Starbucks is among the corporations that has experienced a spike in workplace misconduct complaints in recent years as employees returned to work following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The multinational coffee chain has responded in part by increasing internal headcount and relying on external resources such as those provided by legal talent platform Axiom.
But Becky Critch, a director of ethics and compliance in Starbucks’ investigation group, said those approaches were not sustainable on their own.
The company also needed to streamline its workplace investigations operations and processes, she said during a recent webinar Axiom hosted.
Critch, who works in a group supporting Starbucks’ operations in North America, shared that the coffee giant’s shift in approach has included recognizing that not all workplace-related concerns should spark an in-depth investigation.
“While every report deserves a response, not every report deserves the same response,” Critch said. “So as part of our triage process, we are more critically assessing what’s being reported. We’re looking at: What is the seeming severity, what is the pervasiveness, the persistence in the reported behavior? What is the likelihood that the local leader could be coached and provided with some information to help them actually address the concern in store?
“We call this our consult process, so [it’s] very different from a full-blown investigation,” she said.
Ultimately, Starbucks noticed many of the...
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