Building & Sustaining a
Culture of Trust
The Starbucks Story
Dave Pace
EVP, Partner Resources
Starbucks Coffee Company
October 3, 2006
Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Discussion Framework
• The Crisis of Trust
• The Starbucks Story
• The Evolving Role of HR
• Q&A / Discussion
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Overview
• Institutions are facing a crisis of trust
– Business
– Government
– Sports
– Religion
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Overview
• However, trust is at the foundation
of exceptional performance
– Risk-Taking
– Accountability
– Service
– Creativity
– Continuity
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Challenge
• How can organizations build and leverage trust as a
competitive advantage?
• What is the role of Human Resources in supporting this
movement?
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Starbucks Story
• Founded in 1971 / In current form since 1986
• Fiscal year 2005 revenues - $6.4 billion (+20%)
• 36 countries
• 11,000+ stores / opening 5 per day
• Over 130,000 partners / Hiring more than 200 per day
• Stock has grown 6,500% since going public in 1992
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Starbucks Story
• Our business is multi-faceted
• Retail – the Starbucks you know
• Manufacturing – 4 roasting plants around the
world
• Consumer Products
– Grocery
– Ice Cream
– Ready-to-Drink
– Liqueurs
• Entertainment
– Music
– Film
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Starbucks Story
• Our Work Environment
– Fortune Most Admired Companies
– Fortune 100 Best Places to Work
– World Class engagement as measured by Hewitt &
Gallup
– Astonishing employee involvement in communications
– Broad based support for our partners
• Healthcare
• Stock Options
• 401K Match
• Tuition Reimbursement
• ESPP Discounts
• Partner Connection Clubs
• CUP Fund
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Starbucks Philosophy
•
We don’t do these things for our partners because
we are a successful company …
We are a successful company because we do these
things for our partners
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
How do we bring it to life?
•
Define what you stand for
- Our Mission and Guiding Principles
•
Communicate it broadly and often
- Leadership Conferences
•
Use it as a decision filter
- What you don’t do is as powerful as what you do
•
Allow your organization to hold you accountable
- Mission Review
•
Measure your progress
- Partner View Surveys
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Making It Global
• Trust travels
• Values travel
• Defining a Best Place To Work
• Flex on the tactics, not on the
values
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Fragility
• Trust is an easily violated relationship
• Actions must be consistent with words
- Labor Hours
- Apron Pockets
- Facility Maintenance
• Recovery is not impossible, but it
takes a long time
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
The Evolving Role of Human Resources
• The function is overly fixated on being a “Strategic Partner”
• Many in the function stop there
• Must be equally balanced with “Employee Advocate”
• Once at the table, advocacy is more critical
• Focus on enabling, not controlling
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Building and Sustaining a Culture of Trust
Summary
Trust is possible, but it’s hard
It requires you to be humble and stay humble
The benefits are substantial
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