Starbucks doubles parental leave amid massive recovery effort

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who has been on the job for just four months, has taken on the challenging task of transforming the world-renowned coffee giant, using key strategies to drive change and create what he hopes will be the “best job ever.” “The same in retail.” The main ones: transparency and speed in decision-making.

One of their latest decisions came from an email from an employee, who called partners internally, requesting longer parental leave.

“It caught my attention. I followed up with the team and then we reached out to a few more partners,” Niccol told FOX Business digital in an exclusive interview. He quickly decided that “in this case we can take action.”

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Starting this spring, the company will double its paid parental leave benefits. For some workers, it’s up to three times the original amount.

For example, paid leave for birth mothers will increase from six to 18 weeks. All other non-birth parents, whether receiving a child through birth, surrogacy, adoption or long-term foster care, will receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave at 100% of their average salary, according to Starbucks.

For employees to be eligible to receive benefits, they must work an average of 20 hours per week, based on current company policies.

“We have a culture of learning. We have a culture of ideas, but we also want to have a culture where we make decisions, we act and we take responsibility for their execution,” Niccol said. “That’s been the deal I’ve been making with people when I go to stores, when I respond to emails, when I make communications, whether it’s letters or videos.”

Brian Niccol, CEO of Starbucks (Starbucks)

Before Niccol took over, the company faced increasing pressure from nationwide unionization drives and consecutive disappointing fiscal quarters as traffic declined. Niccol, who replaced former CEO Laxman Narasimhan in August, is trying to boost profitability and create a better environment for workers.

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In the early days of his new role, Niccol was candid with his team about the need for a “change of direction.”

“I need the best collective thinking from everyone to have the right insights to change this business,” Niccol said.

While he acknowledged that he didn’t have all the solutions, he was clear about his commitment: “What I’m definitely committed to doing is identifying what we need to fix and taking steps to fix it.”

When Niccol, who held executive positions at some of the industry’s biggest names, including running Taco Bell and Chipotle, visited stores, he also made it clear to employees that he wanted their input.

He tried to establish, ‘Hey, call me, send me an email. You know, I can’t be in every store, but I’m willing to listen and I’m willing to listen,'” Niccol said.

One of the first suggestions he received was whether the company could bring back the coffee seasoning bar. In November, Niccol said the condiment bar will return next year. He simultaneously announced that the stores would feature the old “coffee shop” aesthetic with “personal touches,” including serving coffee in ceramic mugs. They are reintroducing Sharpies and will stop doing so. charging extra to personalize drinks with vegetable milk.

(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

“Sometimes when you’re in a challenging environment, you almost go blind, like you don’t see some of these obvious things,” Niccol said. “You’re so focused on trying to change things that you overlook some of the obvious things.”

While Niccol said not all suggestions would be accepted, he stressed the importance of making quick decisions.

He believes the most powerful words for creating a healthy culture are “yes” and “no.”

“If a culture starts to understand where we get the ‘yeses’ and where we get the ‘no’s, it reinforces the type of business, the type of values, the type of promises that we want to make to customers and partners,” he said. . “I try to keep it simple and try to come to a ‘yes’ and a ‘no,’ let’s not have another meeting about it.”

(Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images/File)

Beyond expanding certain benefits, the company is working to improve scheduling and increase the number of hours per employee. The goal is for employees to receive at least 24 hours of work per week, according to Niccol.

Currently, the challenge they face is making sure they have enough people scheduled at the right times.

Niccol said the problem sometimes is that the “roster” of employees becomes too small because they try to distribute hours evenly, rather than adjusting to the natural ups and downs of the business.

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As a result, Niccol said stores end up understaffed during peak hours, even though everyone has work hours. You’re trying to ensure that people can trust their schedules while also making sure the company schedules the right number of people at the right times.

Among its latest goals to create a positive work culture, the company also committed to filling 90% of retail leadership positions internally, to ensure employees stay longer and grow with the company.

It also continues to cover 100% of college tuition for thousands of employees as part of its Starbucks College Achievement Plan and offers company stock to eligible partners.

Since 1991, 1.5 million members have received $2.4 billion in shares. Shares have gained 4% this year, trailing the S&P 500’s 27% rise.