New Starbucks CEO will work as a barista in stores each month
The new CEO of Starbucks, who has only been in post for a matter of days, has said he will work in store as a barista each month.
Laxman Narasimhan was appointed as the new CEO of the coffee company on Monday (20 March), after Howard Schultz ended his third stint in charge early.
While Narasimhan may be new in his post as CEO, he has actually been at Starbucks for a fair few months, with him joining as interim CEO in October last year.
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Often, you find that CEOs of large companies are disconnected from the wider company and won't usually muddle in with the rest of staff.
You don't expect them to go on the shop floor and - as it is in Starbuck's case - to join the barista staff.
But Narasimhan has done just that in his time with Starbucks so far, which has helped him learn the inner workings of the company ahead of taking over as CEO.
His active role in stores has seen him earn a barista certification, which requires an impressive 40 hours of training in stores.
In a letter addressed to Starbucks employees on Thursday (23 March), Narasimhan wrote: "The past six months of my immersion into the company have been shaped by so many of you who have taught me about our very special culture at Starbucks.
"With you, I’ve experienced every aspect of the business to learn what it truly means to wear the green apron.
"You’ve welcomed me into our stores, trained me in how to be a barista … all to help me deeply understand what we do, how we do it, and the challenges and opportunities facing us."
You'd think now he is the permanent CEO of the company, Narasimhan will stop his store hopping and go into a boardroom and do CEO things.
Wrong. The new CEO has pledged to continue visiting Starbucks stores and working as a barista every month.
"To keep us close to the culture and our customers, as well as to our challenges and opportunities, I intend to continue working in stores for a half day each month," he wrote.
Elsewhere in the letter, Narasimhan discussed how he will continue to work towards the reinvention plan laid out by the former CEO over the summer.
"With our reinvention plan introduced last year, we will continue our focus on improving the store, customer, and of course, the partner experience," he wrote.
"Critically, we will reinvigorate our culture around what it means to be a partner at Starbucks.
"I will always be a fierce advocate for our partners and our culture."
Callum Jones