CEO Of This Company With 3.8 Lakh Workforce Begs Employees To Return To Office – “I said I’ll get on my knees”
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is dissatisfied with the number of employees returning to offices despite doing “everything” to convince them.
He was speaking at an event when he said that convincing people to leave remote work and return to the office hasn’t been productive.
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Desperation
He said that he “pleaded with them” and told them that he’d “get on [his] knees. I’ll do push-ups. Whatever you want. Come back.”
He also said that he tried to lead by example, showing up at the office at 7am and leaving at 7pm.
However, despite the unsuccessful efforts, he hasn’t made it compulsory for corporate employees to return to the office.
Offering Flexible Options
Instead, he began offering “flexible options for eligible, non-retail roles” in the form of hybrid and remote positions.
The Starbucks website states that hybrid workplace options depend on the individual role and are identified in its job postings.
Roles that do not have to be based in a specific location are labeled as ‘remote’.
Roles that can be fulfilled in multiple locations, such as a combination of home and office, are indicated as ‘hybrid.’
More Practical Than Peers
Schultz’s reluctant embracing of flexible work options stand in stark contrast from the hardline stances adopted by other CEOs such as the notorious Elon Musk.
The man made news by demanding that employees return to offices and called those working at home as “pretending to work”.
This rightly drew widespread criticism since remote work actually improved people’s quality of life and productivity.
That’s one thing.
The other thing these billionaires seem to not grasp is that alienating the company’s most talented employees can lead them to simply quit since there is no dearth of options for them out there.
Reluctant Acceptance
Meanwhile, Schultz seems to have accepted that flexible workplaces are now “the way it is.”
He observed that people will come back two to three days a week and that that’s where things stand now.
However, he expressed doubts over the level of productivity when working from home.
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