Emerging Issues

Emerging HR Issues:

• Employee Retention- Keeping talented employees satisfied enough to stay with the company has always been a concern that worries HR management. While compensation and benefits are a start to keeping good people, other methods are put in place to keep those talented employees, but they require going the extra mile to make sure they are fully engaged, excited about coming to work, and making sure they are recognized for their contributions to the company’s success. In order for employees to maintain confidence and respect for the company’s leadership, management must show appreciation for their employees for all they do.

Starbucks decided it was time to make some changes in order to retain their people. Starbucks understood that although they are a global company, they needed to connect with each store based on its own individual needs. The company also managed employee retention by making the employees feel like they are a part of something bigger than just being a barista. Starbucks gave each employee the opportunity to learn more about where the coffee beans originated from. They gave also gotten creative with their training sessions. They feel if they are able to give creative experiences and make training fun, it will help the information to stick longer after training. Lastly, Starbucks believes that if the employees understand the mission better, they will be more engaged with the company. In 2008, the company invested $30 million into an exhibit in that focused only on the mission statement. It managed to turn shares that had lost 42% of their value into eleven consecutive quarters of record earnings.

• Diversity- Diversity in the workplace refers to more than just race. It involves age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities, sexual orientation, race, geographic location, income, marital status, religious beliefs, etc. The future success of a company relies on its ability to manage a diverse group or body of talent that can potentially bring about innovative ideas and views of their positions.

Starbucks makes every effort to provide an environment that values and respects diversity and inclusion. So much so, that they have incorporated these values into their core competencies for its leadership. They have also created the Diversity and Inclusion team. This team is dedicated to building a diverse workforce, increasing cultural competencies, shaping a culture of inclusion and developing a diverse network of suppliers (Starbucks, 2014).

• Compliances (Employment laws) - For most companies, compliance is usually managed by using federal and state employment laws. However, the more complex laws present a challenge for some companies. These laws require HR to continuously maintain knowledge of the issues like sexual harassment, medical privacy, and discrimination.         In order for Starbucks to stay on top of the changing laws, they implemented the Business Ethics and Compliance. This program was put in place to help protect the company’s reputation by making different resources available about making good decisions at work. The program is responsible for putting together and distributing awareness materials about the employment laws and the Standards of Business Conduct. They also hosted legal compliance and ethics training for employees and provided additional channels of communications that allowed employees to voice their concerns.

• How can a company overcome these issues?

1. Cross cultural training for HR so understand other cultural people.

Conclusion

Starbucks success is achieved through a few factors which are internally and externally improved. These factors not only have increased the sales but also the reputation among the coffee and beverages/food overs. Starbucks encounters aggressive competition in all areas of its business activity. The market for each of their business segments are characterized by vigorous competition among major corporations with long established positions and a large number of ne and rapidly growing firms. Starbucks also has a good financial capacity with good strategies; it can overcome all the competitors to shine high as the first class coffee supplier.