Decoding Starbucks Talent Management Approach- SWOT Analysis

Talent Management

Question:

Discuss about the SWOT Analysis Of The Talent Management Function Of Starbucks.

Talent management is regarded to be an important concept of business scheme in today’s high tech corporate world.  Talent management can be defined as the dedication of an organization to attract, hire, develop and sustain exceptionally talented employees for the overall growth and prosperity of the organization. Talent  management is essential for an organization to keep and maintain a consummate workforce. Generally, talent management policies or strategies are incorporated in an organization to beat the rivals in the stiff competition in the global business scenario (Stahl et al., 2006). This is because employees are the ultimate driving force in enhancing the efficiency and performance of the organization. The performance of the employees of the Starbucks has improved immensely due to the re-modification of the talent management strategy of Starbucks. I have personally experienced the appreciative conduct and the rapid productivity of the employees working in the nearby Starbucks store (Reinecke, Manning & Von Hagen, 2012).

SWOT analysis is the shortened form for strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. It is a detailed organized report that assesses the performance of an organization based on these four crucial components. SWOT analysis can be applied for any individual, group, location, sector or an organization. In accordance to the marketers, strengths and weaknesses are regarded to be the in-company or internal components. On the other hand, opportunities and threats are considered to be the independent or external components. In a SWOT analysis, strength and opportunities are considered to be affirmative by nature. Contrastingly, weaknesses and threats are considered to be pessimistic by nature (Hollensen, 2015). The main motive of attempting a SWOT analysis report by an organization or any other entity is to convert the weaknesses or the failures into robustness or strength and the threats or challenges into opportunities or possibilities. Resultantly, this will enable the managers or any other SWOT attempter to complement the internal or in-house strengths with the external or independent possibilities to amplify the combative advantage of the organization or any other concerned entity.  This report outlines the fact to discuss the SWOT analysis of the talent management strategy of the renowned coffee producing company- Starbucks.

Starbucks is a famous coffee producing company in the world. The eminent businessperson Howard Schulz has laid the bedrock of Starbucks. Starbucks has its headquarters in the city of Seattle in the state of Washington in America. At present, Starbucks have branch operations, approximately, in 24000 venues, across the world. According to the coffee enthusiasts, Starbucks is credited with publicizing the previously unknown dark spit-roasted flavor of coffee. In addition to the sale of the remarkable flavored coffee, Starbucks also specializes in mouth-watering confectionaries, ice cream and hamburgers. Occasionally, refined quality liquor is also served at some Starbucks centers. Under the commendable supervision of Howard Schulz, Starbucks have been delivering outstanding performance in the yearly sales and the profitability ratio. Howard Schulz is frequently considered to be a brilliant corporate leader, so, the success of Starbucks is unsurprising (Schultz, 2015).

SWOT Analysis of Talent Management Initiative of Starbucks

An SWOT analysis of the Talent Management Initiative of the Starbucks has been attempted. Undoubtedly, Starbucks possesses an exceptional talent management team.

• Why Starbucks attracts accomplished employees?

 Starbucks is a renowned company and holds majority of the market shares in the coffee making business. Starbucks offers an attractive work-life policy for their employees, along with many additional incentives, such as generous compensatory welfare schemes and leaves. As a result, the aspiring university graduates desire to become a part of the Starbucks workforce (Mason, Cole & Goza, 2017).

• Why the HR team in Starbucks is a winner?

The HR management team of Starbucks is an employee-friendly team. Mr. Howard Schulz has exceptionally organized every management team of Starbucks. The HR management team is known for hiring the quintessential person for a job. The HR team also takes the responsibility of adequate training and professional development of the employees.

• What is the cause behind the exceptional profitability ratio of Starbucks?

The performance of Starbucks in the global rankings can be attributed to its applaudable profits earning capacity. The performance of the employees determines the revenue margin of a company. Therefore, satisfied employees are the revenue-bringing source in Starbucks.

• Why the employees at Starbucks suffer from occasional monotony?

Starbucks has a policy for its employees to attend to the customers in an affirmative way. Saying NO is to be avoided during customer encounters. This makes the job of the employees monotonous, as they are required to always please the customers with a complimentary smile in accordance with the famous American customer satisfaction policy. They are discouraged to be forthright with the customers.

• Why Starbucks lacks in employee innovation?

Employees are not robots. They are human beings. At times, it is perfectly possible that the innovation rate of the employees at Starbucks can fluctuate. There is a certain maximum level for the employees of Starbucks, to deliver innovative plans and concepts, in order to boost the coffee making business.

• Why the interview procedure at Starbucks is considered to be faulty?

The interview procedure at Starbucks is a not so perfect process. It is believed that the interview is very short and simple and does not offer much time for the interviewer to properly assess the capabilities of the employees to work at Starbucks.

• Why the recruitment policy of Starbucks looks promising in the future?

The recruitment policy of the Starbucks seems to be promising because Starbucks is taking the step for further inclusion of people of all races and colors in its workforce. Recently, Howard Schulz has been very much particular in the maintenance of diversity in unity in all the centers of Starbucks.

• Why Starbucks has been earning good points in its recruitment policy?

Howard Schulz has embraced the concept of employing people of all sexual orientations in Starbucks. This has made Starbucks very appealing to the global sexual minority population.  This policy of Starbucks has even enabled it to secure the hiring of talented people from the minority population (Garthwaite et al., 2017).

• Why the future training sector of the employees at Starbucks looks appealing?

Strengths of Talent Management Initiative of Starbucks

The future training sector of the employees at Starbucks looks appealing because Starbucks has implemented further career training systems for the employees. The employees are to be circulated and transferred among all the branches at Starbucks so that they can learn from the diversity in cultures in the world.

• Why Starbucks is losing its employees to the rivals?

Starbucks is losing its employees to the rivals because Starbucks needs to upgrade its employee policy rules and regulations at par with the rules and regulations of McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts (Woolf, 2014).

• Why do employees think that Starbucks does not offer career advancement?

The employees think that Starbucks does not offer career advancement to its employees because Starbucks do not engage in diversifying their range of products. Starbucks must enlarge its selling category to the other products because the market demand for coffee decreases at a point of time.

• Why employees now picture Starbucks as a failure?

At recent times, the reputation of Starbucks has been tarnished with many lawsuits and affairs concerning trademark infringements. Therefore, talented employees are thinking twice to sign up for the employment program in Starbucks. Therefore, it is a definite threat for Starbucks.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it can be said from the above report that the success of Starbucks is unparallel. It is still counted to be one of the best coffee making companies in the world. The talent management team of Starbucks is a very dedicated and passionate. The motto of the talent management initiative of the Starbucks is to hire, train and retain exceptional employees. This is because the performance of the exceptional employees is the key to success for sustaining the productivity rate of Starbucks. The SWOT analysis of the talent management initiative of Starbucks with the organizational strategy has revealed that Starbucks needs to upgrade its employee interview processing and the range of products. Starbucks must continue to offer a satisfactory work life policy and career advancement opportunities to its employees, so that it can refine its talent management initiative (Geereddy, 2013). The case of Starbucks in Australia is a very recent example of disgrace and infamy. This has made Starbucks to lose some of its employees to the rivals.

References

Garthwaite, C., Garthwaite, C., Busse, M., Busse, M., Brown, J., Brown, J., ... & Merkley, G. (2017). Starbucks: A Story of Growth. Kellogg School of Management Cases, 1-20.

Geereddy, N. (2013). Strategic analysis of Starbucks corporation. Harward [??????????? ??????].–????? ???????: https://scholar. harvard. edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_ case_analysis. pdf.

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.

Mason, A., Cole, T., & Goza, N. (2017). STARBUCKS: A CASE STUDY OF EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT IN THE COFFEE INDUSTRY. Journal of International Management Studies, 17(1).

Reinecke, J., Manning, S., & Von Hagen, O. (2012). The emergence of a standards market: Multiplicity of sustainability standards in the global coffee industry. Organization Studies, 33(5-6), 791-814.

Schultz, H. (2012). Pour your heart into it: How Starbucks built a company one cup at a time. Hachette UK.

Stahl, G., Björkman, I., Farndale, E., Morris, S. S., Paauwe, J., Stiles, P., ... & Wright, P. (2012). Six principles of effective global talent management. Sloan Management Review, 53(2), 25-42.

Woolf, N. (2014). Starbucks faces growing rivals as coffee wars reach boiling point. The Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian. com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/12/starbucks-faces-growing-rivals-as-coffee-wars-reach-boiling-point (Accessed: 21 October 2016).