"we have created a relationship with our people who we call partners that's based on trust and confidence and providing them with the benefits that we think a responsible company needs to provide. And in doing so, we've lowered attrition significantly versus the retail industry in America. We've created more productive people and created an environment where Starbucks in many places domestically and around the world is the employer of choice and we are able to attract and retain fantastic people because of the culture of the company, which is defined by these benefits. So my argument is simple, it's which investment do you want to make? An investment in your people or do you want to make an investment in the hidden costs of turnover and retraining your people?"
记得有一次听一个成功餐馆的老板说，最头疼的就是服务问题。他似乎认为他找不到好员工，是因为员工质量太低，走的太快。我觉得，管理得当，真诚地对待员工的话，他们也会用真诚来回报的。在八十年代末，星巴克率先为所有的员工，包括临时工上了医疗保险，并且制订公司政策，确保每一个员工在买星巴克股票等方面能享受到同等的机会。一直到现在。Starbucks花在医疗保险上的钱比他们买咖啡豆的钱还要多。在被问到他是否认为这样做值得的时候，星巴克老板Howard Schultz说了上面一番话。重点：
1. 一个有责任的公司，要在对员工（星巴克称之为‘伙伴’）的信任的基础上，为他们提供利润。
2. 这样的利润和信任，造成了公司的文化，也吸引了最棒的人才。
3. 很简单的一个问题：你是想直接把钱投资在人才上，还是把钱投在培训，教育你的员工上？
当那个餐厅老板抱怨找不到好的员工时，我就想对他说这番话了。如果老板根本就用这种看不起的口气谈论他的员工，又不给一个有吸引力的工资，怎么能吸引他们留下来呢？
"...everything we do relates to the fact that we're — the only reason we are in business is because of the quality of people that we're able to attract and retain, coupled with the quality of coffee that we can buy and roast. If we don't do those two things well, we are finished. We have no secret sauce, we have no patent, we have no technology, those are the only two pieces of the puzzle that can differentiate Starbucks.
Now, let's go to the people side. We are in the people business. You know I've been quoted many times by saying that we're not in the business of serving — we're not in the coffee business, serving people, we're in the people business serving coffee and if you believe that then you have to imprint a level of understanding and behavior about how we do things and it begins with attracting people who have like-minded values. People who want to serve the customers. People who want to be part of an environment in which this is a different kind of company and it needs to be nurtured and embraced and everything we do is based on trust and if we don't trust one another and we don't exceed the expectations of the customer we're not going to survive and so we hire over 300 new people every day and we open six new stores a day and so we've been doing this a long time and I think when I — and I speak at business schools all the time — and when people ask me what's the secret to Starbucks success, well, there's no secret. But I will say one thing and that is in building a new business or trying to sustain your own business is that the HR function, the human resources function for me personally above IT, manufacturing, coffee procurement, above it all, is the HR function, it has to have a seat at the table, it has to be part of the strategy and without that I think you find yourself in a situation where people become the last thing you invest in and before you know if you've lost the soul of the business."
