Sustainability Report 2009 - The Co-operative

were in perceptions that: colleagues know what is expected of
them in their jobs; colleagues understand how their job relates
to satisfying customers; and colleagues’ experience of work is
free from discrimination. With regard to customers, the highest
scores related to perceptions that The Co-operative: offers goodquality
products and services, is committed to improving customer
service; can be trusted; and behaves responsibly. The biggest
improvements were seen in how positively the brand and the family
of businesses are perceived, and also in employees’ perceptions
of the quality of the local employee experience, particularly
with respect to personal safety and the quality of facilities for
employees. This is likely to reflect the store and branch rebrand
programme that continued through 2009. The lowest scoring
questions were related to pay, particularly in comparison with
people in similar jobs in other companies, and that the Talkback
survey has led to improvements at work. With regard to the latter,
67% of employees agreed that management would take action
on the results of the survey, which is 11 percentage points higher
than the private-sector industry average.
Performance benchmark
Results from a number of questions in the Trading Group’s
employee survey were benchmarked against those of other
private-sector organisations in 2009 18 . The Co-operative scored
above the benchmark for all comparable questions; perceptions
of role clarity, development and recognition were significantly
higher, generating scores up to 27 percentage points above
the benchmark 19 .
At CFS, two shortened 20 versions of the employee survey were
carried out in 2009; the first took place in July, prior to the merger
with Britannia, and the second in December, and included former
Britannia employees. The response rates were 84% and 80%
respectively. As the methodology used for these surveys differs
slightly, the results are not directly comparable 21 . The CFS EI
score increased substantially for a second successive year.
Trading Group employee survey question:
‘Overall, I am satisfied with my job.’
2006
(excludes
former United)
CFS employee survey question:
2007
(former
Trading Group
in brackets)
2008 2009
Agree 83% 84% (84%) 83% 82%
Neither agree
nor disagree
9% 9% (9%) 11% 12%
Disagree 8% 7% (7%) 6% 6%
‘Considering everything, how satisfied are you with working at
CFS at the present time’
2007 2008 July 2009 22
Satisfied 48% 60% 73%
Neither satisfied nor
dissatisfied
24% 20% 15%
Dissatisfied 28% 20% 12%
Around 5,000 managers across the Trading Group and 650 across
CFS were provided with the survey results and EI scores for their
team(s) following the employee surveys carried out in 2009, and
overall CFS survey results were made available to employees via
the intranet. Following dissemination of the results to managers,
action-planning sessions were held, during which teams explored
ways to improve their working experience. This approach aims
to ensure that The Co-operative responds to colleagues’ needs
and concerns at the local, as well as the strategic, level. Detailed
analysis of Trading Group results showed that those employees
agreeing that they had experienced improvements as a result of
Talkback in the last 12 months, tended to have an engagement
score around 27 points higher than employees who had not. As
a result, a second cycle of action-planning activity is scheduled
to take place during 2010 for all teams across the business. This
will address issues raised through the Talkback survey, with a view
to further improving EI scores. Additionally, given their importance,
high-level targets to improve EI scores have been set and
incorporated into the performance management process for
all senior managers.
Trades union recognition
The Co-operative believes that trades unions make an important
contribution to business and society as a whole. During 2009, five
trades unions were recognised by The Co-operative in total (four
by the Trading Group 23 and four by CFS 24 ), covering the range of
employee roles across the business. Of Trading Group employees,
33% 25 (2008: 34%) are union members, as are 73% 26 (2008:
61%) of CFS employees. The increase in overall CFS Membership
reflects the inclusion of Britannia colleagues and the Britannia Staff
Union (BSU); the recent merger and organisational change may
account for increased Membership among former CFS staff.
Organisational change
A number of significant organisational changes took place within
the Trading Group during 2009 (page 6). These were associated
with the acquisition of Somerfield, which was completed in
February 2009, and mergers that took place with two independent
co-operative societies; Lothian Borders & Angus Society merged
with The Co-operative in December and Plymouth & South West
Society merged in September 2009.
The Trading Group has strong relationships with the trades
unions Usdaw and NACO, which, along with the jointly agreed
and established practice and process for managing organisational
change, have facilitated changes to progress in a considered and
consensual manner.
Some redundancies, however, were unavoidable during 2009. The
ongoing structural changes associated with the merger with United
Co-operatives 27 resulted in 339 redundancies during 2009. The
mergers that took place in 2009 have impacted primarily on head
office functions, due to the geographical location of the respective
head offices. The merger with Lothian Borders & Angus Society
has resulted in 40 redundancies at the Galashiels head office, and
the Somerfield acquisition has, as at December 2009, resulted in
440 redundancies at Somerfield’s Bristol head office. The Bristol
head office will close in the latter half of 2010, and there are
expected to be around a further 400 redundancies at that time.
The changes arising from the merger with Plymouth & South West
Society will also take effect in 2010, and some 120 redundancies
are anticipated.
Delivering value Membership and co-operation Economic impact Employees Customers Public policy
The Co-operative Group Sustainability Report 2009 101