Starbucks Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

Great people to work with, fun customers, and a very fun work environment. Overall Starbucks is a great job and a fun place to work.

Cons

Starbucks doesn't pay very well at all. Their raise scale is pretty pathetic. You have to work there for several years before earning a somewhat decent hourly wage.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall I have no complaints toward management. I have worked at two different stores and both have been great. My only advice would be to offer a better wage.

Pros

Howard Schultz, Benefits, Culture, the Partners, Job Security, Base Values, Community Involvement, Company Vision, Training, and the mindset of always striving to be better

Cons

Respect
Poor management at store level
Management doesn't understand work at store level
Grueling work
Pay
Loyalty
Work & Life Balance

Advice to Senior Management

Management at store level have much different vision than Howard... Need to practice what Howard preaches... The tools are there so use them... Give more respect to those who put in the work day in and day out...

Pros

Benefits package, people are very friendly and liberal, company really works around school schedules, depending on the manager. Also, tuition reimbursement is a nice perk.

Cons

Low hourly pay, especially considering the amount of training, etc, necessary. Also, opening shift hours can be brutal, especially if you're a student- waking up at 4am puts a damper on the rest of the day.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate more about the direction of the company to your staff so they are better prepared and feel more included in the company.

Pros

Free drinks & coffee and good social interaction with customers...if you can find a spare second to talk. ('Rarely hard to imagine anything else positive about the entire experience.)

Cons

Too much politics goes on within this company (including at the retail store level). Most are finacially desperate to move up because they pay so poorly otherwise.

Most store managers are nothing but kids, themselves so there is little regard for truly mature, competent workers...they are not valued.

Stores are usually dirty and unorganized.

It's difficult to get hours scheduled to you and then they will send you home if it is not busy enough
The stores are ALWAYS understaffed for wht the company expects of the employees.

Many district managers are on some ego trip.

Little recognition is ever given by management and it usually goes to the butt kissers when there is any.

The pay rate for the crazy hours worked is ridiculous...some get up at 3:00a.m. just for minimum wage with no pay rate differential.

blah, Blah, BLAH.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn to respect your workers that do most of the dirty work and save your butts from getting out of bed early daily. By doing so, you might not have SO much employee turnover.

Pros

Employee benefits, great partners to work with, flexible schedules (for partners who are NOT students)

Cons

Low salary, schedules are not flexible for students, management is constantly changing

Advice to Senior Management

Although your partners may be disposable, remember they are your number one asset to the company! If a partner is dissatisfied, they can go elsewhere!

Pros

Flexible hours
Health Benefits
401(k)
Stock options
Employee stock purchase plan
Regular customers

Cons

Low pay for the amount of work and dedication that is expected
Customer service

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on customer service, not sales numbers

Pros

Work culture is highly positive. Both managers and coworkers at my store provide an environment where you're not berated/publicly humiliated for mistakes you make when you're learning the ropes. Instead, constructive criticism is abundant, and so is constructive praise. You get medical and dental benefits for working an average of 20 hrs/week, eligible starting after 3 months of hire. Free drinks on shift, and mega-discounts even when you're not working! Another major pro: 1 lb coffee beans per week, no charge. Great for coffee-holics! Most customers, especially regulars, are extremely amicable.

Cons

The medical/dental benefits are great, but only if your supervisor schedules you for enough hours (20 hrs/week) to make the cut for getting the benefits. My store has an abundance of baristas, so getting hours is tough. Here they give the most hours to the best baristas, which is hard to be when you've just started and are just learning. Keep in mind too that this is a customer service job, with lots of face-time with customers. Some of them will be downright rude. You can't take it personally. It gets hectic during rush hours, which can be stressful, but as my manager says, "Keep in mind that IT'S JUST COFFEE."

Advice to Senior Management

The consistency in drink quality and warm atmosphere between stores nationwide (and even internationally!) is very impressive. The ability for baristas to perform their jobs well when working as a visiting barista in other stores attests to the impeccable attention to the myriad details (layout of working spaces, exact same utensils & systems used between stores, etc) that make our jobs much more efficient to complete.

Pros

The flexibility in hours and the ability to work around school schedules. They also offer pretty good benefits for part time people as well as full timer employees, which is nice. If you enjoy coffee, it is also a great environemtn because you get unlimited amounts while on the clock and great discounts even when you are not working.

Cons

The early hours, and more recently the cutting of labor. There is the same amount of stuff to get done, but with half the amount of staff as of lately. The pay is not great for the skill set and amount of knowledge that has to be mastered for the job.

Advice to Senior Management

To focus back on the cusomters and alot more labor.

Pros

The people. The majority of Starbucks employees are intelligent, funny, and considerate. I have made many friends here. Making quality drinks and connecting with customers makes my day meaningful. There are a lot of amazing new things coming for the company. Better technology, training, resources, etc.

Cons

The executives are passionate, knowledgeable and inspiring. Regional managment is often unable to live up to this standard. Regional managment cannot connect the vision to what is actually happening day to day. That is because a large majority of regional VPs, regional directors, and district managers have never spent more that their initial 2 week training in a store. They have no realy understanding of the challenges we face as we try to live up to the vision and mission of the company.

Advice to Senior Management

EVERY SINGLE NON STORE PARTNER SHOULD WORK AT LEAST 1 WEEK A QUARTER IN A STORE. And never the same store. They need to understand how different stores can be while still striving towards the same thing.

Pros

If you are looking for a steady paycheck and a job where it is relatively difficult to be "let go" this is the place.The people you hire are the people you work with so it becomes very easy to cultivate a work environment that is fun and happy.

Cons

You are very indoctrinated from day one you are expected to "buy in" to the culture regardless of any previous knowledge you may have about the product.The store Manager role can be pretty challenging there is a lot of talk about work life balance but the amount of work versus store need and daily demands on your time make it pretty rare that you don't work"off the clock" my average work week was pretty standard. I put in between 55 and 60 hours which at the end of the day makes you a little envious of your assistant because although they CAN NOT work off the clock and have very little company enforced responsability they only make a little biit less then you.

Advice to Senior Management

I think if you truely assesed your management staff you would find that alot of them have talents that would fill your support positions if given the opportunity