful. The store managers are aware of what the key performance indicators are so they can focus on them. They have the tools to mentor, coach, and motivate the team so that is good for the company.
Benefits for the employee: These are skills that will help the store managers in completing their day-to-day work successfully. Due to the clarity, they can focus on the essentials. These are skills that they can take with them everywhere so it helps them improve their career and personality.
Conclusion
Starbucks has a culture of a learning organization and has a record of building successful careers for its employees, whom it calls partners. The training programs have been designed keeping this in mind. Most of the training in Starbucks is customer oriented and hence they utilize breakouts, video training, role play sessions, and other similar methods. The recipes and the step-by-step methods for making them are documented and made available to the baristas in a book (the Green Book) to which they can refer in case of a need. The above training design addresses all facets of the job needs and will help Starbucks achieve its goal of performance and customer oriented culture.
References
Nelson, B., 1998. Workforce. [Online] Available at: http://www.workforce.com/articles/how-starbucks-is-offering-not-just-jobs-but-careers[Accessed 1 April 2016].
Portolese, L. D., 2012. Beginning management of human resources. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Romenesko, J., 2008. Starbucks Gossip. [Online] Available at: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/_/2008/02/small-coffee-ro.html[Accessed 1 April 2016].
Starbucks, 2016. Opportunity to be more than an employee: to be a partner. [Online] Available at: globalassets.starbucks.com//f2f1c0c2ec434f08af5cfe40d6d57d26.pdf[Accessed 2 April 2016].
