According to the Seattle Times, Starbucks Chairman, Howard Schultz, felt the need to send Starbucks employees a pep-talk letter. Seems as though Howard has been bothered by some recent, but unnamed, criticism directed at Starbucks.
In the letter Howard writes …
“Over the last several weeks, there have been an exceptional number of comments about Starbucks in the media and online, many of which have not been positive. At times, partners have asked about my feelings when Starbucks is criticized. Given the tone of the coverage recently, I wanted to reach out to you and share my thoughts.
I don’t feel the need to address these issues specifically. We’ve done that previously and that’s not my primary concern. My focus is on you – the partners who have made Starbucks such a trusted presence around the world. And my focus is on preserving the trust that we have built with our customers and each other over the years. I want you to know that you can be proud of the company we all work for and that you can continue to trust the foundation it’s built upon.”
Thanks to the Starbucks Gossip blog, we can expect to read FIRECRACKER commentary from disgruntled and happy Starbucks employees. Seriously folks … these responses will give us all an insider view into the morale of Starbucks employees.