I have been with Starbucks a little over two years now. I have vast experience in customer service and retail. From what I have seen and witnessed in this company I have come to a few conclusions. Starbucks does things differently. Store managers have very little supervision and rarely have in person contact with the district managers. I have only seen my district manager in person 4 times in the last two years I have been with the company. From what I understand, they mostly direct policy via email or phone calls on a daily/weekly basis. Store managers are essentially allowed to get away with whatever they see fit. Baristas, whether they are ambitious or not are essentially all treated the same. I have witnessed so many intelligent, highly capable and promotable baristas treated so unfairly for no reason at all. It may just be my personal manager but, it seems as if the capable baristas are held down so the manager doesn't have any competition in the future. Let's talk about the Starbucks Community Service program. My manager and district manager don't seem to care about getting involved in a project unless one of their superiors are going to be there in person to witness their selfless service. Yet, I see many baristas joining projects that entail hard work even when their superiors are not witnessing their service. I have worked in very harsh commission oriented environments in the past yet, I have never witnessed such a catty competitive environment which my store seems to be like. I have witnessed so many hypocritical situations from my own personal manager. I have witnessed my manager correcting people for situations that might be considered a conflict of interest yet we find out she is dating personal friends of coworkers and spending time with them outside of work. Those same coworkers end up with very desirable schedules and are entitled to walk around the store like they own the place. My manager claims she is such a hard dedicated worker yet she spends so much of her time in the back room updating her facebook or playing farmville. I see my manager becoming irate when an employee doesn't charge their friend for a drink yet, my manager's friend comes in and the manager orders a partner beverage and walks outside and pretends we don't see her handing they Grande Iced Latte to her friend. I witness my manager referring to another store manager as a "f****** b**** yet, when I am caught using the f word in the back room I am given a verbal warning, which you have to sign for? I witness my manager offering her services from her personal small business to regular customers, I also witness the manager taking payment from a customer at the store for a service that has nothing to do with starbucks. I witness my manager using derogatory terms like "that's so fn gay" and things such as that on several occasions. As far as I'm concerned, maybe I just have an unlucky situation with a bad boss. Yet, I have witnessed so many instances of inappropriate behavior from superiors at Starbucks, I see some employees telling my manager she's a b**** to her face yet, since they are personal friends with her they get away with it. When I give her any flack I am being an improper employee and get written up. What's up with this organization? How does this go unnoticed? I think it's such a massive entity with such a desired product, they know that no matter what they are always going to be in demand. What's the deal with hours? Why aren't they ever stable? I'm told that if my whole bean sales are increased then so will the hours. Well guess what they increased dramatically, the next week, the hours decreased. Really? I think it's all just one big mind control game that these managers are playing. Working in this little coffee shop chain that is basically the same as an ice cream shop they feel like they are Donald Trump watching over the tower. Well guess what? You are not that big time player that you think you are, walking into work with a little briefcase that most likely is filled with carbohydrates and sanitary napkins, to work the 26 hour work week you scheduled for yourself. Screw you, your nothing but a two faced, fake, wannabee that would never succeed in a real job.
-Peace Out