Co-op News (August 2019)
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
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us and how we go about delivering our<br />
purpose,” she added.<br />
Three years ago, the society launched<br />
a Learn, Engage, Apply and Perform<br />
programme (LEAP) to help colleagues<br />
step up to store manager roles. Through<br />
the scheme, staff members can apply for<br />
an 18-month training process to devel<strong>op</strong><br />
their skills further.<br />
Some choose not to be store managers,<br />
while others <strong>op</strong>t for the promotion and<br />
go on to complete a level 3 retail team<br />
leader diploma in partnership with<br />
a local college.<br />
Those who come through the scheme<br />
can do a chartered manager degree<br />
apprenticeship BA through the University<br />
of Lincoln. As an apprenticeship<br />
“SOMETIMES WHEN TRADITIONAL<br />
PATHWAYS ARE NO LONGER AN<br />
OPTION YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK<br />
FOR DIFFERENT WAYS”<br />
levy-paying employer, Lincolnshire<br />
<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>erative is using some of levy<br />
funding for these projects.<br />
Gavin Wilson, one of regional managers<br />
in the food business, was one of the first<br />
Lincolnshire staff members to apply for<br />
the LEAP programme. He started with<br />
an initial chat to his line manager, who<br />
asked about his devel<strong>op</strong>ment and where<br />
he wanted to be in the future. He said the<br />
scheme had boosted his confidence and<br />
given him the <strong>op</strong>portunity to network and<br />
make new contacts within the business.<br />
Other colleagues have chosen to move<br />
into head office roles through the scheme.<br />
Richard Bickle, a director at Central<br />
England <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>erative, pointed out that<br />
retail societies’ junior-to-senior schemes<br />
do not exist in the way that they used<br />
to, particularly due to the advancement<br />
of the national living wage.<br />
“Are there lessons that the retail<br />
societies can learn from pe<strong>op</strong>le like<br />
Suma – who by definition are a flat<br />
organisation?” he asked.<br />
Ms Carlyle argued that while the job<br />
rotation approach worked for Suma, it<br />
might prove to be wrong for a co-<strong>op</strong> with<br />
a traditional hierarchy.<br />
“Sometimes when traditional pathways<br />
are no longer an <strong>op</strong>tion, you just have to<br />
look for different ways,” she said, adding<br />
that working in the frozen section for<br />
a few days a week can give workers an<br />
insight into what to want from a buyer.<br />
“The advantage is that there is no<br />
financial penalty in Suma when moving<br />
within different roles,” she added.<br />
Ms Lee said that LEAP helped those<br />
working in stores who wanted to<br />
become store managers. Meanwhile, the<br />
chartered management degree helped<br />
pe<strong>op</strong>le who were in mid-career roles.<br />
“It is about the line manager having<br />
regular conversations with individuals to<br />
identify their aspirations,” she said.<br />
Lincolnshire store managers who have<br />
come through these schemes have much<br />
have higher retention and success rate.<br />
The society’s current chief executive,<br />
Ursula Lidbetter, was herself a trainee<br />
when she joined the organisation.<br />
AUGUST <strong>2019</strong> | 41