He has suffered burns and caused food to explode…Why the CEO of Starbucks still works as a barista

• Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan suffered burns on his hand while working at a Starbucks store.
• This was one of the things Narasimhan experienced while preparing to become CEO.
• At the time, Starbucks employees were entering their third year of efforts to form a union.

During his early months, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan also worked as a barista — where he made some of the most common rookie mistakes.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Narasimhan made various mistakes while working as a barista, including exploding the egg bites he served to customers. He once forgot how to process a credit card at the cash register and burned his hand with hot cheese from a sandwich.

These experiences were gained during a six-month period in which Narasimhan worked shifts at Starbucks locations across the United States. Narasimhan was also preparing to take over as CEO of Starbucks from Howard Schultz, who stepped down in March.

“Working as a partner really made it clear what we needed to do,” Narasimhan told The Wall Street Journal.

Shortly after taking over as CEO, Narasimhan said in a memo to staff that he would continue to work as a barista for half a day each month. With his experience taking orders and making drinks, he said he saw an opportunity to “rebuild Starbucks.”

At the time, Starbucks employees were entering their third year of efforts to form a union. According to the Wall Street Journal, this movement has brought to light operational issues such as an increase in menu items that are complicated to prepare and parallel tasks to reduce customer wait times.

Some union organizers have criticized Mr. Narasimhan for continuing to work at Starbucks stores. “I’d much rather you get out of our way and spend 40 hours learning about worker rights and how to avoid committing the thousands of unfair labor practices a year,” he told X (formerly Twitter) in March. Some people posted.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administration found that Starbucks had violated labor laws by coercing workers and firing workers who tried to unionize at its stores, Bloomberg Law reported in June. This was made clear by the judge’s judgment.

Mr. Narasimhan has said little about unionization efforts in public. However, his predecessor, Mr. Schultz, said in February, “I don’t think there’s a place for a labor union at Starbucks.”

Narasimhan said his experience working in stores led to operational improvements that Starbucks could make, such as reducing the number of cup-and-lid combinations.

Other important changes

He also wants to increase the amount of breakfast sandwiches sent to stores to avoid stockouts and make it easier to unwrap Starbucks Egg Bites, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Narasimhan also said other, more profound changes are underway, such as reducing the number of emails and messages Starbucks headquarters sends to stores.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks is not only increasing pay and benefits for its store employees, but also increasing its headcount.