Let the baristas do more than just serve coffee - what we can learn from Starbucks
via nytimes.com
A few weeks ago, the New York Times reported a rebound-inducing trend at Starbucks: giving the frontlines more autonomy. (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/business/21sbux.html) Howard Schultz, Starbuck’s CEO, told a group of employees to “do things for yourself,” and the rebound began.
On two levels, the importance of front-line empowerment is no surprise: As a customer, I remember the moment I realized Starbucks had “gone corporate,” disempowered the frontlines, and relegated its baristas to producing coffee—but not much more. Around the same time, the company—which was founded on the idea of replacing America’s mediocre cup ’o joe with “the authenticity of the coffee experience”—replaced its locally baked pastries with confections mass-produced somewhere else.
I didn't bother to tell the cashier about my dissatisfaction. Would any communication to them translate into fresh-baked, locally produced pastries? Doubtful. Some MBA (full disclosure: I’m one, too) at headquarters had figured out that Starbucks made X% more per pastry when it sold mass-produced treats. No matter how vociferously I might have complained to the frontline staff, it would have amounted to nothing more than shouting into the abyss. So I kept my mouth shut. And went to Peet’s.
The importance of frontline empowerment is no surprise at a second level. The literature about great companies (Built to Last, In Search of Excellence) identifies a number of excellent company traits that portend Starbucks’ empowerment of the frontlines.
The literature suggests that great companies treat their employees as adults, with respect and trust, and give them a high degree of autonomy. “They encourage employees to ‘do’ first (and a lot), ‘analyze’ later and keep what works, in a cycle of ‘try, try again.’ They keep their finger on the pulse of the marketplace by keeping customers close.
How do these traits translate for Starbucks? Give your baristas, who work closest to the customer, greater autonomy. They are your best finger on the pulse of the marketplace. Encourage them to experiment, and then determine which of their experiments work. The innovations may take off at other locations, too.
That seems to be just what Starbucks is doing. According to The New York Times, the company is treating its stores as learning laboratories. Innovations that flourish in one store will be introduced elsewhere. The company is turning to its baristas, instead of just its executives, and discovering some interesting things. For example, coffee tastes are not the same across the country. Northeasterners favor drip coffee and Northwesterners prefer espresso drinks.
Schultz is right in telling his employees to “do things for yourself.” That’s the best first step. But if he wants to optimize the roll-up-your-sleeves, get-things-done, spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship he’s re-unleashing at Starbucks, then he should consider Customer Experience Management (CEM), a technology that enables frontline empowerment and harnesses it to drive company excellence. And while Starbucks is at it, could it reintroduce locally produced pastries? That would save me 5 minutes of commuting time (to Peet’s) every morning!
About us: Medallia software enables the whole company to listen to customer feedback and systematically act to improve the customer experience: http://medallia.com
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