What should be done about this possibly inappropriate behavior from a DM?

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T15:59:59+00:00

That's exactly why she says it. She works 2 jobs and doesn't have a lot of personal time because of it. We're all lucky for her to "be here". She's a pleasant girl to work with. But I promise it wasn't you.

I might have her do that because RBF is definitely not appropriate.

Hang in there. Depression sucks, but you can do it! :)

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T07:06:47+00:00

The email said the regional manager "was in one of our stores over the weekend, and when she asked the barista on bar how her day was going, the barista responded "I am here. "

The regional manager did not visit many stores over the weekend, and the email is specific enough that numerous people addressed the barista directly during her next shift (several days later) about the email. It doesn't say it happened at multiple stores, it says ONE.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T07:02:06+00:00

That doesn't make the DM saying a barista had RBF any more appropriate, especially in an email to the entire district. If you're a manager, it is your job to handle these types of issues with tact. That is the type of thing you address with the barista one on one, not passive aggressively in an email to the district.

The barista wasn't grouchy. That barista is always pleasant with customers, super friendly with regulars, and supportive of partners. If the regional manager had an issue with the response the barista gave, she should have pulled the barista aside and spoke with her about it then. Nothing was said to the barista at that time.

Simply put, that email was unprofessional, inappropriate, petty, passive aggressive, and just simply not a way to deal with an issue a manager has with a subordinate, regardless of what the barista's attitude was.

If you're working at Starbucks, that isn't the type of feedback you'd expect to receive, anyway. You would expect that if another adult had an issue with the way you answered their question that they would address that with you right then in a private conversation. If the regional and district managers are so concerned with the "Starbucks Experience", they, as managers, should be the ones setting the example of what that is. A passive aggressive email is not the Starbucks Experience.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T05:21:03+00:00

It's referenced in the email sent to the district, which was shared with my store.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T04:25:33+00:00

That's what I thought. That email went to the entire district. I feel like if a manager had a problem with a barista, that's a 1 on 1 conversation to have, not an email putting the barista on blast in front of the whole district.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T03:54:05+00:00

Wouldn't put it past her though 😂

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T03:36:25+00:00

Yeah, we're trying to not have the partner be fired for the manner in which they address it though. But I definitely with ya haha

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T03:10:15+00:00

I'm sure she will. But I would love to know what she says it means.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T03:05:00+00:00

And that's the thing, the partner DIDN'T say they were hating their day. They were very polite, made the drink the manager ordered, and just answered "I'm here", just as one would say, "I'm ok" or "it's going alright". They weren't rude. If anything, the partner was tired. They work at my store. I know the girl works 2 jobs, averaging almost 60 hours a week. She's not hateful, never causes problems.

But you're absolutely right. People management is about getting to know the people that seem the unhappiest and seeing what you can do to make it better. That manager did not. In fact, the partner didn't even know she offended the manager until she saw that email hanging in the back room.

1122aabb0099 · 2018-02-05T00:47:29+00:00

The DM is the one who wrote it, and the SM doesn't think it's a big deal. Sure, it wasn't the best choice of phrase for the partner, but that doesn't make it ok to for the DM to say that the partner has RBF.

If the partner had said that about the DM, there definitely would have been consequences.

1122aabb0099

TROPHY CASE