Customer : For Partners

A Note from Starbucks Access Alliance

_sbx_lbri — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:52:00 GMT

Hi there,

I am an Idea Partner here at Starbucks working in the marketing department. I do have another role here in the company and that is being the co-president of the Starbucks Access Alliance (SAA). The SAA is a great network of people here at Starbucks whose mission is to promote equal access for all partners and customers. We connect with each other around disability issues and keep the concept of accessibility and universal design at the forefront of our daily work.

As I was going through the site and saw the Your Employees idea, it got me thinking about how proud I am to work for Starbucks. This isn’t the first time I have heard a story similar to this one. What really strikes me is that this company has a lot of soul and simply sees people as human beings.

We hear about a variety of groups that like to meet in our stores. Everyday we are trying to improve their Starbucks experience and implement a more universal store design. Take our lowered hand off planes as an example. It makes picking up your drink easier for everyone, including people who use wheelchairs, people of short stature, and the baristas handing you your drink too.

Last month each of the stores received a Braille and Large Print version of the “Make It Your Drink” brochure. They are in every one of our stores across the U.S.

I must say that I am very proud to work at Starbucks and I am excited to see what we will do in the future. We know we have done some great things but there is still a long way to go…

Thanks again for sharing!

Leigh

Creating community with Farmers in Costa Rica

sbx_kand — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:03:00 GMT

Through this site and other conversations partners and customer have asked us how we connect with coffee farmers in origin country. Since 2001, Starbucks has partnered with Earthwatch Institute in Boston, MA. Earthwatch is an incredible organization and if you don’t know who they are you should check out their website at www.earthwatch.org.

Since 2007, we’ve been partnering with Earthwatch on a project in the Tarrazu Region of Costa Rica called “Sustainable Coffee Farming”. Through this project, we have the ability to send a limited number of partners and customers to Costa Rica each year to meet farmers and work along side them on their farms. Our partners and customers get to ask the questions that they’ve always wanted to ask of a coffee farmer, they get to see how coffee farmers are impacted by C.A.F.E. Practices and many other certification programs.

This is the second year of a three-year project and so far we’ve gathered a significant amount of data. This project is looking at many aspects of growing sustainable coffee and environmental impacts of growing coffee. It also connects us to our broader community and gives farmers a chance to learn about what happens to their coffee once it leaves the mill. Farmers, customers and partners end their two week adventure together with a big family-style dinner where everyone gets an opportunity to tell their story. Some Farmers stand up and say (after seeing pictures of their coffee on display in a Starbucks store) things like “I had no idea people took so much time to display coffee so carefully,” “I had no idea a customer would really care how I was treated,” etc.

You can read what customers and partners say about this amazing, often life-changing, experience by reading their blog at www.earthwatch2.org/starbucks.

We will use this forum (and others) to tell you more specifics about what we’ve learned in conjunction with Earthwatch about sustainable coffee farming practices at the end of this project.

This year we ran an essay contest to select eight partners from Starbucks in the U.S. and certain International Markets to join us on this great project. We also ran a sweepstakes online to select 20 customers from the U.S. and Canada to participate in August and September.

Stay tuned in 2009 to learn more about Earthwatch.

Recycling at the SSC

sbx_kand — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:02:00 GMT

If you are a regular reader on this site, you’ve seen a number of ideas and suggestions for improvement about recycling.

Here are a few ideas:

Offer recycling of paper cups
Offer composting in all stores
Start using a plastic cup that is recyclable

While we don’t yet have an answer for every store, we’ve started a significant effort to improve--more to come on that in future blogs. I also thought it would be illustrative to take some time to tell you what we’re doing at the Seattle Support Center—that’s the name for our world headquarters here in Seattle. This building is 2.3 million square feet (trivia bit: more square footage than any other single building in Seattle) and about three thousand partners work here. Recycling is a key component of life at the SSC.

At a glance, here is what we do:

All kitchens stocked w/ ceramic coffee cups
All kitchens offer recycling of plastic and aluminum
Most kitchen offer glass recycling
Many kitchens offer composting which offers our partners and building visitors the ability to compost coffee grounds, food waste, flowers, used paper towels and used paper plates.
Hands free faucets and soap dispensers which help to minimize water waste and excessive soap use.
Environmentally friendly dish soap so that you can wash your reusable dishes
Partners are encouraged to use their own re-usable dishes for their meals instead of paper plates and plastic serveware.
Desk side recycling so that partners can put their paper in the appropriate bin right at their desk.
We’re even piloting no garbage cans desk side on a few floors.
Lights and the HVAC System are on automatic sensors and are programmed to go on and off as appropriate for the work flow on that floor.
Waterless urinals in the men's restrooms that save over 30,000 gallons of water every month

The SSC is one of the largest LEED-EB Gold Certified (Leadership in energy and environmental design) buildings in the world and we are proud of that.

The step we’re working on now is to find ways to work with you and with your local communities to achieve this level of environmental stewardship in more of our stores around the world.

Testing E-pay Statements for Starbucks Partners

sbx_Tman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:54:00 GMT

Hey there partners, it's Scooter here. I’m so excited to share my first blog post with you. I’m writing from my desk in my cube at the Starbucks Support Center. I am pleased to share that your idea about Electronic pay E-pay statements is actually being tested for a company-wide rollout.

I was really excited to hear about this program because like many of you, when payday rolls around and I get my pay stub, I just stick it in a drawer, or in my pocket or a random pile of papers somewhere and forget about it. And then when I actually need it for something, it’s nowhere to be found.

That’s why the E-Pay statement program is so great. When it rolls out, you’ll be able to quickly get any pay statement you want. But there are a few little kinks we need to iron out first. Currently, there are about 600 non-retail partners who are playing around with a demo version of the new tool. One of the big issues we face is that there are laws in different states that tell us what we can and can’t do for you regarding your pay. That may be the biggest hurdle, believe it or not. We’ll keep working on that and see what happens.

I have checked out the E-Pay statements and let me tell you, they’re pretty cool. You can see all kinds of detailed information about your pay that doesn’t show up on your paycheck, and best of all, you can’t ever lose them.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as I find out more info.

Cheers.

Under Review—Partners

MSI Team — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Greetings Partners and Customers. There has been a lot of discussion about our dress code—certainly on the partner site, but also on the customer site. We wanted to let you all know that this idea is officially “under review”. This includes a host of ideas on the partner site from posts about tattoos to “Casual Fridays”. Stay tuned for updates!

Partner Ideas “Under Review”

MSI Team — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:08:00 GMT

Some of you may not know this, but we also have a My Starbucks Idea expressly for our partners (employees). It’s their place to share ideas and discuss the things that matter most to them—both around the partner experience and customer experience.

Unfortunately, we don’t yet have an Ideas in Action blog just for partners (although we’re feverishly working on it!). But we definitely wanted to recognize the tremendous contributions and participation we’ve seen from our partners by featuring some of their great ideas here…

So here they are—some of the ideas “Under Review” from the partner site:

A 24-Hour Store In Naperville, IL
Dress Code Changes
Electronic Pay Stubs
Different options for the partner markout (a partner perk which currently is a pound of coffee per week) including the ability to donate coffee to charity
A high quality coffee container
Increase the 10 cent personal cup discount
A marking on hot cups indicating for "room for cream"
The return of Valencia syrup
Soy-based Frappuccino® blended beverages
Starbucks facts printed on our cups

Partners: thank you, and please keep those ideas and comments coming!

Our Partners Wearing Name Tags or Sewn Aprons

sbx_arch — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:01:00 GMT

I'm an Idea Partner in Seattle and on the Partner Resources (a.k.a. Human Resources) team. It has been great to see the passionate discussions between our customers and partners on this topic over the past few days. I truly appreciate your honesty and different points of view—it's refreshing! As a partner and loyal customer of Starbucks, I definitely understand both perspectives on this idea. Many of you feel that adding names to faces will facilitate a better connection and make the interactions even more personal. On the other hand, some of you feel that it's too formal, it creates a fast-food feel, it's not necessary, or it's too personal.

Our store partners are the first point of contact for many of our customers. Besides the quality of our coffee drinks and products, it's the service and human connection our partners provide that keep customers coming back. As I reflect on how the human connection is created, I think of many possibilities...a smile, a hello, an acknowledgment, an introduction, an inquiry, a conversation, or a simple "thank you." Also, you may notice that we have a sign in our stores saying, "Your barista is..." This is another way for us to foster that connection. In my view, these types of actions and interactions bring a sense of belonging and the third place to our customers the moment they step in the door.

Could nametags or sewn aprons facilitate the human connection between our partners and customers? Possibly. We tested the nametag idea in the Northeast several years ago. At that time, we decided not to move forward because the feedback was that it created a "fast-food" atmosphere. It's something we’ll continue to evaluate and discuss and we’ll definitely update you if it gets implemented in the future.

Connection is what makes us a different kind of company to our customers. If you have ideas on other ways we can enhance that connection, I encourage you to share them with us! Thanks.