Some of the changes at Starbucks were painful. Six hundred stores closed permanently. One thousand non-store positions were eliminated and a number of executives were replaced. Schultz used “Onward" in his messages as a rallying cry to urge employees to stay the course of challenges.
Communication played a key role in the transformation process. Groups of employees worked together to help craft the Agenda, which was presented first to a gathering of 200 senior leaders and then to 10,000 store managers. Schultz engaged in ongoing communication to employees through e-mails, videos, store visits, voice mails, and public appearances. (He received 56,000 e-mails his first month back as CEO.) In announcing layoffs, Schultz answered employee questions and complaints. The social media site mystarbucksidea.com invited customers to make suggestions for improvement (some were adopted). Shareholder meetings became forums for unveiling the latest products.