Starbuck's Hr Strategy - Bringing Passion to Starbucks, Travelocity

Bringing Passion to Starbucks, Travelocity

1. What is employee engagement? How might employees who are disengaged cause discontent in others on the staff as well as in the customer base?

Employee engagement is used to describe how the employee is emotionally connected to his organization and how this connection influences his performances and his behavior toward customers but also toward colleagues. In order to be engaged, an employee should believe in the organization and be fueled by a real desire to work and respect. Researches showed that committed employees perform better and some key drivers are relevant to make it stronger, such as communication between employees and managers, the nature of the job (stimulating or not), the understanding of the value of the job done, the employee development… This notion is nowadays a key aspect of the Human Resources Management (HRM), especially in service industries, since it influences directly the behavior of the employee toward customers and participates to build a certain atmosphere and loyalty.

That is why disengaged employees are a source of anxiety for managers, since a disengaged employee won't be pleasant to work with. It would then affect relationships with colleagues and damage the work-atmosphere but also damage the experience of the customer, who won't have experienced a nice service in the shop. Indirectly a disengaged employee affects financial results, work-atmosphere, team spirit and the global image of the firm.

2. Do you agree with the premise of this article that by making employee engagement your number one priority, success in customers, sales, and profits will follow? Why or why not?

I agree with the premise of that article because an engaged employee is an employee who works with pleasure, who likes what he's been doing and is pleased to serve customers. The experience of customers will follow this principle. Customers of Starbucks Coffee are people who are looking for a special kind of experience, for breakfast, at lunch, in the afternoon. The atmosphere of the coffee shop is supposed to be friendly and cozy, relaxing and pleasant. As a result such an experience can't begin with a grumpily employee. A regular customer has the possibility to link