Howard Schultz must have a headache. For good reason. AND, for the right reasons. This just came through the newswire announcing that Starbucks Corp. is "slashing" 600 jobs. They're laying off 220 jobs and not refilling 380 open positions. All because they're thinking about customers.


Starbucks is doing what a lot of companies don't do when the customer experience starts to suffer -- and that's looking at the organization and what it's focusing on. With success it's easy to make growth be the end game, and companies often loose their roots at some point during this immense expansion period. Schultz saw this, and got back in to work to reign Starbucks back to its roots.
Schultz said, "The changes come after "a thorough organizational analysis which was, at times, very emotional and extremely stressful." He added that the company has "not been organized in a manner that allowed us to have a laser focus on the customer." Previously, the company was divided into the East and West regions. The change announced today creates four national divisions: Western/Pacific, Northwest/Mountain, Southeast/Plains and Northeast/Atlantic.
I have to admit that when I heard about the "Art of Espresso" three-hour training for U.S. store partners on February 26; i kept waiting for the rest of the plan. I was hoping that Starbucks wasn't focusing this turn-around solely on the backs of the people making the brew.
With this announcement today, I see that they are not. Schultz says there's more coming on March 19 at a company meeting, which will "outline five key strategic customer-facing initiatives that will continue to transform the customer experience."
Starbucks has become so successful that it has almost become the "Kleenex" of coffee. But the experience has been diminishing drip by drip. I for one am hoping that Howard Schultz can turn it around - and get Starbucks back its "Mojo".