Employee Motivation According to Starbucks

Abstract

It is paramount for organizations to motivate their employees. This is especially true for companies that heavily rely on its front-end employees in offering its brand and service to its patrons that, in turn, shape the public image of these companies. Starbucks can motivate its employees by increasing the salaries or wages of its rank-and-file, by providing financial incentives, and by engaging employees in one-on-one consultations in order to obtain the treatment that befits their expectations. Although there are other factors that may be considered, the aforementioned three are the fundamental ingredients in motivating the employees of Starbucks.
Employee Motivation According to Starbucks
Employees, especially those at the frontline regularly dealing with potential and actual clients, provide the apparent public image of any company (Kovach, 2011). Thus, the poor performance of frontline employees will easily reflect on the public perception of the quality of service that the company offers. Good performance, on the other hand, translates to good corporate image. For this reason, there is a need for organizations to ensure that their employees are performing according to quality standards in the industry.
While top-level management may institute policies that will require employees to strictly follow not only internal standard operating procedures but also industry standards, motivating them to actually perform well is another objective that must be considered. Employee motivation is a challenging management prerogative as it usually entails qualitative assessment involving the employees themselves (Mak & Sockel, 2001). In other words, the metrics largely depend on the self-assessment of the employees. At best, their immediate supervisors can only go as far as grading the motivation of the employees