“We’re all adults here” – Orange County Register

By Daniel Sirtori | Bloomberg

New Starbucks Corp. CEO Brian Niccol believes his employees should be where they need to be to get their job done. More often than not, he said, that place is the office.

In Niccol’s first speech to employees after taking the top job this month, he praised “the power of coming together,” but said he would not tell them which days or times to report to the company’s Seattle headquarters, according to a transcript of his Sept. 10 speech obtained by Bloomberg News.

Niccol’s own work arrangement, which allows him to live in Newport Beach and travel 1,000 miles to Seattle on the company’s corporate jet, initially drew backlash from some employees and outside critics who said he was getting special treatment while the rest of the company had to be in the office three days a week. Other employees said they didn’t care where the CEO worked as long as he didn’t disrupt anyone’s remote or hybrid work arrangements.

See also: Starbucks’ new CEO wants chain to focus on coffee shops again

Starbucks said Niccol will spend most of his time in the office and visiting the chain’s stores around the world. A Starbucks spokesman confirmed there was no change to the company’s three-day office policy.

“This isn’t a game of following. This is a game of winning,” said Niccol, who was hired to turn around a company that has been struggling with declining sales. “I want everyone here to succeed, and if success requires us to be together more often than not, let’s be together more often.”

In the forum, he cited amenities like an on-site gym, a creche and a Starbucks coffee shop as things that should encourage employees to come to the office. The company also offers subsidized public transport, free electric vehicle charging, bike lockers and shuttles to nearby public transport.

Dangling a carrot to entice people back to the office contrasts with the stick used this week by another Seattle corporate giant, Amazon.com Inc., which ordered employees to return to the office five days a week starting in January.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to employees that it’s harder to get work done at Amazon and that working from home is part of the problem. To hammer that home, he said the company will also bring back fixed desk assignments.

The decision sparked frustration among some employees who said it was not supported by data showing that people are productive outside the office.

The research on the impact of remote work on productivity varies widely, often depending on the type of job being studied. It also “depends heavily” on how well it’s managed, according to Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who has studied remote work for more than a decade.

At Starbucks, some employees have expressed concerns about whether Niccol would increase office work requirements or change remote work arrangements for employees who already have them. In his previous job as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Niccol brought employees back to work four days a week.

Niccol did not directly address the issue during the internal forum and did not issue any new orders, the minutes show.

“I think we should be together as much as possible. You have to figure out where you need to be to get your job done and then do it,” he said. “We’re all adults here.”

Originally published: September 19, 2024 at 1:16 PM