Starbucks Team Leaders

A sister store did their own Valentine's drink: basically a strawberries & cream frapp with java chips & a bit of mocha drizzle on the whip.
They topped it with some candy hearts for Valentine's; really cute & tasty!
 
I learned today that our SBTL quit without notice a couple of days ago, and the next runner up is going on LOA soon for school. My friends are Starbucks are in a bit of a panic to say the least!
 
Firefox said:
I learned today that our SBTL quit without notice a couple of days ago, and the next runner up is going on LOA soon for school. My friends are Starbucks are in a bit of a panic to say the least!
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That stinks. Well, we will try to help the abandoned baristas on here as best we can!
 
One of my sister stores still hasn't had a Starbucks TL since November. Their Starbucks TL stopped showing up a week before Black Friday.
 
CoquiAzul said:
One of my sister stores still hasn't had a Starbucks TL since November. Their Starbucks TL stopped showing up a week before Black Friday.
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Who does that? Why doesn't anyone want to be TL there. Must be rough for the team.
 
CoquiAzul said:
That store is horrible with an ETL that should honestly never have a leadership position ever.
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My store might get into a similar position. The ETL-SF/GE and the ETL-LOG are both terrible, plus they fight (which is super awkward for the TMs to hear over the walkie...). There are 10 TLs in my store and obviously all 10 TLs are in those areas because that is basically the whole store. Flow TL had his last day last week, 1 SFTL has his last day this week, another SFTL is on the brink of quitting, the other two SFTLs probably hate their jobs now but they have been here long enough that they are unlikely to quit, BRTL is pretty frustrated and just got told that he doesn't work hard enough (he might not, but it's still hard to hear that when you're already frustrated), both GSTLs almost walked out in the middle of their shifts this week. So that leaves the POGTL who I don't talk to. And me, and for the second or third time I'm considering stepping down from SrTL to just TL because then I can be in my own little corner of the store where I make sure we are successful and I don't have to deal with the issues of the rest of the store.

/end rant
 
Xanatos said:
My store might get into a similar position. The ETL-SF/GE and the ETL-LOG are both terrible, plus they fight (which is super awkward for the TMs to hear over the walkie...). There are 10 TLs in my store and obviously all 10 TLs are in those areas because that is basically the whole store. Flow TL had his last day last week, 1 SFTL has his last day this week, another SFTL is on the brink of quitting, the other two SFTLs probably hate their jobs now but they have been here long enough that they are unlikely to quit, BRTL is pretty frustrated and just got told that he doesn't work hard enough (he might not, but it's still hard to hear that when you're already frustrated), both GSTLs almost walked out in the middle of their shifts this week. So that leaves the POGTL who I don't talk to. And me, and for the second or third time I'm considering stepping down from SrTL to just TL because then I can be in my own little corner of the store where I make sure we are successful and I don't have to deal with the issues of the rest of the store.

/end rant
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Are the LOD shifts bringing you into the drama?
 
CoquiAzul said:
Are the LOD shifts bringing you into the drama?
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Yes. And honestly, it's mostly just the insane expectations. 8 months ago when my new ETL-SF/GE started, she said I wasn't spending enough time in Starbucks/Food Ave, so I started scheduling 2 hours in Food Ave at the start of my LOD shifts (like 3-5 FA, 5-1130 LOD). New STL cut those hours, so I'm LOD 3-1130, but I still need to check up on my team (because no other LOD will know what to check up on, or care enough to do it). So now I use the LOD hours to do it and she says I spend too much time up there and I should be out on the floor more.

And the zone, omg the zone. As an LOD, I'm expected to zone a small area of the store and follow up with the sales floor tms. Don't give a shit about SB/FA, the backroom, etc. BUT OMG THE SALES FLOOR MUST BE PERFECT. And the goal is to close green every night. But green is perfection. There can't be anything wrong with the zone. Which means I can never close green. So every night is a disappointment because it's impossible to be good enough. And it's killing me. Target doesn't give us enough payroll to be perfect. That's not profitable. So when we bust our asses and do a great job, I should feel good about that day. But it's not good enough so I leave feeling like shit. And so does everyone else (except when I'm LOD).

It's just slowly killing me. When I'm in my own workcenters, I can make sure everything is amazing. I expect everyone to be great, but people make mistakes, or maybe they had a really busy day, or there were call offs, whatever. Plus it's a small enough area that I can turn it from red to green in one slow day. And the guests at Starbucks are amazing. Plus I'm way better at making drinks than I am at zoning.

Oh, and REDcards. I go from my LOD shifts where REDcards are a constant stressor, to Starbucks where we were literally told not to talk about REDcards.
 
Xanatos said:
Yes. And honestly, it's mostly just the insane expectations. 8 months ago when my new ETL-SF/GE started, she said I wasn't spending enough time in Starbucks/Food Ave, so I started scheduling 2 hours in Food Ave at the start of my LOD shifts (like 3-5 FA, 5-1130 LOD). New STL cut those hours, so I'm LOD 3-1130, but I still need to check up on my team (because no other LOD will know what to check up on, or care enough to do it). So now I use the LOD hours to do it and she says I spend too much time up there and I should be out on the floor more.

And the zone, omg the zone. As an LOD, I'm expected to zone a small area of the store and follow up with the sales floor tms. Don't give a shit about SB/FA, the backroom, etc. BUT OMG THE SALES FLOOR MUST BE PERFECT. And the goal is to close green every night. But green is perfection. There can't be anything wrong with the zone. Which means I can never close green. So every night is a disappointment because it's impossible to be good enough. And it's killing me. Target doesn't give us enough payroll to be perfect. That's not profitable. So when we bust our asses and do a great job, I should feel good about that day. But it's not good enough so I leave feeling like shit. And so does everyone else (except when I'm LOD).

It's just slowly killing me. When I'm in my own workcenters, I can make sure everything is amazing. I expect everyone to be great, but people make mistakes, or maybe they had a really busy day, or there were call offs, whatever. Plus it's a small enough area that I can turn it from red to green in one slow day. And the guests at Starbucks are amazing. Plus I'm way better at making drinks than I am at zoning.

Oh, and REDcards. I go from my LOD shifts where REDcards are a constant stressor, to Starbucks where we were literally told not to talk about REDcards.
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Wow I would totally step down. I can't imagine owning my work center and have LOD shifts. It would kill me.
 
CoquiAzul said:
Wow I would totally step down. I can't imagine owning my work center and have LOD shifts. It would kill me.
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It mostly depends on the leadership in your store. When I had a better ETL-SF/GE, it was much better. And the STL that left just before I became a SrTL was amazing.
 
Xanatos said:
It mostly depends on the leadership in your store. When I had a better ETL-SF/GE, it was much better. And the STL that left just before I became a SrTL was amazing.
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Yeah store culture is ultimately created by the leadership in place. Every store goes through that. The STL that replaced my old STL while can get overbearing at times, she's still done a great job at setting high expectations and creating a more positive culture.
 
CoquiAzul said:
Yeah store culture is ultimately created by the leadership in place. Every store goes through that. The STL that replaced my old STL while can get overbearing at times, she's still done a great job at setting high expectations and creating a more positive culture.
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I think my current STL might be able to do that, but it's going to take a while and she seems to be a little too good at work-life balance. She started at my store (while also covering her old store that was closing (she had just started there so I know it had nothing to do with her)) the week of Christmas and has already taken at least 10 days of vacation by the end of this week. I've probably used about 10 hours of vacation since September, but that's another issue. She doesn't seem to be present to make the changes because her store just closed at the end of January and she has this whole week off.

A former ETL-HR from my store is now an STL at a nearby store and is going to reach out to my STL about several different issues that I informed her about. It should be interesting to see if anything actually changes...
 
Xanatos said:
I think my current STL might be able to do that, but it's going to take a while and she seems to be a little too good at work-life balance. She started at my store (while also covering her old store that was closing (she had just started there so I know it had nothing to do with her)) the week of Christmas and has already taken at least 10 days of vacation by the end of this week. I've probably used about 10 hours of vacation since September, but that's another issue. She doesn't seem to be present to make the changes because her store just closed at the end of January and she has this whole week off.

A former ETL-HR from my store is now an STL at a nearby store and is going to reach out to my STL about several different issues that I informed her about. It should be interesting to see if anything actually changes...
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Let's hope it does. If you step down, I'm sure your team will be happy to have you around more often.
 
CoquiAzul said:
Let's hope it does. If you step down, I'm sure your team will be happy to have you around more often.
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Yeah I think they would love it, and I think I might be happier, and I would get to use my 200 vacation hours! There are so many up sides. Down sides are $1.75 drop in pay and being a SrTL is a good way to improve my leadership skills (and it's better on a resume to say that I close the store once or twice a week, as opposed to being a barista for a chunk of the week). But my happiness is more important than all of that, so we'll see. I battled with depression for a few years and I don't want to go down that road again.
 
Xanatos said:
Yeah I think they would love it, and I think I might be happier, and I would get to use my 200 vacation hours! There are so many up sides. Down sides are $1.75 drop in pay and being a SrTL is a good way to improve my leadership skills (and it's better on a resume to say that I close the store once or twice a week, as opposed to being a barista for a chunk of the week). But my happiness is more important than all of that, so we'll see. I battled with depression for a few years and I don't want to go down that road again.
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Happiness over stress any day. Plus regardless of being a Sr. or not, you're still a leader.
 
Xanatos said:
Yeah I think they would love it, and I think I might be happier, and I would get to use my 200 vacation hours! There are so many up sides. Down sides are $1.75 drop in pay and being a SrTL is a good way to improve my leadership skills (and it's better on a resume to say that I close the store once or twice a week, as opposed to being a barista for a chunk of the week). But my happiness is more important than all of that, so we'll see. I battled with depression for a few years and I don't want to go down that road again.
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Wow. You could be describing my Target life. Gets pretty stressful. Can't get my ETL or STL to understand that I need to actually talk to my team. When I close, I usually have to take a pretty big zone--RTW or IBG for instance. Last Halloween, I had to close Starbucks and be LOD because of a call off! Thank Goodness it was slow in the store. My STL has herself off for at least one week every month up to August! Work/Life balance is not a problem! I love when my DM comes in, because I know I will hear positive things about the work I do. W! hen I am LOD, I work extra hard to make sure the team feels good about being there and the jobs they do.
Keep positive! I hope they will let your step down if that is what is best for you.
 
Yetive said:
PS my first guest this morning ordered a Molten Chocolate Latte. Ugh. I enjoyed saying that we didn't have it anymore.
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We had a bunch of people asking if we could do a molten white chocolate. Ummm...no. No we can't. Also, sampled the citrus green tea latte and several guests said it tasted like grass lol
 

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