How many companies ask their employees to critique company practices - and employ an entire department to find prompt and honest answers to that criticism? The Starbucks Mission Review program, quite simply, invites every Starbucks partner (employee) to comment on whether company decisions are consistent with the company's Mission Statement and Guiding Principles. Starbucks believes that every partner has a voice, not just in what happens at his or her location, but in how the company operates on a daily basis.
In 1990, the People Growth Team, an ad hoc group comprised of partners from various levels of the company, wanted a way to make sure that their newly minted Mission Statement and Guiding Principles would serve as powerful, inspiring tools by which partners could measure Starbucks' actions. They proposed that partners have access to an active feedback mechanism. Starbucks leaders accepted their proposal, and the Mission Review program became that instrument.
Mission Review supports partners' responsibility to hold one another accountable for their actions. It has become "a connection between those who create and generate our policies and those who carry them out," says David Johnson, Mission Review Director. "It's self-criticism that's balanced," he continues. "These are people who are passionate about our products and our company. They say, 'I am entitled to ask these questions, to raise these questions."
The program can be seen as an ongoing discussion among partners. "The tone of the conversation is overwhelmingly respectful," adds Johnson. Responses are regularly made by partners at the executive level.
Adding to the integrity of the Mission Review, reports are made available to Starbucks leaders to keep them informed of current concerns, providing one more way for partners to provide input to management.
The benefits of this program are two-fold. Starbucks leadership "truly appreciates partners taking time out of their busy day to ask a challenging question," Johnson says. And as another partner describes, "They listen, which is so important. They listen to not only their customers but also the feedback they receive from partners. I also love the fact that partners are allowed the opportunity to be just that - partners in the company."
By encouraging partners across North America to challenge company practices they feel may be inconsistent with the Starbuck Mission Statement and Guiding Principles, partners take ownership of the company's values and ensure that they remain as fresh as the coffee. |
