The gourmet coffee industry has continued to grow for the Great Cups of Coffee company since it began in the year 1997. It seems that gourmet coffee has become in great demand for the American workforce and for people who love it. Coffee shops can serve as place to relax, read, socialize, work and study. Some coffee shops even provide wireless hot spots. The current trend seems to be spending five dollars on a cup of gourmet coffee. Some coffeehouse competitors of Great Cups of Coffee Company are Starbucks, Panera Bread, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds.
Some of the competitors have more employees to contend with. According to the McDonalds website, “The Company has 1.6 million employees.” (McDonalds.com, 2009) Now according to Hoover’s website, “The Company Panera Bread has 7800 employees.” (Hoovers.com) Retaining employees can be a growing concern for the coffee house industry. The Great Cups of Coffee Company seems to have a large turnover rate, as well as other coffee shops. One may ask how do you retain and attract employees, even the part-time employees.
This could stem from the benefits and compensation each company offers. For instance Starbucks offers incentive plans and benefits to their part-time employees. As stated by Starbucks, “Total Pay (Compensation, Stock, Benefits and Savings) Starbuck Total Pay package is referred as “Your Special Blend” because it is unique to each partner.” (Starbucks.com, 2009) What the company offers is benefits to employees who work 20 to 40 hours a week. Great Cups of Coffee should seriously consider offering benefits to part-time employees starting with some form of health insurance, since health care is so expensive.
Other benefits the company could offer would be assistance for college for younger employees and a retirement plan for all to contribute to. Employees would be more likely to stay with the company, if benefits were available. The company might consider a job analysis to
References: About us-The Starbucks Coffee Company [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2009, from http://www.starbucks.com Becker, B.E., Huselid, M.A. and Ulrich, D. (2001). The HR scorecard linking people, strategy and performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Investing in your Baristas, Part I: Hiring and Training a Great Team. (2007, May 17). Retrieved January 22, 2009, http://espresso101.com McDonalds [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2009, from http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/ factsheets.html UCKO, D. (2008, January 14). McDonald 's serves up gourmet coffee with side of fries [fact sheet]. Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.thepolypost.com