I received an email from a friend who works at Starbucks. In the auto-signature of her e-mail was this “Love What You Do” graphic.

It is just one element hiring teams use to communicate enthusiasm for working at Starbucks. Potential candidates see this ‘badge’ in the emails from Starbucks as well as in other materials… Candidates begin to experience the passion partners (employees) have for the company and their work partly through this e-mail bumper sticker.

Starbucks is one of those companies that has a thick culture. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but “cult” is the root of the word culture.

Working as a partner at Starbucks is a lot like working as a cast member Disney (the theme parks and resorts)… Working in the cult, you either you “get it” or you don’t.

Both Starbucks and Disney, before you ever start your actual job, spend hours immersing you in the company culture and history. At Disney, these classes are called Traditions.

In fact, Disney makes sure you “get” what it means to provide excellent Guest service before they even assign you a job. They can teach anyone to operate a theme park attraction or work the front desk at a hotel… But what they can’t teach is that gut understanding of how to work with customers… and loving what you do.