Starbucks CPO talks equity, unionization

Starbucks Chief Partner Officer on policies that create equity for all employees

What you probably already know: Starbucks has about 381,000 employees in 86 countries, a staggering challenge for the Seattle-based coffee company’s Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly, whose role oversees benefits and partner policies. She spoke recently at a Women in Work Summit in Seattle and shared her take how Starbucks thinks about supporting such a large and diverse team.

Why? Starbucks calls all its employees “partners,” regardless of their title, and everyone across the whole company gets access to the same benefits, from the CEO to the local barista. “That’s really important to us,” Kelly said. While some benefits might be a little different country-to-country, everyone in that country gets the same access. In China, for example, where many Starbucks partners care for their elderly parents, the company offers critical illness care for parents.

What it means: In addition to benefits like IVF support, free therapy sessions, gender affirming care and other newer additions to the company’s roster, Starbucks has paid 100% of the tuition for 13,000 employees to graduate from Arizona State University, where it has a special program for partners. Currently 25,000 partners are participating in the program. “It’s their bridge to a better future,” Kelly said, even if that future isn’t with Starbucks.

What happens now? Starbucks has had numerous stores unionize in recent years, something that creates new challenges for the company as it seeks to complete bargaining agreements with each individual store. Company leaders just finished up a bargaining session with Workers United in Chicago that would create a standard framework for single-store contracts. “Bargaining is about listening to our partners,” Kelly said. “We’re making great progress.”

Check out the next Women in Work Summit in London featuring the president of Estée Lauder, HR director for Diageo, and global health and wellbeing lead for Accenture.