Starbucks Total Rewards Program: Motivating Sales Forces
This paper examines how Starbucks Coffee Company designs and administers its total rewards program to motivate its global sales force. Drawing on peer-reviewed and scholarly literature, the paper outlines six key features of an effective total rewards program — including strategic alignment, employee-valued rewards, learning opportunities, workplace environment, and benefits — and evaluates how Starbucks satisfies each criterion. The paper also explores how Starbucks' "Your Special Blend" approach, Bean Stock profit-sharing plan, and stock ownership model create a compelling value proposition for both current and prospective employees, contributing to the company's notably low turnover rate within the food and beverage industry.
- Introduction: Total Rewards and Sales Force Motivation: Overview of total rewards and paper scope
- Background and Overview of Starbucks Coffee Company: Starbucks global footprint and employee philosophy
- Six Features of an Effective Total Rewards Program: Framework of six best-practice rewards criteria
- Sales Force Behaviors Aligned with the Compensation Plan: Behaviors Starbucks rewards and retains
- Value Proposition for Current and Future Employees: How Starbucks builds ownership and loyalty
- Conclusion: Starbucks as a model total rewards employer
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- It anchors a practical business case study in a clearly articulated theoretical framework — the six features of an effective total rewards program — before applying each feature to Starbucks specifically.
- The paper uses direct quotations from company leadership (CEO Howard Schultz) alongside academic sources, blending industry evidence with scholarly analysis to strengthen credibility.
- It maintains a consistent evaluative lens throughout, always returning to the question of whether Starbucks' program meets best-practice standards identified in the literature.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied literature review as a framework for case analysis. Rather than simply describing Starbucks' policies, the author first synthesizes peer-reviewed criteria for an effective rewards program, then systematically maps Starbucks' actual practices onto those criteria. This technique — establish framework, then evaluate subject against it — is a standard and effective approach in business and management writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction establishing the argument and scope. It then provides company background before presenting a structured, lettered list of six theoretical features of effective total rewards programs sourced from the literature. Subsequent sections apply this framework to Starbucks' specific practices, covering behavioral alignment, value proposition, and future employee attractiveness. A concise conclusion synthesizes the findings. The structure is clearly signposted and logical, moving from theory to application.
Motivating salespeople through effective total rewards programs simply makes good business sense. When properly implemented and administered, a company's rewards program can not only motivate a sales force to sell more — it can also help retain valuable employees and avoid unplanned turnover. Although studies have shown time and again that pay continues to rank among the most important components of a compensation plan, a number of other factors comprise an effective total rewards program and must be taken into account as well.
To this end, this paper reviews relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning the compensation plan and rewards program used by Starbucks Coffee Company to motivate its global salespeople. A summary of the research and important findings concerning motivating the sales force at Starbucks is provided in the conclusion.
As of July 2012, Starbucks Coffee Company (hereinafter alternatively "Starbucks" or "the company") operated 17,651 stores across Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong/Macau, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Wales (Corporate profile, 2013).
The company reached this level of growth by treating its employees "with respect and dignity." Starbucks even refers to employees as "partners" rather than "employees" to reflect the collaborative nature of the enterprise (Corporate profile, 2013, p. 2). At present, Starbucks provides its employees with several benefits, including comprehensive health coverage for both full- and part-time employees and an incentive profit-sharing program called "Bean Stock" (Corporate profile, 2013, p. 2).
A noteworthy aspect of Starbucks' approach is that employees can "pick and choose" the rewards package that best suits their individual needs. In this regard, Fitz-Enz (2010) reports that "Starbucks has branded its total rewards concept as 'Your Special Blend,' again making an obvious play on its coffee products. 'Your Special Blend' indicates the ability that employees have to customize their total rewards offering" (p. 78). Finally, all Starbucks employees receive two pounds of Starbucks coffee of their choice each week as part of their rewards program (Corporate profile, 2013).
The scholarly literature identifies six key features of an effective total rewards program, each of which is reflected in Starbucks' approach.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.