OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

Name: Alexis Holmes

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

In August of 2021, there was commotion about unionzing Starbucks stores throughout
the nation. This problem was due to their wages being too low and work safety was being
neglected. My organizational role was at an internal level, where I was a Shift Supervisor
during the time this situation was occurring. My role consisted of assisting the store
manager in executing store operations during scheduled shifts, deploy partners and
delegate tasks so that partner can create and maintain the Starbucks experience, as well
as, coach and develop baristas.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

Human resources have greatly impacted and influenced the situation of unionzing
amongst Starbucks stores across the country. Andrea Hsu states, “Under it’s legendary
CEO Howard Shultz, who returned to lead Starbucks in April, the company has taken a
wide array of measures to aggressively fight the union – from blanketing employees
communications with anti-union messaging, including in one-on-one meetings, to
announcing raises and benefits for nonunion stores only, to firing workers identified as
union leaders” (Hsu, 2022). This shows how human resources have taken action on the
unionzing stance. Yet, this has led to Starbucks being charged with violating the federal
labor law that protects workers’ rights to organize. The National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has investigated more than 325 unfair labor practice charges brought by the
union. This is due to citing the company by coercing, threatening and firing employees
over their union activities and withholding wage increases and benefits from the
unionzing stores.

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 There has been a lot of tension building up between the union and Howard Shultz human
resources. He denies any of the claims that are being brought up and believes that his
partners have the right to organize but believe the best future is created directly with
partners and not a third party. With that being said, Howard Shultz feels betrayed and
doesn’t want anything to do with people who are wanting to be apart of a union. Hsu
states, “Starbucks has one clear and consistent message: Employees don’t need a union
because the company has always provided for them – with competitive wages. Health
care, free college tuition and other benefits” (Hsu, 2022). Overall, there’s great tension
amongst Starbucks human resources department and partners looking to unionize.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

I would use human resources for an alternative action within the Starbucks organization.
The human resource frame is built on core assumptions which include that organizations
exist to serve human needs rather than the converse, people and organizations need each
other, when the fit between individual and system is poor; one or both suffer, and a good
fit benefits both. With that being said, you can identify where Starbucks human resource
frame is lacking. They aren’t meeting the needs of their partners, which in turn, the
system and the individual are suffering.

In this day and age, the cost of living is high and education is expensive. Meaning that
receiving an education is looked on as a luxury now and people can only afford to work
for minimum wage. There’s people who rely on minimum wage jobs to support
themselves. Minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law to be paid. That means
that minimum wage is the bare minimum for employees to earn by the U.S. Department
of Labor. This is where the human resource frame within Starbucks needs to expand their
options to pay their workers more. Not every employee has the luxury to live at home
with their parents for free while going to school. School is a full-time job as is, so
students are having to burn themselves out physically and mentally to try and surivive.
This is where I would ensure that Starbucks human resource department would pay a
wage that is maintainable for both the company and the workers. Personally, I believe
that Howard Shultz, the “billionare”, would be able to take a pay cut to ensure that his
employees are well taken care of. It’s a matter of organizations changing their human
resource frame with the everchanging economic system we live in.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

Reflecting on the human resource frame, there’s a lot of things I would do differently. I
believe Howard Shultz was being too aggressive in his actions with employees wanting
to unionize. As one can see, he violated many laws pertaining to workers’ rights to
organize. He forced stores to keep quiet about the unionzing efforts and allowed

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 managers to get rid of employees who were considering it. I think Howard Shultz should
have taken a different approach, where he united the stores to limit unionization. He
could unite the stores by raising wages, allowing employees vacation pay the first year
they were employeed, and having monthly organizational meetings about human resource
management. Employees want to feel valued, and to limit any rights workers have is the
opposite of valuing employees.

Overall, I think the actions Howard Shultz took was ineffective and did more harm than
good for his company. He has created a spiral of chaos where he now has to deal with the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). I do wonder what his next steps will be
considering he is now dealing with the National Labor Relations Board. Is he going to
strive to restructure and create a human resource frame that treats his employees like they
should or will he crumble down and fail to give compensation to his employees? This
situation is still pending and will be interesting to see what Howard Shultz next moves
are for his organization.

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 Reference

Hsu, A. (2022, October 2). Starbucks workers have unionized at record speed; many fear
retaliation now. NPR. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/02/1124680518/starbucks-union-busting-howard-schultz-nlrb