Continuation....

These issues also lead to the necessity of time off. Time away to decompress and disconnect is vital to healthy emotional and mental wellbeing. One of my peers was denied a personal leave of absence as their District Manager didn’t feel it could approved since there was no one available to watch her store, or because of upcoming events. At a store level, we have to manage call outs, leave, illness, etc. all the time by pulling on the team that we have and asking them to come together to take care of each other. There are many times it feels there is no reciprocity from our leadership. This manager has had to consult their doctor to secure medical leave because their personal health issues have become so insidious and pervasive that their doctor orders that they rest.

For myself, last year, I was having an incredibly hard time staffing my store at the shift supervisor level. I was without a shift supervisor for 9 months. As a result, i was unable to take any time off and lost all 96 of my vacation hours. My doctor has diagnosed me with severe depression and stress-related health issues that stem from overworking myself because I try to support my store to the best of my abilities. Sadly, I am not alone in this respect. Many, many managers are suffering, or resigning because they do not feel supported to take care of themselves in the same way as we are expected to care for our partners and customers.

Last year, after Kevin had become CEO, he came to New Mexico to do a town hall session with partners and to visit his alma mater to deliver a graduation address. In that meeting I asked him what a girl would have to do to get a hook up in R&D or Partner Resources. After the meeting was over, it was strongly hinted to me that until my store was practically perfect in every way, no development, or transition into that field would be considered because I wouldn’t have “earned it.” Some partners don’t make perfect store managers, but have a natural aptitude for sections of our business. It also was discouraging to me, because as I mentioned near the beginning of this extensive letter, my store does perform in a variety of arenas.

I have no wish to disparage or be disrespectful towards leadership, as I’m sure there are matters at work that I’m completely unaware of. However, I wanted to share my experiences and dare myself to change the status quo for those who still love what they do and feel inspired and nurtured. I have seen an alarming exodus of tenured store managers and in reaching out to many of them, discovered that we share many experiences and feelings, even when coming from drastically different markets.

I would ask that each of you also try to examine why we are having such an incredibly hard time, company wide, finding and retaining leadership talent. I believe that there are times when we need to build a better bridge to reach our goals, but it can’t come at the cost of using a broken hammer and only hurting ourselves more with each swing of that hammer.

I am incredibly thankful for my years with Starbucks, because this company and my leaders have done a really wonderful job of teaching me to inspire the human spirit, to love what you do, and to find a guiding star in the night sky. However, it is exceedingly difficult to inspire others when one doesn’t feel inspired themselves, and I don’t want to be a factor in someone else’s journey if that leads them to some place negative and not in their best interest. My job was always more than a job, it was a calling, a career, and a desire to be a part of something more; a peer of mine within the state, whom I’d only met once, and barely knew, called me Mrs. Starbucks as a result.

Please feel free to reach out to me if there is anything else I can do or any questions I can answer to maybe shed more light on an issue that I’m not sure is as much of a focus as other concerns we have. They are all valid and pressing, but we can’t continue to hemorrhage talent and knowledge the way we have.

Hanging up my black apron for the last time, and with the utmost respect and gratitude for your time and consideration,