Our people
Creating conditions where every colleague is proud of their Co-op.
Download the 'Our people' section of the Co-operate Report 2021 (PDF, 1 MB)
Colleague wellbeing
Colleague wellbeing is one of our people priorities and we’ve continued to evolve what we do to support colleagues throughout 2021.
73% of colleagues feel equipped to manage their wellbeing using the resources that the Co-op provides
We’ve made mental health training available to all managers. Over 1,500 have now voluntarily chosen to take-up the training
We’ve launched Wagestream to all colleagues which has seen 10,400 colleagues supported with access to their earned pay between pay days
Diversity and inclusion
2021 has seen us supporting our Vision of Co-operating for a Fairer World by continuing to focus on what diversity and inclusion really means for all our colleagues. We’ve maintained our focus on leadership-driven messaging and using colleague data to understand how we can drive better decisions that support not only our most marginalised, but all colleagues.
Read more information on our commitments to racial equality and diversity and inclusion.
7% of our ethnic minority colleagues are in leadership roles (up from 4% in 2020)
Leadership
By focusing on ‘Leading Well for Everyone’, our leadership development strategy ‘Leadershift’ supports our wellbeing, community, and sustainability agendas. 700 leaders, across nearly 1,500 places, accessed live content during the year, with more accessing offline self-serve materials.
Building skills: apprenticeships
In May 2021, we launched Co-op Levy Share to support apprenticeships for individuals from under-represented groups working with other employers, including our suppliers, to bring together funding of over £7 million to support hundreds of apprenticeships.
By the end of 2021, the service had:
30 donating employers
69 receiving organisations detailing their opportunities
442 matched apprentice opportunities to a value of £4.06m
Engagement, recognition and reward
Having engaged colleagues who are connected to our Co-op and feel valued for their contribution is fundamental to our ongoing success. We measure colleague engagement and experience through our listening tools – Talkback, Talkback Pulse and Colleague Voice. These tools highlight where we need to focus to improve the everyday experience of our colleagues.
Health and Safety
The safety of our colleagues, members and everyone who visits our premises is always a priority. We continued to ensure we created Covid-safe environments for our customers and colleagues, whilst further developing our safety standards and incident management system to ensure we provide a safe and secure environment for all.
In 2021, we published our Wellbeing Minimum Safety Policy, formally recognising the link between work and the wellbeing of our colleagues.
