OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame

Worksheet
Olivia Boatman February 1, 2022 OGL 481

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I have an internal role with Starbucks as a shift supervisor. A shift supervisor is in

charge of the floor while they are in the store, meaning it’s my job to give barista
breaks, have enough product for customers through pulling food and entering store
orders, and make sure baristas have the resources they need to do their job. It’s
important for me to know my fellow partners (employees) because it’s my job to
put them in a position on the floor that they enjoy and can succeed in.

Starbucks has been experiencing a lot of scarcity with products due to supply chain
shortages that the world has seen during the pandemic. These shortages arose
because COVID-19 caused many manufacturing facilities to shut down, the
transportation of goods was more difficult throughout the pandemic, and the labor
shortage that resulted from uncertain times left many jobs needing to be filled
(McCarthy, 2021). Most of Starbucks’ distribution centers were low or completely
out of everyday products that we use in-store. Distribution centers also felt the
effects of the labor shortage and had trouble finding employees to fill the open
roles in our hubs. Starbucks didn’t even have truck drivers to deliver our product if
the distribution centers had it. This resulted in many difficult day-to-day
interactions with baristas and customers. Starbucks’ mission is to nurture the
human spirit, but this shortage oftentimes caused people’s spirit to become
disheartened. Starbucks was once a reliable place to get coffee, breakfast, and a
smile. But throughout the pandemic, we saw this notion change and customers felt
frustrated with partners because they weren’t able to get their favorite menu items.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the

situation.

Starbucks attempts to create an environment of inclusion, manage conflicts

healthily, and create meaningful relationships among customers and coworkers.
The APRON model comes to mind when thinking of the human resources aspect
of Starbucks. The APRON model is to assume the best in others, participate in
conversations, reach out, own your work, and next steps. This is a general guide

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 telling partners how to relate to each other. The culture of any Starbucks store
should be a positive one where partners feel empowered to communicate
difficulties and problems within the store or themselves. Starbucks offers training
when new drinks, policies, or best practices come out from corporate. We even
receive deescalating training for when baristas are feeling overwhelmed or a
particular interaction with a customer is getting out of hand. Corporate can
understand barista frustrations from afar, but rarely are their perceptions accurate.
Starbucks attempts to give people meaningful work and fulfill the human need for
connection.

Human resources influenced this situation through Starbucks not keeping their
promises to their partners. An organization, through the human resources frame,
needs people to put in energy and effort to keep the organization thriving (Bolman
& Deal, 2017). In return, people feel valued and rewarded (Bolman & Deal, 2017).
Starbucks did not focus on the partners and how they feel through the supply chain
issues. Everyone was left to fend for themselves. Daily interactions with customers
deteriorated and this left many partners feeling frustrated and unappreciated.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

Baristas would handle difficult interactions in the best way they knew how. They
would communicate the items we were out of and most times were met with
hostility. Customers would often say “tell your manager to tighten up!” or
“whoever does your store’s order needs to be fired”. Explaining the supply chain
issues didn’t alleviate any tension or make people feel better. Customers were still
upset and so were partners.

An alternative course of action for this situation would be to standardize

interactions baristas have regarding supply chain issues. How baristas relate to
customers is important, and standardizing what we say across all stores has the
potential to make these interactions easier. Leaving this up to each individual
leaves a lot of room for interpretation. This small investment into standardizing
Starbucks partners interactions regarding supply chain issues could make these
interactions more positive. Another alternative course of action for this case would
be to inform customers through the Starbucks app. Explain what’s happening, tell
people we are all trying our best, and their favorite items will return to the menu
soon. Part of the problem was some customers had no idea about the supply chain
problems and instead blamed people in-store. This left a lot of partners feeling
frustrated and I have seen many long-term partners leave the company in my
district from what happened during the pandemic.

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 4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have
learned about this frame.

What I would do differently regarding this situation is give more attention and
communication to partners and customers alike. When customers are ignorant to
what’s going on in the world, partners suffer. Realizing this as an organization is
what I wish I could have changed. When partners don’t feel appreciated, the
organization suffers through burnout, turnover, and poor attitudes. Partners suffer
because of negative interactions with customers, lack of motivation, and more
conflicts. None of these possibilities line up with Starbucks’ missions and values.
As a company, Starbucks tries to do different but leaving partners to fend for
themselves isn’t the way to uphold these values.

The human resources frame emphasizes the working relationship between

organizations and people. I wish Starbucks would have paid more attention to this
relationship throughout the pandemic and through all the supply chain shortages. I
know a lot was going on and only so much corporate could do, but communication
goes a long way.

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 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing Organizations (6th ed.). John Wiley &
Sons. 

McCarthy, B. (2021, October 17). Here's Why the Supply Chain is a Mess - and Will Be

For a While. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2021/10/17/heres-why-the-supply-chain-

is-a-mess-and-will-be-for-a-while/