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Permalink Reply by John P on December 19, 2008 at 3:45pm

We are a small operation, and we don't have any employees. Since this is the case, we have to be our best employees. Whether thinking of ourselves, or other places that we've enjoyed, I think these three things are critical...

1) Everyone in the chain, from owner to barista, has to have a passion for the coffee/espresso

2) There needs to continuous learning and improvement in all facets relating to #1

3) Effective communication needs to be practiced daily... both barista to barista, and barista to customer

The first is easy to spot if you have it yourself. Passion can't be faked long term because it would never progress into my second point... You need employees who don't need to be told to learn more, but who seek to learn more. My shortcoming is often on number (3) Effective communication... I tend to over communicate at times, so from a customer standpoint it's about hearing a concept you can immediately grab hold of and going from there.

It's easy to communicate with a passionate and educated barista if you are one yourself. So even when I am a customer, I already have a different perspective than most. I always start with the belief that the customer is like someone scanning a book next to you in the library--while they may not be be on the same page, they have a book from the same shelf, and that's a good place to start.

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Permalink Reply by Alun Evans on December 19, 2008 at 8:27pm

You know most of the smaller cafes and coffee proffessionals who post on bx are succesful because they realise that the customer sees the quality and passion reflected in their coffee products through the frontline staff: be that barista, delivery drivers, technicians etc. We select staff not on the need to fill a gap which has opened up, but to bring in new and shining talent to help transfer the passion we all have for coffee to those who are entering our stores to buy it.

This may sound a triffle over the top, but for instance I have had a vacancy for a trainee roaster now for almost 2 years... it has not yet been filled because we have not found what we consider to be the right person to fill the role. I think that real passion, real ability to interact and communicate with customers can not be learnt... like anything in life you either have a talent for frontline communication, or you dont.

It is not about being fussy, but about knowing that just filling a role because you have 5 people who send in their resumes/cv's is not good enough...if they are not good enough.

The bigger chains have a variety of personnel and recruitment tools they use to select staff. Profiling etc. However you have to be realistivc and see that a manager at a big chain store is primarily interested in making sure he/she has enough manpower on deck to cover peaks and weekends. That, I think, is where the difference lies. While the indy owner/operator KNOWS that it would be nice to add that extra staff, he/she also realises that adding the wrong new barista could spell big problems for the business.

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Permalink Reply by John P on December 20, 2008 at 3:48pm

Alun,

you illustrate a great point. Most independents cannot afford to train and retrain by applying the "warm body" hiring method. The wrong person will cost you more headaches and money than having everyone chip in with some extra hours. As smaller operations are... smaller... each piece of the puzzle is more critical. Every person is a reflection of the company and that's what the chains often miss. You can't hire someone and force them to care. They need to care, and then you can hire them. This all translates into customer interaction, because when you are not there to look over their shoulder, can you trust they will echo the principles you have built your reputation and public trust on? If you can, you have a great barista. If not, they can still be great, but probably for another company.

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Permalink Reply by stephanie crocker on December 21, 2008 at 11:26pm

I just read a big chunk of the posts on mystarbucksidea.com and they were very fascinating.

Over this holiday season, which has, unfortunately, been a touch slower than expected with the economic crunch and all, I've been really on the baristas with a ton of sidework. I've been swamped so I really need them to pitch in and help out. I have noticed a bit of slippage and almost laziness...closing and opening chores are just being forgotten left and right. And forget about sales...I mean, they can chat with the existing customers, but there's just no charisma for new customers. I am wondering if I've overwhelmed them and they've just shut down.

I have a tremendous amount of passion for the bakery and the coffee we sell, but I just can't seem to find the right baristas that can emulate my vision. I get stuck in that holding pattern of it being less work hiring new staff than trying to make due with what I have. I know it's probably not the best choice, but right now I just have to get through the holidays.

I feel like the extra jobs I've given them are not too much...they just drag their feet in doing them. Like of course if I were packing cookies, I would have it done in like 5 minutes, even with the distractions. When I hire, I always tell my potential baristas I'm ultimately looking for a lead barista, but none of them have really shown any leadership. So I know I'm beating a dead horse a little bit.

But I keep thinking back to the extra jobs...is it too much to ask? If it were me and I knew that my main priority was customers, then keeping the case stocked, then side work, I think I would hustle and get it all done, but I'm not just the owner, I've always had a good work ethic. So it's really tough. I do feel for the Starbucks employees having to rebrew coffee all the time, I think they need to speak up and say that what they are asked to do is too much, perhaps they need to simplify. I also understand having to trim back labor...I mean there are bills to pay, and labor is the most expensive bill. Hard call.

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