Reflecting on what ones first post should be can be rather stressful. Searching around the interweb I found that many first posts are related to personal brand statements and the like.
My goal for my blog is to share on learning insights, challenges, "aha" moments, and other inspirational experiences.
Learning is a complex thing. Rather, learning is an experience. An experience held by the learner, the facilitator/coach/boss, etc. Also, the experience of the innocent bystander (sometimes). I recently had the experience of sitting in two different Starbucks stores. While I was there I happened to be chipping away at some work while enjoying my favourite "starbys" beverage. While I was immersed in my warm and comfy brand experience I could not help but listen in on a rare "behind-the-scene" occurrence, the performance review of a barista by the store manager.
My first experience was at a beautiful and large concept store located in British Columbia's lower mainland. The second, was back home in Alberta at my "local" store.
First and foremost I admired the tone and professionalism of the manager in the BC store, she had several pieces of constructive feedback to share with her staff member and what I noticed was that she was clearly following a format/process and was clearly trained on how to conduct a performance review. However, I was impressed that she was extremely comfortable in stick handling excuses and rebuttal on the part of the barista "no, you cannot wear jeans to work and this was explained previously on....".
This manager was able to match the expectations of the companies store policies with outcome statements that the employee was able to agree to as very clear and attainable. In the realm of learning, a clear outcome statement is essential in painting that "future picture". I liked this so much because this was a great example of blended learning where the leaders are passionate and capable of carrying out the expectations of the organization.
My local experience within the same week back home in Alberta was not the same. Prior to listening in on a review I noticed that the store was not clean, the staff were not working effectively together and during the review of the barista a person who worked in a nearby store (non Starbucks) was allowed to walk behind the counter and help herself to ice in the back room.
These two experiences caused me to reflect on what I "feel" about this organization. Billions of dollars in sales and yet such wildly different experiences. What this tells me is that an organization can have the best processes set up, the highest standards, yet the execution of this vision within the company lies with each person. Like a link of chain, if one is broken, the learning stops.
Until next time,
Jeff
My goal for my blog is to share on learning insights, challenges, "aha" moments, and other inspirational experiences.
Learning is a complex thing. Rather, learning is an experience. An experience held by the learner, the facilitator/coach/boss, etc. Also, the experience of the innocent bystander (sometimes). I recently had the experience of sitting in two different Starbucks stores. While I was there I happened to be chipping away at some work while enjoying my favourite "starbys" beverage. While I was immersed in my warm and comfy brand experience I could not help but listen in on a rare "behind-the-scene" occurrence, the performance review of a barista by the store manager.
My first experience was at a beautiful and large concept store located in British Columbia's lower mainland. The second, was back home in Alberta at my "local" store.
First and foremost I admired the tone and professionalism of the manager in the BC store, she had several pieces of constructive feedback to share with her staff member and what I noticed was that she was clearly following a format/process and was clearly trained on how to conduct a performance review. However, I was impressed that she was extremely comfortable in stick handling excuses and rebuttal on the part of the barista "no, you cannot wear jeans to work and this was explained previously on....".
This manager was able to match the expectations of the companies store policies with outcome statements that the employee was able to agree to as very clear and attainable. In the realm of learning, a clear outcome statement is essential in painting that "future picture". I liked this so much because this was a great example of blended learning where the leaders are passionate and capable of carrying out the expectations of the organization.
My local experience within the same week back home in Alberta was not the same. Prior to listening in on a review I noticed that the store was not clean, the staff were not working effectively together and during the review of the barista a person who worked in a nearby store (non Starbucks) was allowed to walk behind the counter and help herself to ice in the back room.
These two experiences caused me to reflect on what I "feel" about this organization. Billions of dollars in sales and yet such wildly different experiences. What this tells me is that an organization can have the best processes set up, the highest standards, yet the execution of this vision within the company lies with each person. Like a link of chain, if one is broken, the learning stops.
Until next time,
Jeff
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