I love this story from the Smart Company newsletter.
Risky stuff, but a great long term investment in Building a Culture that attracts the best.
Coffee giant Starbucks has announced it will foot the bill for online university education for thousands of its employees in the US.
The coffee chain launched a new program yesterday which will pay for its employees to attend online classes at Arizona State University.
Although the company has struggled in Australia, the US arm of Starbucks has been acclaimed for its human resource tactics in the past.
The program is open to any of the company’s 135,000 staff based in the US and working in its company-operated stores, support centres and plants, provided they work at least 20 hours a week and have the test scores to gain admission to Arizona State.
It will allow employees to finish a bachelor’s degree from a choice of 40 undergraduate programs delivered online through the top-ranked University. Juniors and seniors will earn full tuition reimbursement for each semester of full-time coursework they complete toward a bachelor’s degree, while freshmen and sophomores will be eligible for a partial tuition scholarship and need-based financial aid for two years of full-time study.
Staff will have no commitment to remain at the company past graduation.
“I believe it will lower attrition, it’ll increase performance, it’ll attract and retain better people,” Starbucks CEO Howard D Schultz told The New York Times.
Leave a Reply