Sustainability Report 2009 - The Co-operative

Public policy Customers Employees Economic impact Membership and co-operation
Delivering value
employees 44 . Former Somerfield and Britannia employees remain
under their existing terms and conditions, and it is anticipated that
former Somerfield staff benefits will be fully aligned with those of the
Trading Group by the end of 2011.
In CFS, the majority of employees participate in a company-wide
bonus plan to focus all employees on delivering financial
performance and customer satisfaction. Bonus payments are made if
an individual meets or exceeds the required level of performance.
Under the 2009 structure, 6,061 employees (94% of those eligible)
benefited from this bonus 45 . The Trading Group operates a bonus
scheme for management-level staff, based on performance, where
11,800 employees (62% of those eligible) in 2009 received a
bonus 46 . Of former Trading Group staff, 85% are employeemembers,
as are 80% of CFS staff 47 . Employee-members are
entitled to a range of discounts from across the family of businesses,
including 10% discount at The Co-operative Food. Subject to
business performance, employee-members receive an Employee
Member Dividend to reflect their support and contribution to the
business. In 2009, this Dividend was £500 48 .
Employee benefits
Benefits effective from commencement of employment for
all employees 49
Bonus and incentive scheme(s) 50 , childcare vouchers, deathin-service
benefit, Employee Assistance Programme, The
Co-operative Family Credit Union, Give As You Earn scheme,
holidays (over the statutory entitlement), public transport season
ticket loan, Sports & Social Club, recognition awards, personal
accident insurance scheme, BUPA Care discount, Employee
member benefits.
Benefits subject to a qualifying period for all employees
Pension scheme, sick leave, enhanced maternity/
adoption 51 benefits.
Benefits available to permanent employees that are not
available to temporary employees
Long-service awards.
Trading Group employee survey question:
‘The benefits I receive (pensions, holidays, etc) are fair for the
work I do.’ 52 2006 2007 2008 2009
(former Trading
Group in brackets)
Agree n/a 65% (65%) 72% 73%
Neither agree nor
disagree
n/a 21% (21%) 18% 17%
Disagree n/a 14% (14%) 10% 10%
Every employee is offered the opportunity to join a pension
scheme. Following recent mergers and acquisition, 10 pension
schemes are sponsored, offering a range of benefits. Generally,
the pension scheme in which an employee accrues and receives
pension benefits is determined by their original employer within
The Co-operative (or other business prior to merger with, or
acquisition by, The Co-operative).
In total, The Co-operative is responsible for providing pension
benefits to almost 137,000 current, former and retired employees
(2008: 108,000) 53 . In 2009, contributing members to the pension
schemes totalled 24,000 (2008: 17,375), with 63,000 deferred
pensioners and 50,000 pensioners and widows. The overall
proportion of staff in pension schemes remains the same as in
2008 (21%); the relatively low proportion of scheme members
is partly attributable to the high proportion of part-time staff
and relatively high turnover levels in the retail business.
% of staff who are members of a pension scheme
2007
(Former
Trading Group
in brackets)
2008 2009
(Former Trading
Group/CFS in
brackets)
Trading Group 18% (17%) 16% 15% 54 (17%)
CFS 67% 68% 72% 55 (67%)
Total 23% 21% 21% (21%)
Employee communications
Internal communications play a key role in the drive to improve
the commitment and engagement of employees and to ensure
employees are well informed about the business. Across the
Trading Group, these include The Co-operative intranet; an awardwinning
staff magazine, Us 56 , produced four times a year; and
award-winning management magazine, Mag:ma, produced three
times a year.
Regular e-briefings are also circulated to employees, Leadership
Briefings are circulated to the senior management community for
onward cascade to their teams, and regular team meetings are
encouraged. In addition, communications are produced for specific
functions within the business. With the acquisition of Somerfield in
2009, additional communication channels were established to aid
integration, including bespoke editions of Us magazine for staff
and integration managers’ newsletters.
Annual employee survey results reveal that 78% of Trading Group
employees agree that their manager regularly briefs them on
information about the business (2008: 79%).
Following the merger with Britannia in August 2009, CFS
relaunched its suite of employee communications channels
to reflect the new business. New channels include The
Understanding, a monthly face-to-face briefing for all colleagues;
The Know magazine, which is published six times a year; and an
employee intranet, The Exchange. During November and December
2009, all employees had the opportunity to attend an event to hear
about CFS’ new strategy from the Chief Executive and directors
of the business.
Whistle-blowing
The Trading Group has in place a whistle-blowing policy and
procedure called ‘Speak Up’, to provide employees with a
confidential route for raising complaints (whistle-blowing) in
relation to any business conduct issue or malpractice. The policy
has been incorporated into the Code of Business Conduct. The
service was formally launched across the Trading Group in June
2009. ‘Speak Up’ utilises trained internal contacts, along with an
external whistle-blowing helpline, to ensure impartiality. All calls
received through both internal and external routes are reported
to the Risk & Audit Committee. During 2009, 52 calls (2008: five
calls) were received through this process, the majority of which
were of a low level of concern; however, all have been investigated
and resolved internally. The increase in calls is thought to be as a
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The Co-operative Group Sustainability Report 2009