星巴克押下重注培育中國市場

星巴克正在中國押下重注。

2016年1月初，星巴克首席執行官霍華德·舒爾茨在成都對幾百名員工及家屬表示，他認為中國有望成為星巴克的最大市場。

在一場活動上，舒爾茨宣布了多項旨在保證員工全情投入工作的新舉措，例如提供豐厚的住房補助和休假。當天活動也邀請了中國最杰出的商人、阿里巴巴創始人兼執行董事長馬云。此前，星巴克已經在天貓商城開設了網店。

入華17年后，星巴克已在中國開設了大約2000家門店，美國本土則有約7600家。該公司計劃到2019年將中國的門店數增加到3400家，這是一個宏偉的目標。

舒爾茨在活動上表示：“中國是星巴克在全球的第二大市場，是我們最重要，最令人激動的機遇?？梢韵胂?，中國可能會在未來成為我們的最大市場?！?/p>

舒爾茨深知，一些西方品牌在中國迅速發展，與它們巧妙融入當地文化密不可分，比如曝出食品安全問題之前的肯德基和美膚品牌雅詩蘭黛。正因如此，舒爾茨在訪華的幾天中，頻頻展開魅力攻勢，竭力向員工和顧客傳遞星巴克秉承與他們一致的價值觀這一訊息。

在中國門店數量達到2000家這一里程碑后，這家咖啡巨頭舉辦了一場“星巴克中國伙伴家屬交流會”。盡管在西方人看來，此舉似乎有些奇怪，但星巴克希望借助這類論壇來贏取員工父母的肯定，因為他們意識到了家長在中國文化中扮演的強大角色，甚至對成年子女而言也是如此。

舒爾茨表示：“我們會盡力建立一個強大持久的公司，讓你和你的父母能夠為之驕傲?！边@位CEO甚至還提到他自己也想讓父母認可自己的成就。

這不只是停留在甜言蜜語上。舒爾茨表示，星巴克將給全職咖啡師和輪班主管提供月度住房補貼——平均可以達到租房費用的一半。這對在中國吸引和留住人才有著不言而喻的重要作用。星巴克也給那些在公司工作10年以上的員工提供一年的學術休假，稱作“職業休息時間”。

星巴克中國區總裁王靜瑛表示：“家庭在星巴克中國伙伴的人生和職業決定中扮演了重要的作用。直接跟他們的家人交流，具有十分重要的意義?！?/p>

在美國，星巴克也采取了類似的措施來挽留員工，包括給一些員工提供大學學費補助，為參軍員工的配偶和孩子支付全部學費。（財富中文網）

譯者：嚴匡正

審校：任文科

Starbucks SUB 0.02% is betting big on China.

CEO Howard Schultz even told an audience of hundreds of employees and their families in Chengdu, China on Tuesday that he thinks the Middle Empire has the potential to one day be Starbucks’ top market.

And so Schultz announced a number of moves to make sure workers are on board, including generous housing subsidies and sabbaticals, at an event that featured a guest appearance by China’s most prominent businessman, Alibaba BABA 0.14% founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma. (Last month, Starbucks opened an e-store on Alibaba’s Tmall.)

Starbucks currently operates about 2,000 stores in China after 17 years in the country, compared to some 7,600 stateside. The company has plans to increase its Chinese fleet up to 3,400 locations by 2019, a tall order.

“As Starbucks’ second largest and fastest-growing market globally, China represents the most important and exciting opportunity ahead of us,” Schultz told the audience. “It’s conceivable that China could become our largest market.”

Cognizant of how some Western brands have thrived in China (KFC, pre-food safety scare, for one, and Estée Lauder EL 1.64% for another) by deftly adapting to local culture, Schultz is in China for a multi-day charm offensive to show workers and customers that Starbucks is in tune with their values.

The coffee giant hosted a “Starbucks China Partner-Family Forum” to mark hitting the 2,000-store milestone. And though that might seem odd to Westerners, the company actively wooed employees’ parents, in acknowledgement of the strong role parents play in Chinese culture, even for adult children.

“We will do everything we can to continue to build a great and enduring company that you and your parents can be proud of,” he said. Schultz even spoke of wanting to make his own parents proud of his achievements.

But it wasn’t just sweet talk. Schultz said Starbucks will give full-time Chinese baristas and shift supervisors a monthly housing allowance that would cover half of their monthly housing expenditures on average, a tacit recognition of the importance of attracting and retaining talent in China. Starbucks will also offer one-year sabbaticals, called “career coffee breaks,” to workers with 10 years of service.

“Families play a tremendous role in the life and career choices for our partners in China and it’s important that we include their families in the conversation,” said Belinda Wong, president of Starbucks China.

In the United States, Starbucks has taken similar steps to enhance worker retention, offering assistance with college costs to employees in some instances, and free tuition to spouses and children of its employees who serve in the military.