Hi Team! Drew P here. As excited as I am to have the weather warming up, the arrival of the summer-ish season also signals the kick-off to planning for the next year. In our line of work, things never really quiet down. Each unique season requires its own unique priorities. That’s where the “Never Stop Learning” mantra is so important. The destination is the journey. Each day and season is an opportunity to be challenged, to learn, and to change.
I am thankful to the Education and Teams & People teams for their work in putting together a couple really awesome opportunities for us to get together this winter/spring with the Company Party in January and the Hoedown Throwdown last month. Our next big company-sponsored social assembly will be later this summer (perhaps early in the fall), so if you haven’t been able to attend one of these times yet, I’d encourage you to join us then!
THE BUSY SEASON: We’re headed into what is “the busy season” for many of our cafes. While we work to build our schedules to anticipate higher volume, there are always patterns that pop-up that we can’t predict. So, if there are times when your team or cafe feel under-staffed or over-staffed, please let your team leader know. You can always use our anonymous “Speak Up” form here: https://forms.gle/hBsNv7KcJPQZNXeq7 . We want to be sure every team has the support they need to accomplish their work, so please don’t hesitate to share your perspective with us.
LONG-TERM PLANNING: As we enter the summer, we begin to do the planning and projections for the next year. In 2024 we have some additional layers of information that will be guiding us. We just finished a long project to understand “Living Wages” in our community in partnership with Living Wage for US. We are using that information to help us plan the next steps in our Wage Development across our teams. We are excited to share our learning and the initial stages of our planning with you during our summer team workshops.
If you want to dive even deeper, there are two opportunities for you to do so this summer. First, I am hosting a workshop on how our annual budget and financial plan is constructed on Monday, July 1st. You will see a sign-up form for that workshop in the Employee Newsletter soon. Then, the first week of August, I will host a follow-up workshop on our Employee Benefits. Prior to that workshop we will be sending out a survey looking for feedback on our current benefits and asking for input on the types of benefits our employees would like to see moving forward. We will then use our time together to get in-person perspectives on the benefit program as it exists and the feedback we received via the survey.
PRIDE MONTH: After receiving employee feedback last year that some employees would like to see us more visibly active during Pride Month, the Teams & People team assembled a committee of employees to discuss and plan initiatives that might be both visible and impactful. A big “thank you” to those of you who raised your hand to play a part on that committee. May 30th we will be launching a “Brew Love” coffee that will run for 4 weeks. 50% of the proceeds from the Brew Love coffee, the new Brew Love Patch, and a Brew Love Fellow Move Mug will be donated to Courage MKE – Milwaukee’s first licensed group home for displaced LGBTQ+ youth. In addition, we’re also working to coordinate some group volunteering opportunities, so keep a look out for more information there.
THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK – Consider this a brief reminder to review the employee handbook if you haven’t done so this year. This is a great resource for understanding all of the benefits and time off that are available to you. Also, this winter we made some updates to our performance coaching processes that are referenced in this handbook. We want you to know what you can expect as an employee of Stone Creek Coffee, so we work hard to make the employee handbook as clear and informative as possible.
ERIC’S SABBATICAL – Here’s a little note Eric wanted to share as he intends to take an extended break this summer. “After working for 31 years I have decided to take a summer break. When I started Stone Creek I told myself I would take a sabbatical every 5 years to be sure that was taking time to reflect on my life and be sure my work, my coffee work, was in line with the way I wanted to live my life. I failed at this goal and am now trying to fulfill my ideal of taking some time away for reflection. The leadership team and all my peers who work across our amazing company have things well at hand and am finally taking a 3.5 month sabbatical. My sabbatical will run from May 30th to September 15th. I will not actively be working but will have my phone and my direct reports know how to reach me as needed but 99.9% of the time I will be traveling, playing with my kids and Melissa, and simply resting and recharging. I will still see many of you throughout the summer as I stop into cafes for coffee and a visit, and I look forward to returning to the learning grind this fall.”
Nothing about how SCC operates will change in Eric’s absence. We will still host our workshops and Employee Council, and will continue to work hard to make SCC the best employer and part of the community it can be.
Again, I look forward to our next round of workshops this summer and sharing more of what the vision for continued evolution looks like through the rest of 2024 and the two years to come.
As usual, do not ever hesitate to contact me if you need anything or if you see any ways in which we can improve as a coffee roaster, cafe operator, employer, or as part of our community. I will always prioritize time talking with and learning with you all.
Drew Pond
SCC Director of Development; Co-Owner
(940) 733-1414, dpond@stonecreekcoffee.com