Training Grounds
Steps to a Well-Staffed Coffeehouse
By Monique Balas — Illustration by Chad Crowe

Coffeehouses are like snowflakes; no two are alike. And just as each snowflake takes its own trajectory, each individual shop owner has his or her own philosophy, ideology and dream for the way his or her store should be run. Consequently, each owner has his or her own thoughts for how those ideas should be carried out. But in order to get to that point, they must clearly convey their ideas to their employees. Poor training can be the weakest link in a coffeehouse, leading to unhappy customers, high turnover, low profits and-in the worst-case scenario-closure.

   "Do not underestimate the importance of teaching your staff properly from the beginning," writes CrimsonCup founder, Greg Ubert in his book Seven Steps to Success (as outlined on www.crimsoncup.com). "Experience has shown that proper barista training increases store profitability, reduces turnover and encourages customer interaction since baristas are able to engage in conversation about the ingredients, the equipment and the drinks."
   This is no secret to successful coffeehouse owners, who are all too familiar with the fact that a profitable store is only as strong as its help. Employees are the backbone of an operation. An employee should never be looked at as someone who works for the boss, but rather as someone who works with the boss and receives advice and encouragement. From the beginning, an owner knows that with smart hiring, they likely won't have to start firing.
   "I had a lot of friends in the coffee and restaurant industries [who] were appalled at how much I was spending on training my employees," says Mike Sheldrake, owner of Polly's Gourmet Coffee in Long Beach, Calif. "They said, 'What if you train them and they leave?'" and I responded, "What if I don't train them and they stay?"
   Sheldrake says he spends about $300 per new employee and about $300 in staff time to instruct new baristas. "You have to make that investment. If you don't make that investment, it's not fair to you and it's not fair to your customers."

The Well-Chosen Barista
The first aspect in training people right is finding the right people to train. Let's say you are in the market for a new car. You live on a mountainous, unpaved road. Buying a snappy little sports car that is low to the ground would not be the best decision. Instead, you need a rugged vehicle, ready to tackle steep inclines and loose gravel. Finding that perfect car takes time, and so does finding the right employee to take on your coffeehouse's clientele. A little extra time spent carefully choosing new employees in the first place can save a lot of money in training and turnover down the road.
   With nearly 30 years of experience in the coffee industry, Sheldrake knows a little something about which baristas are good candidates. "Two basic things I look for in people are intelligence and honesty," says Sheldrake. "I can train them for anything else. If I can learn to do latte art, anybody can." While some people might interview well, they may not have the qualities to make a good barista-or, they may have never worked in a coffeehouse before but may have the right personal characteristics that will help them succeed at Polly's.
   Experience isn't always what it's cut out to be, says Jeff Taylor of PT's Coffee Co., a microroastery with stores in Topeka and Overland Park, Kan. "I find that people who have worked at coffee[houses] sometimes get very little training. But it's harder to break bad habits than it is to create good habits in people who haven't done it before. And even in my own staff, once they create a bad habit, it's very hard to break."
   At The Black Drop Coffeehouse in Bellingham, Wash., new employees are hired based on shared values. "I look for someone who cares as much about the place as we do," says owner Teri Bryant. "As far as the culture's concerned, it's almost incestuous. We started out on the Internet because we're bloggers, and the core people who came in were bloggers, so it was a circle who knew each other and shared our sense of humor."
   She emphasizes the importance of selection. "Being choosy and hiring based on shared values is essential, because if you have the right person, you can teach them to do anything," Bryant says. Not only does it work to the owner's advantage to employ similarly focused individuals, it is best for the employee as well. A worker who is hired and does not share the values or the vision of the coffeehouse with the owner or other employees can often feel uncomfortable at work. Since coffeehouses have to work as a whole, operating any other way can lead to a discourteous employment situation.

Grounds for Success
Each owner generally has his or her own unique method of instructing newbies on the basics, but most have discovered that it takes a blended brew of technical know-how mixed with theory and coffee culture to create the well-informed barista.
   At Bryant's shop, employees refer to the Black Drop Bible, a training manual about 60 pages long. "It's things [that] make coffee important; what we expect of our employees; the tardiness policy, but also things like how to froth milk [and] steaming milk," she says. "Generally, we do the shots first and get them comfortable with the tamp, the drink and what the proper shot should look and taste like. And we expect them to read that cover to cover."
   Sheldrake, too, has developed a consistent, standardized training policy, which he's had in place for years, a combination of coffee culture, theory and technical aspects of making drinks and using the equipment. "At Polly's, we have a 36-hour, five-day training course for all new employees that includes the physical tools and the mental tools," Sheldrake says. "I will spend an hour or two every day giving theory or structure. I will talk about the joys of Guatemalan Huehuetenango and then I will give new employees a tour of the store." He instills in his staff the importance of being open with customers.
   "Our philosophy is: We are not selling coffee. Coffee is not our product; coffee is our commodity. But what we're actually selling is how you feel when you come in to buy that coffee. So we train the staff to remember everyone's drink."
   Sheldrake gives his new employees a 100-question test based on the training course. They need to score 80 percent correct or better to have a future at the coffeehouse. As a barista, quick thinking on one's feet and retention of knowledge is vital. "If they don't pass it, we either retrain them or we look them in the eye and say, 'Thanks anyway,'" depending on Sheldrake's instincts about the person.
   Meanwhile, new employees at Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Chicago must go through a rigorous program called bar certification. "They need to understand espresso and the science of espresso before they can make drinks for customers," says retail training specialist Amber Sapher. "Depending on the person, that's something that can take eight weeks or more. That's something that we start doing probably about three weeks after they start."
   Taylor says he understands that everyone has his or her own way of learning, so he has incorporated a multimedia approach. As a professional photographer, he has photos from countries of origin from around the globe to show employees a visual picture of the coffee world. "I like to get more in-depth [with] coffee, to give [new employees] an appreciation of the hard work that goes into it," he says.

Educate, Then Motivate
Once the right people are onboard, owners must find a way to make sure they keep up. Taylor says he tries to find job candidates who seem like self-starters. "Motivation is something I look for from the get-go, and I know my managers do as well," says Taylor, who directs 40 employees over two stores. "We try to provide a fun working environment. But if they don't do a good job, then they don't get an opportunity to work for us."
   Sheldrake says having a comfortable environment is helpful in getting his employees to work hard. Because it's peer-driven, he says, workers respect each other and are more apt to work hard.
   "What I try to do is foster teamwork and a sense of family within the store," says Sheldrake. "We have monthly employee meetings where we review the previous month's goals and look at next month's goals." Then, he says, they can have a gripe session. But Sheldrake has implemented two rules: Employees can't make claims such as, "I'm the only one who sweeps the floor at night," and he forbids the day and night crew from negatively remarking about each other.

Accounting for Accountability
Ensuring that people take responsibility for mistakes and missed tasks can be tricky, admits Bryant. But she and her partner have found that a peer-driven system works pretty well. Making employees feel guilty for their slip ups or forgetfulness is never a good idea. On the other hand, if an employee is insolent, then other action needs to be taken. Bryant has instigated a system in which workers at the end of a shift will sign off on a laminate card with an erasable pen as each task is completed. If a task is signed off on but not completed, "it can be embarrassing," she says. "No one wants to tell on their co-workers or complain. It motivates them to do their jobs."
   At Intelligentsia, the staff who have gone through the bar certification are expected to uphold a standard of skills once they've passed. "That way, accountability comes from a lot of interaction from the training department and with the store managers working as a team with the staff," says Sapher, conceding that it's an accountability achieved over time. On a daily basis, baristas have tasks that are expected to be done in preparation for the end of their shift and the beginning of another's. "The way it works for us, usually one person is getting off at a time so if things aren't set up for the next shift, you definitely know it."
   At Polly's, if employees are unable to work a shift for which they're scheduled, they need to find a replacement and have it in writing, signed by both parties as well as the manager. "It's very effective," Sheldrake says, "but you have to keep enforcing it; you can't let it slide." Like all policies, "If you let it slide, you can't have that policy anymore." And when new employees are hired, it is always important to ensure they understand the coffeehouse's policies, such as Sheldrake's replacement rule.

Building Incentive
Employees are given immediate and tangible rewards at Bryant's shop, home of the Black Drop Bible. "If we have someone who has gone way above and beyond for their shift, we'll just hand them five bucks," she says. "For us, it's an investment, not just giving them money. Also, we do annual performance evaluations, so then they know why they're getting paid what they're getting paid. It gives them an opportunity to improve or stagnate. At least they'll know exactly why that's happening, so there are no sour grapes."
   Sheldrake gives his staff commissions for selling gifts and retail items, such as coffeemakers. Plus, he offers contests each month where employees have the chance to win prizes. And all baristas who work 30 hours or more at his coffeehouse get health, dental and vision insurance.
   For many owners, especially those who take training as seriously as those interviewed for this article, the encouragement to participate in barista competitions is a reward in itself. The result is empowerment and pride in their work. Taylor gives bonuses to any of his staff that win a competition. "You can't emphasize enough the value of the barista competition, the [U.S. Barista Championship]," he says. "I try to make my staff feel like they're part of the coffee industry."
   Similarly, at Intelligentsia, motivation comes from within-especially when baristas feel they are "insiders" by participating in industry-wide events such as latte art competitions. Intelligentsia's Sapher says the bar certification program gets baristas to ultimately become more involved in the entire industry, feeding their motivation to become better employees. The result is a sense of investment and pride that carries over into customer service.
   "One thing that is really important is that our retail staff takes part in the company too," Sapher says, pointing out that she encourages her staff to partake in cupping and other activities at the roastery level. "Having them involved with the roasters on a daily basis; I think that's really important. They're the ones selling the beans and talking about coffee to our customers. Let's have them be a part of it rather than just selling the coffee."
   Expanding can also be the spark for a more consistent training policy. When Intelligentsia owners opened a second store, Sapher says their method of instruction became much more consistent.
   "We started doing latte art probably about six months before we opened our second store," she says. "There were a number of us who not [only] learned it, but really worked on it. When we opened our second store, it was required." Now that the store has grown, Sapher says there is "more responsibility, more accountability as a barista, but also just more knowledge-bean knowledge and coffee knowledge."

So is it Worth It?
Baristas at Polly's are trained not only in the science of making coffee, but also in the art of dealing with customers. "We try to differentiate ourselves from the competition," Sheldrake says. In fact, it was the threat of competition that caused Sheldrake to revitalize his business. When he opened in September 1976, Polly's was the only coffeehouse in Long Beach, a time when there were fewer than 800 specialty coffee stores in the country. But by 1998, competition was not only tough, it was immediate: A major chain store was about to move in down the street. Sheldrake responded by hiring a consultant, at which point they did everything from remodeling the store to changing the way employees were trained.
   "I had to steal some of the advantages the chain stores bring to the market, like professional planning and running a business like a business instead of out of your hip pocket. The nice thing about standardized training is, it gives the same message over time."    The consultant did an analysis of Polly's and found that each employee had a different "arrangement" with each customer, giving them arbitrary, agreed-upon discounts. "They were all running their business on my inventory," Sheldrake recounts.    He told each employee that if they were caught giving discounts to anyone, they would be fired on the spot. "Within seven days," he says, "profit went up 11 percent just because we charged full price!"
   Sheldrake and his consultant put together a three-part marketing plan and then established a training regimen that reflected the coffeehouse's values and contained three main components: "Passion for quality of product; passion for quality of service;" and "change is constant."
   "From the day the Starbucks came in 78 yards away, our sales have gone up 40 percent," he says. Sheldrake's story does not stand alone either. From all across the specialty coffee front, there are accounts of a jump in sales due to strong training and reconfiguring when a Starbucks moves in next door.
   And for Taylor, who hasn't had to hire anyone in a year and keeps a waiting list of people eager to work in his shop, it's well worth the cost he saves in low turnover, as well as in training additional employees. His reward is keeping a shop where he's pleased with his staff and where people like to work. "It's gratifying," that's for sure, says Taylor.