irish.lemon

so maybe i’m obsessed with my job, the company itself, or just the corruption of my mind since i’ve been a PR major…either way, i see a unique challenge coming, and i want to snatch it up faster than you can say– well, i won’t use a ridiculous example from work ‘cos that would essentially prove my devotion to my industrial espresso machine.

i admit, i have an addiction to starbucks blogs for the sake that they show me i’m not the only outwardly, overly critical partner out there…there are many others.  i ran across a comment on starbucks gossip regarding a letter a partner wrote to his/her customers.  it wasn’t a letter of sympathy, only empathy for the tightening of the starbucks belts among the underlings of the company…the store partners.

everyone’s afraid to blink let alone breathe for the simple fact that everyday at work might be our last.  it’s only been four days since howie’s interview on CBS and only a week or so since we found out labor was going to be cut by almost half.  just upon personal observation, our once naturally playful and efficient staff seems to have become quite the opposite in little less than a week…i’m no exception.  we still treat our customers as we always have, but privately amongst ourselves, you could cut the anxiety in the air with a machete.  so, in my perusals, i stumbled across this letter i mentioned, and this is the comment that immediately caught my eye:

seattleASM -

there is NO WAY that a manager can use 2 hours of non coverage time to fully operate a 40K store open 24 hours a day. you are either a liar, naive or your manager works off the clock. the latter is what is probably happening. and no, i’m no spoiled SM. i work hard. i plan. i LOVE my actual job but who are we stepping up for? i, for one, am stepping up for my partners and my customers. I AM NOT STEPPING UP FOR SOMEONE IN AN OFFICE AT THE SSC SO THEIR BOTTOM LINE LOOKS BETTER AND THE EXECS CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE MORE IN WEEK THAN I DO IN A YEAR.

i work harder for my team. my store. myself. and, i appreciate having a job. i don’t think starbucks is bad. their a business and they have to run it accordingly. tough times right now and i realize this. i just think they are clueless as to what actually goes into running a store at the store level. the amount of crap that comes out of their press-release-oriented mouths is sickening. call a spade a spade so to speak…and i think everyone would be much more at ease with all of this. their communication and planning is horrid.

Posted by: tiredSM | December 11, 2008 at 10:11 PM

though not entirely as eloquent as it could be, it’s as passionate as it is realistic.  we’re taking the brunt of this crisis and for what?  i agree that starbucks as a whole doesn’t likely intend to ruin our “livelihoods”, but it’s traditional top-down model of communication doesn’t work as well as they assume it does.  i only wish i had that marketing internship at corporate.  credit be damned, this company needs a wake up call in more ways than one, and i want to be there to help it do so.  if casey ever read this post, he’d probably get a good laugh considering how he called me “anti-status quo” back in his PR class this past january when i was still new to the company as well as marketing communications.

so what do you say, howie?  shall i draft a plan for you..?