Starbucks at a Distance - How to Hire and Lead Virtually

You don’t even know how tall I am... and it doesn’t really matter!

This quote is from a conversation between Gerri Martin Flickinger, Chief Technology Officer of Starbucks, and one of the 100 individuals she has hired since March, through a 100% virtual process. 

Here are some of the important insights Gerri had to share about the benefits of hiring virtually:

• More focus on what the candidate is saying in an interview is leading to better hires. When you are in “3D,” as Gerri calls it, you are inevitably distracted by all sorts of other cues and unconscious bias - what the person is wearing, posture, etc. In “2D” the dialogue is more intentional, and it is all about what they are saying.
• The scheduling and time efficiencies are undeniable. Gerri has had no trouble getting people to interview or putting together interview panels. What used to be complex schedule Jenga and cost time and effort, is now a reality where she faces no issue getting people to interview, has no issue filling jobs and almost always gets the candidates she wants. 
• Yes, but onboarding is an area she doesn’t think is better virtually. It’s not necessarily worse, but it’s different. Especially for individuals relocating, finding ways for them in non-Covid times to build new communities is imperative. She started weekly coffee tastings in small groups for her new hires, which she finds to be an authentic way for people to get to know each other and have a shared experience.

On a few specific leadership and communication principles that have served Gerri and her team well during this difficult time:

• If you can’t communicate, game-over. This has been Gerri’s golden rule long before Covid. She works with her team members on dynamic communication - both the ability to communicate a high-level vision to a large team or organization, but then also the ability have a 1:1 conversation with a direct report. She believes it is essential to be able to do both equally well. 
• A meeting is a dialogue. Gerri and her team are continually bringing forward relevant digital platforms to encourage and enhance dialogue for meetings of 5 people or 1,500 people. These tools range from deep collaboration platforms to lighter-touch software that leverage gamification, like interactive quizzes, word-clouds or drawing games.
• Context switching - 5 minutes is not enough. "Before going virtual, we had a car ride or a walk down the hall to rest our mind and move into the next context," Gerri shared. "Now we jump from different contexts with zero or very minimal time to reset." She suggests booking 20-30 minutes between meetings if you really want bring your best self.
• Meeting free Fridays. The Zoom fatigue is real and the research backs it up - and if you need more convincing, just think this: “You wouldn’t stare at someone in an elevator for 30 minutes straight, and that’s what we are doing on video meetings, all day long,” Gerri says. The unnatural reality of that is exhausting, and we need to give ourselves time and space. Fridays are reserved for 1:1 “quick connects” – non-meeting interactions, ideally without video conferencing when possible.
• Human connection is more important than ever. Gerri mentioned how strongly she feels that technology is best when it amplifies human connection. More than ever, leveraging technology to maintain connections, not just promote efficiency, is vital to the health of teams, organizations and companies right now.

Why it matters: While Gerri does believe leading at a distance is harder, she’s not letting that get in the way. She’s finding novel ways to lead better every day.