OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

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

I am an 18-year Starbucks supervisor and the situation that we are having is a disconnect

between the corporate side of the company and store employees. There is also a communication

problem with the retail upper management and the supervisors and baristas. It often feels as if

there is no thought of the partner experience when corporate makes changes. Leaving many store

employees to feel undervalued, over worked, and unhappy.

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

Human resources play a large part in my organization and how it has influenced the situation.

Starbucks is a big business centered around customer service, orders are given from above

“standards and procedures”, and we are to follow them. A lot has changed though over the

almost two decades I have been with Starbucks, some of has to do with the economy and the

other is the changing of generational attitude. When I first started, Starbucks really made you

feel like they were investing in you. “High-performing companies do a better job of

understanding and responding to the needs of both employees and customers. As a result, they

attract better people who are more motivated to do a superior job” (Bolman & Deal, 2021).

During my early years with Starbucks, it felt like you were working with a team and not co-

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workers, that people were happy and there was not a lot of interference from above. The only

thing we ever heard from above was to follow the mission statement.

The carefree attitude changed in 2008, when the recession hit, and Starbucks had to start

layoff some partners as well as put strain on store by having us operate understaffed by three

precent every day. Corporate has been unclear on how we earn labor and is more often than not,

asking us to cut labor, making work more stressful on everyone there. Over the last five years,

Starbucks has the us competing with fast food restaurants while still thinking they are a gourmet

coffee shop, which we no longer are. Our computer system and application are not up to date and

are constantly going offline, causing customers to get mad at us like it is our fault. We have been

experiencing product shortages before the Pandemic because Starbucks decided to change

vendors to cut costs. Partners are not motivated and do not do their job or just call out. There has

been union talk for as long as I have worked at Starbucks, but this is when the talks started up

again. Stores are unionizing and that is causing tension within stores and on our work hub. If

there had been a way to communicate with corporate earlier, it probably would not be as bad.

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

Although it sounds counterintuitive, I would go back to the same formula we had over 15

years ago well, some of it. Times have changed and our business and culture reflects that. Barista

no longer see Starbucks as a career, where they can work their way up from barista to the support

center. I want there to be a district wide performance meeting where store managers discuss if

they have any partners that they think are ready for development, so when there are openings,

there is someone ready to fill the spot. With people quitting all the time, we stores are always

looking for coverage, especially supervisor coverage.

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 I would rethink our hiring process and consider if we are hiring the right people, “strong

companies know the kinds of people they want and hire the ones who fit the mold” (Bolman &

Deal, 2021). Some people do not realize that working at Starbucks is not easy, it is customer

service based, you have to work fast, apologize when it is not your fault, clean up messes, work

with a sense of urgency, be able to do multiple things at once, and with a smile on your face.

This can be shocking for some on their first shift on the floor, and many people are not ready to

stare down an angry customer who is mad at you because they wanted their drink iced. All

partners have to have a certain level of professionalism, and some do not handle holding it in

well. What would help new hires is better training and updating the learning coach training. The

training does not prepare new baristas for real life situations and when they get overwhelmed,

they quit.

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

I would stick with the direction I was going in especially after reading chapters six and

seven. Human resources are about the personnel of an organization, I think the direction I was

going was mostly thinking about the partners and not so much the customers or the business.

They are the foundation of the company and although they are separate from the corporate side,

they are dependent on each other. Corporate stakeholders depend on us in the stores to help keep

the company profitable in return, the stores depend on corporate to give us the necessary tools,

products for success. The delicate balance is constantly being threaten because the people in the

stores are unhappy.

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What I want is for the people in the stores to have a bigger role in the organization and

following the human resource framework would help. What I would like is to have a version of

the “open-book management” where there is transparency and “ownership culture”. These

chapters helped narrow down the focus on my situation and gave me a clearer goal.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and

Leadership (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.