HRM 5300 Module 4 Starbucks: Careers, Retention and Unions Example

Promoting From Within, Bargaining Without a Contract: Starbucks' People Strategy

Student Name

Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University

HRM-5300: Human Resources Management

Mentor Name

Month Day, Year

Promoting From Within, Bargaining Without a Contract: Starbucks' People Strategy

The Case

Starbucks employed about 381,000 people worldwide at the end of fiscal 2025, about 223,000 of them in the United States, most in company-operated stores (Starbucks Corporation, 2025). The company has long described its baristas as partners and offered benefits unusual in food service. Since September 2021, employees at a number of stores have voted for union representation in elections run by the National Labor Relations Board, and the company has been bargaining for first contracts. This analysis asks how Starbucks develops and retains employees, how labor relations affect those efforts, and what the company should do.

Question 1: Development

Noe et al. (2015) describe employee development as formal education, assessment, job experiences and interpersonal relationships that prepare people for future roles, and career management as the system that matches employees' goals with the organization's needs. Starbucks reports hiring internally for about 90 percent of retail leadership roles, which creates a visible career path from barista to shift supervisor, store manager and district manager. That path is a development system built on job experiences, the method the textbook identifies as producing much development. It also supports retention, because employees who see a future are more likely to stay, and it preserves the company's culture in leadership roles.

Question 2: Retention and Voice

Retention in food service is difficult; turnover is high across the industry. Starbucks surveys employees anonymously about leadership, pay, benefits and career growth, a form of voice that lets problems surface before people quit. The textbook emphasizes that employees who can express concerns are less likely to leave. Batt et al. (2002), studying telecommunications workplaces, found that both union representation and nonunion voice mechanisms, such as problem-solving teams, were associated with lower quit rates, and that high-involvement practices further reduced turnover. The finding suggests that how Starbucks handles voice, union and nonunion, has direct consequences for turnover and its costs.

Question 3: Labor Relations

The National Labor Relations Act protects employees' right to organize and bargain collectively, and once a union is certified the employer must negotiate with it in good faith on pay, schedules and other conditions of work. Unions now hold representation rights at about 6 percent of Starbucks' more than 10,000 U.S. company-operated stores, and the company has disclosed that it has been bargaining for initial agreements, that work stoppages have occurred at some stores, and that it is involved in litigation related to organizing.

The textbook explains that labor relations combine legal requirements with strategic choices: management can treat unions as adversaries or as partners in improving operations. For Starbucks, the stakes go beyond the unionized stores. Its annual report notes that unions limit unilateral operational changes in represented stores, which complicates a turnaround strategy that depends on changing store routines, and that its position on unions could affect how customers perceive the brand.

Recommendations

Starbucks should prioritize reaching first contracts using a common framework for wages, scheduling and benefits across represented stores, which would reduce uncertainty and the risk of further stoppages. It should consult employees early on operational changes, in represented stores because the law requires it and in others because it improves adoption. It should keep strengthening its internal career path, for example by publishing promotion timelines and training requirements for each step, since development is one of its clearest retention strengths. Finally, it should treat survey results as commitments, reporting back actions to employees.

Trade-offs

Contracts may raise labor costs and reduce scheduling flexibility, and consultation slows decisions. Continued conflict, however, carries costs in disputes, management time and reputation, and the research on voice suggests that better channels lower turnover, which offsets part of the cost.

Measuring Results

Starbucks can track the effect of these steps through barista and shift supervisor turnover, the share of leadership roles filled internally, survey scores on whether employees feel heard and the number of open labor disputes. Comparing represented and nonrepresented stores on these measures would show whether voice, in either form, is associated with better retention in its own stores, as the research predicts. Publishing progress internally would also build trust.

Development for Union and Nonunion Stores Alike

Development opportunities should be the same in represented and nonrepresented stores, both because unequal treatment could be seen as interfering with organizing rights and because the internal promotion path is one of the company's strongest retention tools. Starbucks can make the path more visible by publishing what each step requires, such as training modules and time in role, and by tracking how quickly employees in different regions advance. Equal access to development is both a legal safeguard and a statement of the company's values.

Conclusion

Starbucks has a strong development system in its internal promotion path, but its labor relations remain unsettled years after organizing began. Resolving first contracts and strengthening voice across all stores would support the retention its people strategy depends on and the operational changes its turnaround requires.

References

Batt, R., Colvin, A. J. S., & Keefe, J. (2002). Employee voice, human resource practices, and quit rates: Evidence from the telecommunications industry. ILR Review, 55(4), 573-594. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390205500401

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2015). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Starbucks Corporation. (2025). Annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.