I'm in a weird situation right now. I was recently hired by a roaster to help them run their very first retail shop, as well as develop their standards and training. The company is amazing, pay is awesome, we get benefits, it's small and they're doing something really unique in the industry. The roasters are two brothers from Colombia who are running a farm there that has been in their family since the early 1900s. There's a huge market for real high-end coffee in Albuquerque (the coffee scene here is stuck in the 90s - there's literally no place in this city that serves truly awesome coffee) and I want them to do well.
I have tons of experience having worked with both Counter Culture and Intelligentsia in their respective hometowns and absolutely know what I'm doing. I'm not saying that I know everything but I was hired with the understanding that I would be developing their standards and training. About three days after we opened this guy walks in, asks for a job, and gets it - he worked for a Stumptown retailer in his hometown which pretty much makes him one the most qualified people in Albuquerque (again, terrible coffee town.)
At first I was really excited about getting someone else on board who had comparable experience to my own. Because the store is new and the owners have no knowledge of running a service location everything is in a state of flux. The owners are very open to ideas and have been amazing at honoring my requests but this guy, Jon, is starting to insert himself into the process without following chain-of-command (I'm a supervisor.) He keeps asking for things that are realistic down-the-line but not a priority. Because I've been actively communicating with the owners I know where they're coming from and what is in their budget for the short term.
For example: the owners bought a teeny-tiny mini fridge for milk under the bar. They thought this would work because they've never run a coffee shop before. If we hit a rush we've been having to run into the back two or three times to grab more from the big fridge so, seeing as this has been a problem, I asked them to get a larger fridge. Jon was there while I was talking to them about this and, for whatever reason, felt it was necessary to interrupt to ask for a new espresso grinder. The one we have now is fine. It's not the best but it's reliable (timed grind, automatic dosing, easy to service.) He's apparently been having problems with his shot and, rather than question his adherence to standards from another roaster, believes the grinder is to fault. The owner politely said he'll "look into it." Later, when I'm demonstrating bad practices I've observed to Jorge, Jon comes over to "correct" me. In the spirit of collaboration I made him aware of this and then asked him to demonstrate his method. I then went over things I do differently and why and, instead of seeing this as an opportunity to have a constructive conversation to help us develop our process he condescendingly tries to school me. He just refuses to let go of what he's been trained to do previously. Jorge sees this but, as Jon's superior, he told me that it's my job to nip it in the bud. I just don't know how to have that sort of conversation. He's a really sweet kid and I feel like the way I've written this makes him sound more patronizing than he was being in the heat of it - he really does mean well and we both want the same thing: to make the best damn coffee in town. I just can't deal with insubordination and have never had to handle this before.
Part of the reason I find this so frustrating is because this guy is almost a decade younger than me and has only been working as a barista for a total of 16 months before coming here. I've literally been working with coffee since I was 16. Yes, some (way too much) of that was with Starbucks but, in terms of customer service and management experience, it's relevant. I've also had serious problems with guys refusing to take me seriously or see me as an authority figure. I don't think this is an intentional bias but he seems to spend a lot of time explaining things to me that I already know while saying nearly nothing to the other (male) supervisor who has 0 manual espresso bar experience (he's the paperwork boss, I'm the people boss.)
Has anyone else had to deal with a situation like this? I would feel more confident in chiding him if it weren't for the fact that everything is in a state of change right now, nothing is set in stone. I'm just worried that his insistence will cause Jorge to acquiesce which would piss me off and embolden Jon. I'm also worried that his insistence is making me disinclined to hear him out. He has some great ideas but I'm reluctant to jump on board. Should I collaborate with him or should I develop processes and standards without him and stick in my heels? What are the risks?
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