"A Howard Tale" by Short Drip

Good morning... Here's what I'm getting for you.

A tale from reader, Short Drip. While I think Uncle Howie is a pretty decent fella on the whole, there is the side that you'll see described here... the reactionary, emotional side... So enjoy... and thanks Short Drip. I still haven't heard back on Alling's nomination... You'd think he'd be thrilled...

The story begins with “realignment” after “realignment”. Growing so fast can be fun, but sometimes dm's and sm's get passed back and forth more than the gravy boat at Thanksgiving dinner.

This was such the case with a young buck, green dm in my region. I inherited him from the guy who promoted me. (Don't we always say that when it doesn't quite work out?)

He took over a very busy district averaging about 1.3 million per year. This lovely urban district was deliciously neglected by a transferred-to-a-position-in-store-development-to-keep-from-getting-fired kinda guy.

No such place for a green bean.

I had worked with him for about 2 months when it was time to realign. He went to a colleague of mine who was also new and.....um, well........."external". She was the "queen bee" type. She liked you if you were not a perceived threat to her career "fast-tracking".

Anyway, she was indeed busy immersing herself in all the sorts of things that will either make you a "culture fit" or not. I don't know exactly what they were but she was busy all the time. Very good.

About 9 months later it was discovered by the RVP that the previous realignment wasn't "tight enough" within geographic lines and we had to fix that. Apparently we had to do it right now.

I was fine with it but I was aware that our precious green bean, young buck, in over his head, afraid to ask for help new DM was critically understaffed. In a conversation with the RVP I put together, with the DM a quick and effective action plan

that would close that staffing gap in 30-40 days. Just so you know, He had 5 stores and was 55 Barista's short. He had 2 store managers. The other 3 stores were being run by a "dual store manager" or an ASM.

It was by far the worst situation I have ever seen. It was like triage. There were body-bags all over the place and we had to run it like a M*A*S*H unit.

Moving along, the action plan was great and working okay. We were into it for about 3 weeks when it became September. How is this significant? Well, as a long term partner, we have to take vacation in September before it runs out. I took a lovely trip with my husband and mother. It was wonderful. Warm water, sunny, good food and drink. Boy, I needed it and was having a great time....until the phone rang.

It was my RVP's coordinator. She said Howie was in one of my stores this morning and that there would be an emergency conference call at 3 pm today.

I was beyond pissed. Why? 3 reasons why I was so pissed off:

1. I could not come out of the bedroom and show any emotion on my face. It would ruin my mother's vacation so I had to rearrange our plans for the day and also keep it low key as to why.

2. It was that green bean, young buck, "in way over-his head’s store and I only had this district for about 3 week's and now I am gonna get a bad rap for this crap.

3. I am on friggin vacation and this is just another example of why I need it!!!!!

Apparently, Howie and his entourage were in for some meetings. I guess they had a nav and started popping in stores near his meeting location. He goes into this store, which is mine and the reason for the conference call and this story.

They walk in.

• Bean riser, empty
• Pastry case, empty
• York order, everywhere
• Wall of cabinets, all open
• Line of customers
• 2 partners on the floor

Howie says to the sweet, demure, precious and cheerful shift:

Howie: "Hi, I'm Howard. Is the manager in?"

Precious shift: "No. He just left. The DM came in a few minutes ago and they both left to deliver his performance review".

Howie: "Oh really?"

Precious shift: "You are Howard Schultz? Well good. I am short staffed and have been for months. No one seems to care. I have opened and worked until 6:30 pm for 5 days in a row and I can't get this York order up. Maybe you can find me some help."

My RVP told me that Howie called him directly. He used the F-word a dozen times. It was awful. I felt really bad for my RVP. It was also a very awkward time for me and my colleague although she and I NEVER discussed the situation. She never brought it up and neither did I. What is the very most tragic thing of all is, I had to sit down my young buck. I had to tell him it was not going to work out and that he had 2 choices: Step down so we can set you up for better success or go on a PIP. (That is universal for "it's over and there are too many laws that prevent me firing you right now".)

I urged him NOT to accept the PIP as I knew he could not recover within the 90 days needed. Another SM quit and the only one he had left was on a PIP himself.

After 2 weeks of my URGING him not to take the PIP (talk to your wife etc.) he came to my office and said: "I want the PIP". He was going to "man it out". I said "okay". I began to set up the date for our next meeting and He stopped me and said "I want to step down." I was so relieved!

The great news is that he went back to SM. Worked very hard and after about 1 year he was promoted to District Manager in Licensed Stores. And, he has a great attitude to boot.

Where is the cautionary tale here? Hhhhmmmm, let me see.

• Don't grow faster that you can recruit/develop for. Let that be the gauge.
• Don't toss people from region to region without some consideration for the person's needs
• Develop enough networks so that it is not a "surprise" that Howie is in town
• No more that four, 14 hour days in a row for your shifts (I think that was the real issue here)
• Don't take your cell phone on vacation with you
• You better make sure you are fully staffed before you start neglecting your stores. That way, it's easier to recover

In closing, I wish to salute my naive, young buck. I am proud of you.

Short Drip…