Our cafe store recently was upgraded to a drive thru store and my manager now prefers me to have a barista do pulls and counts because it’s better to have an SSV on the floor at all times. But anybody can do them. I actually enjoy getting to be off the floor away from customers to do them so 🤷‍♀️

As a former SSV none of those are SSV tasks as a few others have said. SSVs dictate who does them, as they dictate who does everything else on a shift. Many times shifts are the stronger baristas on a shift and therefore it's better to use them on the floor and have someone else do the "easier" task like counting or pulling.

SSVs are paid more because they are responsible for cash, for handling customer complaints while running a shift, for running plays, that kind of thing. They're not paid more to pull pastries out of a freezer because that's menial work anyone can do without more than five minutes of training.

they aren’t solely SSV responsibilities- time management, cash management, COSD, and customer/partner experience is SSV responsibility.

SSV manage when the pull/counts are done and by whom, but the task itself can be done by anyone.

it actually requires less labor to do the pull as non coverage than coverage on the floor, so [edit typo] your pay unfortunately doesn’t come into play here.

I’d never have one of my baristas do a pull or count

Any barista can log into Pull-to-Thaw app, only SSV can log into Cash Management. My store is also pushing for shifts to be on the floor more to coach customer connection. As others said it's a waste of higher-paid keyholder labor to do non-coverage tasks. When I open or close I have a barista do the pull about 50% of the time, just depends on how I'm feeling that day and if I think I'm needed on the floor. Also I wouldn't say the baristas are "forced" to do it, a lot of my baristas like the break away from customers and *want* to do the pull.

Most stores I’ve seen will have the SSV’s do the counts and pulls, but they aren’t SSV tasks. The SSV just has to make sure they get done when they’re supposed to.

Ngl I feel like this wasn't always a thing and that they're doing it because SSVs are more likely to keep up with production than newer baristas plus the fact that they can't seem to keep any green beans even when they do get them.

For those who are saying that anyone can log into the Pull to Thaw, that's not true. Baristas have to come to the SSV to log in for them so they can finish out the count.

I don't agree with how they're deciding to do that, because SSVs also need to be able to flex to cover or assist planted positions and direct where needed. Maybe if there were adequate staffing this would be less of a problem, but with how busy it is for literally every store right now, having an SSV stuck on solo bar or solo DT and only able to focus on what's in front of them is not effective for playcalling.

I'm also gonna say be wary of this, because if the company is looking to fire SSVs or use them as extra labor somehow, by taking away their responsibilities, that's a red flag for them getting ready to do something to either downgrade or get rid of SSVs. Not to scare anyone, but with the whole union situation corporate is going bananas and the SSVs could get caught in the crossfire

our district talked about having baristas do the pull, but it was decided since it involved inventory, it wasn’t their responsibility

They want SSV’s on the floor more instead of in the back focusing on tasks, so more stuff gets delegated to baristas. As a shift those things were always the best part of my day because I did get a chance off the floor, it’s all way easier than anything on the floor and no customers

Yes. As a 14 year partner, I've seen a lot of responsibilities that used to belong to a shift get moved to barista.

I just tell people no lol.

To my knowledge anyone can do them, it’s the SSVs job to make sure it gets done, whether they do it themselves or not

WAIT WHAT? I’m a green bean and have been doing those

I’ve definitely heard of SSVs delegating pulls and counts (mostly to senior partners or baristas looking to transition to an SSV role) occasionally, but they are *technically* an SSV responsibility.

OKAY YES. That had *always* been strictly a SSV job, at 3/4 stores I've worked at. Then I transferred to a really high volume, 24 store in LA (with a trash manager, but we won't get into it).

He told the shifts to have the baristas o the count and pull, so they could supervise the floor and "pay better attention."

Idek, man. Starbucks used to be so good. Now it's all a mess.

Not technically ssv tasks. As a barista, I asked all the time to do the pull so I could get off the floor, and do something out of my normal routine. That being said, if anything is incorrect or done wrong, all of the responsibility will be on the ssv. SSV's also have the specific training, so its typically better to have the trained, more reliable partner do it.

When I was a trainer I did pulls but no one ever forced me. I saw it as a way to kinda get my foot in the door to become a shift.

These are not required to be done by SSV’s but it is the SSV’s responsibility that these are done accurately. When you are the once accountable you are more likely to want do it yourself.

A barista can do this but IMO they shouldn’t have to. Only time I have them do them is when they are working on promoting. At my store and previous ones, we would “mentor” a barista. So once they became a trainer we would slowly start training them on things like how to do temps, milk counts, food donation, food pills, ect. so that when they become a shift it’s more familiar. But again only if the barista wants to. I haven’t heard of it being like a major thing or a district standard tho

Doing the pull is the best part of my shift other than taking out the trash tbh

i did emergency food pulls when our store gained more customer traffic from the holiday drink release this year, although i think the only reason i was picked over any other barista is that i was originally hired on as an ssv and only stepped down due to availability. so i was already familiar with ssv responsibilities, but my store manager and other actual shift supervisors did the ssv responsibilities. i was only asked to cover one of those responsibilities if they were stuck on bar and i was assigned to do cs (while other baristas were on front and oven)

edit: our store used to be slow enough to where an ssv could step off for 5-10 minutes to do pulls/inventory, so it wasn’t ever really considered to allow baristas to do that for us. i knew maybe one other barista who did counts for another ssv just ‘cause the ssv had other things he needed to take care of and the sunday/wednesday inventory counts were easy tasks (plus the barista did them unnaturally fast, although still accurate)

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Nope. Not in my district.

I thought that was the norm so I just got used to doing it.

As others have said it’s not strictly a ssv job. I don’t even know why you’d be upset about doing that? It’s genuinely the easiest thing to do during the shift.

We've recently had baristas doing the order as well, which is absolutely and SSV duty

I've had partners ask me if they could do the counts so they could get away from customers lol. I agreed so I could stay on the floor but checked it over before submitting

My store doesn’t do this but multiple stores in my district do. One store manager even had a barista do the money for them every time they worked together

Yeah it's getting annoying now cause I’m the only on who knows how that store is ran (only Original partner who’s been at this location for my whole Starbucks career) and now I’m almost always “playing shift” with some of the SSV why am I the one running brakes and having to figure out the play is and where to put ppl 🤦🏽🤷🏽

As many have said it’s not really an SSV only job baristas can do it it’s just that SSVs normally do it. I don’t ever make baristas do it for me but I have several that wanted to learn that like to do it so sometimes I give them that option. My SM has asked us as shifts to delegate tasks that pull someone off the floor as best we can bc it’s better to have us on the floor where we can see everything and jump in when needed

Yeah, what everyone else has already said. I've gotten in trouble before because the area manager stopped by and I was in the back doing a pull and not on the floor.

Lol wait those are solely SSV duties? 😐

Yes. It's due to short staffing. I work at a licensed store and we're doing these things because we literally do not have a manager right now. Our previous one just quit coming to work.

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