CEO With Your Coffee, Sir?

By now, you’ve certainly heard that the new CEO of Starbucks, Laxman Narasimhan , will be working as a barista a half day per month.

In the midst of some pretty intense pressure from Starbucks employees – in the form of protests over workers’ rights – this seems like not only a good idea but also the right thing to do. So, from the very start of his tenure at the helm, which began just this week, Narasimhan will accomplish two critical objectives: to see what it’s like to work at Starbucks, and to see what it’s like to be a customer. Both are solid, but why does this make the news? Shouldn’t every leader be doing this? That’s rhetorical; no need to answer.

From the ground up

Narasimhan, who came out of the executive ranks at PepsiCo, had trained at Starbucks for six months, and part of that training involved learning to be a barista. This has the same look and feel as a sports team. On virtually any team, the head coach or manager was once a player. The really great ones demonstrate it every minute of every day, and earn the moniker, “a player’s coach.” Narasimhan has that opportunity now, but it will be fleeting because when opportunity knocks, it doesn’t wait around too long for your answer.

Bigger than just Starbucks

This has direct implications that reach far beyond Starbucks. Aware of that, Starbucks’ Board voted at the annual shareholders meeting to conduct a Human Rights Impact Assessment. I don’t know who the third part is that will conduct this project, but they had better get t right the first time. The stakes are akin to the difference between being a writer and a brain surgeon. One of the things I love about being a writer is that I don’t have to get it right the first time. I can draft, rewrite, revise, edit, use the delete key with impunity, etc. No such luxury for the brain surgeon. Or the assessment team for Starbucks, for that matter.

What’s really on the line here?

So, this will be under the microscope and, along with it, workers’ rights everywhere. For example, let’s look at wages (not just at Starbucks, but across the board, which have been rising steadily during this 26-month 26 post-pandemic recovery.

n June 2009, the last time federal minimum wage was raised, it was $7.25 per hour. The Dow was at $9,564. Today (3/24/23), the federal minimum wage is still $7.25 (although much higher in most but not all states) and the Dow is at $32,165. Minimum wage rose exactly zero percent in 14 years while your portfolio is worth nearly three and a half times its June 2009 level. That’s not just a workers’ rights issue; it’s most certainly a human rights issue, which is what the Starbuck assessment is supposed to be.

Lest you think I’m insinuating that Starbucks is paying wages on the low end, let me be clear. They’re well at the top. But the issue on a broad scale remains, as do issues like paid family leave, sick leave, education opportunities, working conditions, and do on. With Starbucks being so visible, not to mention ubiquitous, there’s a lot on the line.

Much more than who might be serving you your next latte.