By Sarah Bregel
Laxman Narasimhan, the incoming chief executive of Starbucks Corporation, just did something that might make you feel a little better about your $9 latte habit.
In an email to employees, he vowed to work in the cafes, making drinks and ringing up orders. “To keep us close to the culture and our customers, as well as to our challenges and opportunities, I intend to continue working in stores for a half day each month, and I expect each member of the leadership team to also ensure our support centers stay connected and engaged in the realities of our stores for discussion and improvement,” he asserted in the letter.
Okay, so he’s only putting on his barista hat for a half day, once-monthly. But wildly enough, the practice of a CEO working inside a chain restaurant, or on the ground of whatever business they’re running from the top, is astoundingly uncommon. It’s so far-fetched that the TV show Undercover Boss built its entire premise around the idea. Typically, the show revealed big changes when CEOs came face-to-face with the real issues plaguing employees—feel-good programming, people.
In real life, perhaps, it shouldn’t be such a little-known practice for higher-ups to roll up their sleeves and see what’s going on in stores. While Narasimhan’s pledge comes as Starbucks locations across the country are voting to unionize over issues like understaffing and unsafe working conditions, there are plenty of good reasons why bosses should get closer to the issues.
In today’s world, higher-ups seem to be more and more removed from their employees’ daily struggles. CEO pay tends to be hundreds of times higher than that of the median wage of everyday workers. Meanwhile, CEOs at top publicly traded companies tend to have advanced degrees, typically MBAs, and very often from elite schools.
At the same time, employees are less satisfied and less engaged, especially Gen Z and younger millennials, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. Bad bosses are the No. 1 reason why people quit their jobs, too, so, there’s clearly a widespread disconnect or an unmet need taking place.
Maybe if CEOs across the globe put on their aprons or their hard hats more often, we’d close the gap. Research shows that leader competence is key to employee happiness. And if bosses are experts in their domain, the better the business does, too. According to the Harvard Business Review, hospitals run by people who have actual experience working as doctors have higher ratings from patients. The same research showed basketball teams coached by former all-star players had more NBA success, and universities that employ scholar-leaders have greater success, too.
Is that really such a big surprise? It shouldn’t be. The better bosses understands the job they’re asking their employees to do, the happier everyone is. And because happy employees are better employees, businesses thrive. So, whether that means making Frappuccinos or shooting hoops, hands-on experience is key for leaders.
Here’s to a CEO who knows how to work a frother.
(16)
