Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, only about four months into the job, has taken on the challenging task of change world famous coffee giantusing key strategies to drive change and create what he hopes will be the "unparalleled best job in retail." Chief among them: transparency and quick decision-making.

One of its most recent decisions came from an email from an employee, called an internal partner, asking for longer parental leave.

"It caught my attention. I followed up with the team, and then we reached out to a few more partners," Niccol told FOX Business digital in an exclusive interview. He immediately decided that "this is where we can take action."

Chief Executive Brian Niccol in New York City on June 10, 2015. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Starting this spring, the company will double its paid parental leave benefits. For some workers, it is as much as three times the original amount.

For example, paid leave for maternity leave increased from six to 18 weeks. All other non-biological parents – whether welcoming a child through birth, surrogacy, adoption or long-term foster care – will receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave at 100% of their average salary, according to Starbucks.

For employees to be eligible for benefits, they must work an average of 20 hours per week, according to the company's current policy.

"We have a culture of learning. We have a culture of ideas, but we also want to have a culture where we make decisions, we take action and we are responsible for implementation," said Niccol. "That's the deal I make with people when I go to the store, when I respond to emails, as I do communications, whether it's a letter or a video."

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol (Starbucks)

Before Niccol took over, the company faced increasing pressure from a nationwide trade union campaign and consecutive disappointing fiscal quarters because traffic is down. Niccol, who replaced the former CEO Laxman Narasimhan in August, is trying to increase profits and create a better environment for employees.

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In the early days of his new role, Niccol was frank with his team about the need for "recovery".

"I need everyone's collective best thinking so that we have the right vision to transform this business," Niccol said.

While he admits he doesn't have all the solutions, he's clear about his commitment: "What I'm definitely committed to doing is identifying the things we need to improve and taking action to improve them."

When Niccol, who holds executive roles at some of the industry's biggest groups, including leading Taco Bell and Chipotle, visits stores, he also makes it clear to employees that he wants their input.

He's trying to create a 'Hey, call me, email me, You know, I can't be in every store, but I'm willing to listen, and I'm willing to listen,'" Niccol said.

One of the first suggestions he received was if the company could bring back the coffee flavoring bar. By November, Niccol said the condiment bar will start popping up again next year. He also announced that the store will boast a former "coffee house" aesthetic with "personal touches," including serving coffee in ceramic mugs. They reintroduced Sharpies and will stop charge extra to adjust the drink with non-dairy milk.

(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

"Sometimes when you go into a challenging environment, you're almost shop blind, like you don't see some of these obvious things," Niccol said. "You're so focused on turning things around, you're walking past some obvious things."

While Niccol said that not all proposals will be accepted, he noted the importance of making quick decisions.

He believes the most effective words for creating a healthy culture are "yes" and "no."

"If the culture starts to understand where we get "yes" and where we get "no", it reinforces the type of business, the type of value, the type of promise we want to make for customers and partners," he said. "I'm trying to keep it simple, and I'm trying to get a 'yes' and a 'no,' let's have another meeting on that."

(Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images/File)

In addition to extending certain benefits, the company is working to improve scheduling and increase the number of hours per employee. The goal is for workers to receive at least 24 hours of work per week, according to Niccol.

Currently, the challenge they face is making sure they have enough people scheduled at the right time.

Niccol said that the issue sometimes is that employees' "schedules" become too small because they try and spread the hours evenly, rather than adjusting to the natural ups and downs of the business.

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As a result, Niccol said the store ended up being understaffed during peak hours, even though everyone was getting hours. He tries to make sure people can depend on their schedule while making sure the company schedules the right number of people at the right time.

Among its latest goals to create a positive work culture, the company is also committed to filling 90% of retail leadership roles internally, to ensure employees stay longer and grow with the company.

It also continues to cover 100% of college tuition for thousands of employees as part of the Starbucks College Achievement Plan and offers company shares to eligible partners.

Since 1991, 1.5 million partners have received $2.4 billion in stock. The stock has gained 4% this year, trailing the S&P 500's 27% gain.