Workplace Ethnography In Starbucks Case Study Examples

A work environment is a place where various types of people and personalities converge to either produce results or provide a service. For this ethnography paper, the focus of study is a Starbucks coffee shop in New Jersey, specifically, the servers. The duration of study went on for three days with the approval of the store manager, aged 40, and who belonged to Generation X. The highlight of the study is the customs of employees in the presence or absence of customers in the coffee shop. I chose Starbucks for this study because the company is known for its excellent service, as well as the training it provides its employees prior to actual work assignment. While the focus of the paper is on the behavior of the employees, gender and hierarchy of roles proved to be important bases as well for the changing behaviors that the servers exhibited during the study.
Despite serving the same company, what was observable in the servers is how different they act and react towards occurrences in the coffee shop. Thus, it does not follow that employees of a company will provide the same level of service to their customers at all times even if they undergo the same trainings before the actually work in Starbucks. My expectations during the observation period include understanding whether their actions will change when there are more customers present in the coffee shop and how they deal with ill-tempered customers.
Starbucks is normally busy during mornings and late afternoons when office workers are on their way to work, on a break, or spending after-office (or after-school) meets with friends. With customers coming in and out of the shop during those hours, the servers, cashier, and baristas were often on their toes attending to the needs of the customers. Their actions were swift and the only conversations they had among each other involved orders and customer requests. When a grumpy customer walked in, the attending barista was very accommodating and patient in dealing with the customer, which was much the same way she dealt with the more pleasant customers. I also noted that the women either played the role of the barista or the cashier, while the men assisted customers in carrying their orders, cleaned the tables, or mopped the floor. Seldom did they change roles. In addition, the age group of the servers and baristas was 18-25 years old who belonged to the so-called Generation Y, and mostly, the “older” employees were the ones handling the cashiering tasks.
On the other hand, during “dead hours” when customers were only in trickles, the employees’ demeanor also changed. The atmosphere was more relaxed, their actions were deliberately slow, and they often talked to one another about their personal lives. The barista that handled the difficult customer also gossiped about her experience with the difficult customer, even in the presence of other customers. Sometimes, the younger baristas were also sitting on customer tables and either texting or listening to their iPods. At one point, I even saw a young woman barista enter the restroom and stay there for over 10 minutes, coming out with her makeup retouched. In contrast, the older members of the workforce remained professional in their conduct.
In conclusion, despite uniform training provided to employees and a company’s resolve for high and consistent work output and conduct with or without customers, employees still tend to become lax on company guidelines when they are just among themselves. It is very much similar to how students conduct themselves in a classroom set up when the teacher is not around, or a typical work environment where the boss is away. In front of the customers, both Generations acted professionally regardless if they were serving a young child, adolescents, or the elders. However, the generational differences between the employees, Generation X (the baristas and servers) and Generation Y (store manager) was very evident when there are no customers around. The X Gens used mostly jargon that was common to their age group ("dude", "man", "pal") when addressing themselves, but maintained a formal and professional demeanor in front of customers. On the other hand, the Y Gen employees were able to sustain a professional conduct and appearance with or without customers. Thus, I concluded that employees understand their roles and responsibilities and act according to what is expected of them, however, without the customers to serve, their behavior changes to the point of acting differently than is necessary. Another point worthy of attention is how they reacted when their work spaces were "invaded". The younger generation was more giving and warm, while the older generation was not. I attribute this to the age of the employees because apparently, the Generation X are still immature in their ways and thinking, unlike the older generation was stricter but always ensured to keep a happy and professional disposition. This could also be due to the Gen X's wide personal experiences and maturity level that is why they are more prim and proper in their actions. Finally, this exercise has taught me the importance of consistency and high level of service when it comes to treating customers.