Cooperative Coworkers
added 07/21/09
Helen Brody describes the day-to-day efforts of Co-op employees in the current issue of the Co-op News.
Member to Members: Where Cooperation Comes Naturally
by Helen Brody
It seems the staff of the Co-op does not need October as National Co-op Month to remind them that cooperation turns the acceptable into excellence and, in so doing, builds a successful and sustainable business. They cooperate every day, as I discovered after contacting the staff to ask for examples of working together as a team.
“I do not even have to think about this,” responded Community Market Manager Helen Daisey. “On a Saturday afternoon, we ran out of milk (1% and 2%). No milk to come in until Tuesday. I called Lebanon Dairy Manager Jon Dubuque, and he set some aside. I could not find a delivery person, so I called Lebanon Floral Manager Ann Lyons, and she made my transfer happen. Leon Valia and Pat Temple, from Lebanon Center of Store, brought my milk. We all work together to help promote sales, no matter what location.”
Renee Russell, Sous Chef at the Commissary, reported, “We depend on the Prepared Foods Departments to order daily from our guide. We meet with them monthly to discuss the menu and how we can better serve each other and the stores. Without this relationship our kitchen would not thrive.”
In all Co-op locations, there is extensive cooperation among departments. In the Lebanon store, Meat and Seafood staff move easily between departments. In Hanover, all of the perishable departments across the “back wall”—Meat, Seafood, Prepared Foods, and Deli—cover for each other immediately and competently. Service Desk and Front End staff work together to keep customers moving through the checkouts.
Knowing that Tony White, Director of Merchandising and Operations, had experienced a previous life in two chain stores, I went to him for comments and comparisons between employee cooperation in a conventional supermarket operation and the Co-op. “Is there this much cooperation and communication in the chain store world?” I asked.
Clearly, the differences were immediately obvious to Tony. “Managers in large supermarkets are territorial,” he said. “In the Co-op, we have what we call Open Book Management. It encourages staff members to focus on the profitability of the whole store rather than on their own little bailiwick. Large supermarket managers are judged by their own department’s profit margins. Consideration of the store or company as a whole is simply not on their radar screen.”
Tony offered the Meat Department Manager as a good example of considering the profits of the store as a whole. On the top of the meat cases in the Co-op stores are products such as seasonings and condiments, items that are complementary to meat. They may be available as shelf goods elsewhere in the store and are part of Grocery’s inventory and sales figures. In the large chain stores, a great promotional location like the top of the meat case is the exclusive domain of the meat department, theirs and only theirs to sell their product.
Tony pointed out that the Center of the Store Department is another example of the choreography between disparate areas. Four years ago, Grocery, BIN, Frozen Foods, and Beverage had separate, competing managers deciding what product should go in the prime promotional areas of the store.
“They pushed hard against giving up their independence,” said Tony. Although there is still independence in ordering, the four departments now work together under one manager to decide what products would most benefit from being placed in key selling areas. The result is significantly improved profit margins. “They will never go back to their old ways,” Tony said with a smile.
A third significant departure from supermarket life offered by Tony is customer contact. At the Co-op, before merchandising decides to move a product out because of slow sales, the pending move is presented to the appropriate staff member who is alert to customer habits. If he or she sees a customer regularly pick up something that is in the pipeline to be discontinued, and that customer often shops in the store for other things, removing the item from the shelf is re-examined.
“Knowing the habits of an individual customer is unheard of in a large supermarket,” Tony said. “Here, that’s what we do on a regular basis.”
What Do You Think?
Have some thoughts about this article? We’d love to hear from you! Please email us your suggestion or question. Want to sign up for the email version of the Co-op News? Join our list!
