History of Starbucks

Starbucks is one of the best known and fastest growing companies in the world. Starbucks started in 1971 in Seattle by Jerry Baldwine, Zev Seigle, and Gordon Bawker. It started as a retail chain of only four stores in Seattle and has grown significantly since then. By the early 2000's there were nearly 9,000 Starbucks outlets across the world. Currently Starbucks has shown aggressive growth and has expanded its operations to include retail stores, specialty sales, merchandising, and mail order. Today Starbucks can be found in almost every city and Starbucks products can be found in every grocery store. Many restaurants proudly state the fact that they serve Starbucks coffee.

In January 2005 Starbucks was placed second among large companies in the Fortune "Best Companies to Work for" survey. The retail industry is notorious for its indifferent attitude towards employees, but Starbucks was different. Starbucks realized early on that motivated and committed human resources were the key to the success of a retail business. The company took great care in selecting the right kind of people and made an effort to retain them. Starbucks' recruitment motto was "To have the right people hiring the right people."

Starbucks is a very diverse company and takes pride that they embrace diversity. In 2008 and 2009 they scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index. Black Enterprise magazine has ranked Starbucks among the 40 Best Companies for Diversity in the U.S., 15 Best in Senior Management Diversity, and 15 Best in Corporate Board Diversity. They seek out and engage employees who are as diverse as the communities they serve. Starbucks supports and invests in local and global communities in culturally relevant ways. Starbucks proudly supports a large variety of diverse organizations. They are a very respected organization and they definitely value and take pride in diversity.

Starbucks invests quite a bit of time in training new employees. The more a company puts into training an employee, the more potential they will get out of that employee. Starbucks surely gets a lot out of their employee because they invest so much in every new employee. The company did not state the dollar amount, but stated that they spend more on partner recruitment and development than it does on advertising, which cost the company $68.3 million in fiscal 2004. They said, "Treat people like family and they will be loyal and give their all."

All new employees start work with a 24-hour paid training module called "First Impressions." Store managers along with district managers and company trainers generally teach the curriculum in this training. It focuses on coffee knowledge and how to create a positive customer experience. They learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee while being so friendly that the customer wants to come back for more. They are very specific in certain behaviors they want to see. For example, they like if the baristas know and use the customers name when they see regulars in the store. Managers and assistant store managers also take an additional 10 -week retail management training course.

One of the items in guiding principles to complete the mission and vision is to have a great work environment. Starbucks find that if they provide a positive environment for employees to work in, the employees will be more dedicated and loyal to the company. Happiness among the employees is something Starbucks really strives for. I think that Starbucks has so much to offer their employees that they really are happy working there.

In 1987 Starbucks became one of the first retail companies to offer part-time employees the same benefits package that full-timers are offered. This is a very positive added benefit to working at Starbucks. In today's economy many companies are cutting full time employees back to part time to save on benefits. In order to provide healthcare to part time employees it would cost the company $1500 per employee. Part time employees are those who are working more than 20 hours a week. They also provide extended health coverage such as preventive care, crisis counseling, dental care, eye care, and mental health. In addition, employees can take part in the company's 401K plan.

They also give the employee a chance to share in the success of the company by purchasing stock in the company. Employees also become partners in the company. Eligible employees can contribute up to 10% of their base earnings to quarterly purchases of the company's common stock at 85% of going stock price.

The health and safety of the employees are very important. The store is kept very clean and sanitized to prevent injuries or illnesses. Baristas are taught to properly sanitize and clean the blenders used to make the blended drinks. The retail location is kept clean by sweeping and cleaning the tables and counters on a regular basis.