Tackling Implicit Bias at Starbucks Starbucks has a reputation for being one of the world's most socially conscious companies. The coffee retailer's progressive image makes it particularly vulnerable when employees fail to live up to its standards. When two black men were arrested and detained for trespassing at a Philadelphia Starbucks, the media took note. The store manager called police after Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, who were waiting to start a meeting, failed to order drinks or food. Officers cuffed the two men and took them to jail where they were later released without being charged. Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson apologized to Nelson and Robinson and reached a financial settlement with the two that includes free college tuition through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. The firm loosened its requirement that those entering its stores must purchase items. In addition, executives decided to close 8,000 U.S. companyowned stores to conduct a 4-hour racial bias training session for 175,000 employees. Company founder Howard Schultz called the training "a transformational moment in the history of Starbucks." 1 To create the training session, which focused on implicit or unconscious bias, Starbucks officials consulted with former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and representatives from the NAACP and other social justice organizations. Course materials were pretested in selected stores and then modified based on employee feedback. The training included nearly two dozen videos featuring rapper Common, filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Starbucks officials, and others discussing experiences of blacks in public spaces, bias and brain science, company mission and values, and other topics. Videos were followed by self and group reflection. (Employees received notebooks in which to record their thoughts.) One exercise asked participants to reflect on their experience of racial identity, considering, for example, when they altered a communication style to avoid activating stereotypes or if they felt their race affected their ability to establish rapport with a manager. In another exercise, staffers were asked to rate how easy or hard it would be for them to talk to people of their race and of a different race in a series of situations. Experts worry that the Starbucks training session, like other diversity training, could backfire. Participants who feel forced to attend diversity workshops can become defensive. Any benefit often fades after a few days. Starbucks may have overlooked key components of effective 772 training, like concrete goals and assessments, in order to respond quickly to the Philadelphia incident. But company officials recognize that overcoming implicit racial bias will take more than one training session. According to the firm's executive vice president of U.S. retail, "May 29 [the training day] isn't a solutionit's a first step." 2 Starbucks plans to hold additional sessions in coming years to further address bias and inclusion.

Questions:

1. Did the Philadelphia incident generate more publicity because it involved Starbucks instead of another, less socially responsible company? 2. What elements of an effective ethics training program do you see in the Starbucks workshop? Are there any elements missing? 3. Do you think the Starbucks training session reduced implicit bias, effectively preventing future incidents of racial profiling at its stores? 4. What additional steps should Starbucks take to improve its relationships with diverse customers? 5. How should Starbucks assess the effectiveness of this and other anti-bias efforts?