“The greatest continuing area of weakness in management practice is the human dimension. In good times or bad, there seems to be little real understanding of the relationships between managers, among employees, and interactions between the two. When there are problems, everyone acknowledges that the cause often is a communication problem. So now what?” Jim Lukazewski, 2006  

Businesses do not thrive solely by successfully selling goods and services. Providing positive experiences to employees is equally important as offering good services to customers. Such experiences include how staff members engage in their work, how they interact with colleagues, superiors, and customers. A supportive working environment will encourage and model positive organizational behavior among employees, and thus ensuring high productivity in the workplace.

Positive organizational behavior is well-practiced in companies like Starbucks. Starbucks views their employees as more than just workers but also brand ambassadors. Effective employee engagement achieves employees transition from workers who show up every day in the coffee shop to brand ambassadors who incorporate the company’s mission into their daily work. Moreover, Starbucks cares so much about boosting customer service from within, that they spent $35 million to send 9,600 store managers to their Leadership Lab conference and exhibition.

Starbucks Leadership Lab includes leadership training and trade show with demonstrations of new products and signs with helpful sales suggestions, such as “tea has the highest profit margins.” The majority of experiences are educational and beneficial to employees, including giving store managers access to top managers of the company’s roasting process, blend development, and customer service. Employees’ experiences in the Leadership Lab facilitate and deepen their understanding of the brand, which will encourage more engagement with their company. Furthermore, running a small business within a global brand will give managers feelings of autonomy without disconnectedness.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Meets With 9,000 Store Managers

Such employee empowerment strategy has a promising impact on work performance and employee well-being. Employee engagement can increase company morale, employee motivation, efficiency and customer service. This may also explain why Starbucks maintains its position as the largest and most popular coffeehouse company in the world.

Reference:

1. http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/timothy-so/200903181667 Positive Organizational Behaviour and Better Work Performance; Positive Psychology News; Timothy T.C. So.
2. http://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2015/02/social-media-and-employee-engagement-the-starbucks-example/ Social Media and Employee Engagement: The Starbucks Example tinageisel.
3. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-illustrations-positive-organizational-behavior-81818.html Examples & Illustrations of Positive Organizational Behavior, Small Business; Kenya Lucas.
4. The first picture: https://www.insiderfinancial.com/is-this-the-beginning-of-something-more-serious-for-starbucks-corporation-nasdaqsbux/119335/Is This The Beginning Of Something More Serious For Starbucks Corporation
5. The second picture: http://www.gettyimages.ca/event/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-meets-with-9-000-store-managers-153609281?#howard-schultz-chief-executive-officer-of-starbucks-corp-right-jack-picture-id153377910; Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Meets With 9,000 Store Managers
6. The third picture: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140605005494/en/Starbucks-Significant-Education-Investments-Develop-Future-Leaders;

   Starbucks Makes Significant Education Investments to Develop Future Leaders in China; Eastern Daylight Time