Today a Starbucks regional manager humiliated one of my store's shift supervisors to tears because he didn't like the cappuccino she made. Never mind that it probably was bad because most people at Maple Street make drinks incorrectly (and we're still the best store in the city); that's not the point. The point is that there are right and wrong ways to motivate people to do better at their jobs, and someone in middle management should presumably be hip to one or two right ways (hint: not making girls cry). If I weren't outside on my break when it happened, I might have been leaving Starbucks a little earlier than planned. I can belittle with the best of them and I'm not afraid to do it to people two or three pegs above me.
I had a few more paragraphs ready, but in the interest of keeping this post relatively accessible, suffice it to say that this breakdown in motivation is part of a growing trend. For example, a key component of encouraging product sales is creating credible products (I'm looking at you, VIA). Here's another one: if you want happy, productive employees, offer incentives to balance penalties. Stock bonus? Lunch? Extra markout, even though that's more like punishment when I have a whole cupboard full of coffee I'll never use?
This concludes today's rant.
17 November 2009
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