22nd
May, 2019
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Brittany Baird
Management coaching, training and development
brittanybaird@columinate.coop
267-254-5079
22nd
Jan, 2021
Compensation Database: History and Future
The Compensation Database is woefully out of date when it comes to gender and equity identifiers. Columinate is creating a new version scheduled to be introduced in April 2021. Here's what features will be added to improve the database.
22nd
May, 2020
Virtual CBL 101 Resource Guide
Download the CBL 101 Reader History, Principles, and Values “Cooperative Principles Updated,” by Ann Hoyt, available on p. 14 in the Reader. “Rochdale Pioneers and the Cooperative Principles,” by Brett Fairbairn. From The Meaning of Rochdale: the Rochdale Pioneers and the co-operative principles, (Canada: Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan), 1994. Collective Courage: [...]
1st
May, 2020
Financial Planning During a Pandemic
Financial health is the backbone of a successful co-op. Like every other part, it’s twisting and turning during the current pandemic. “Things are changing really fast,” says feasibility and project development consultant Don Moffitt. “I’m not sure that anybody knows exactly what they need to be doing right now.”
18th
Sep, 2018
Training for soft skills
Yes, you can teach empathy, rapport and authenticity to your staff. Even those who join your staff with a high degree of these “soft skills” can still improve them through training. Brittany Baird is my colleague at CDS Consulting Co-op whose area of expertise lies in linking financial success to the everyday decisions we make on the sales floor of a natural foods business. [...]
14th
Jun, 2018
Collaborative Interviewing
A growing body of research shows that cognitive biases creep into everyone’s decisions, even if we consciously strive to be fair. One of the most insidious forms is “confirmation bias,” in which people look for data that confirm their opinion and ignore data that contradict it. Confirmation bias has a detrimental impact on hiring decisions, causing us to rush to snap judgments without realizing [...]
29th
May, 2018
How Cooperative is Your Customer Service?
Too often, customer service and membership trainings become a quick checked box on the first day on the job, and over time, staff become disconnected from the true meaning of service and the significance of their co-op in the community. As competition in our marketplace continues to tighten, it’s imperative that we strive to create a culture of continuous improvement and enthusiasm for the [...]
2nd
Feb, 2018
Leading Our Co-ops Beyond Customer Service to Cooperative Service
As food co-ops forge ahead in the “the new normal,” they often find themselves in the precarious place of trying to both differentiate from and conform to competitors. From the consistent progression of conventional grocery stores towards natural products offerings, to the growing threat of internet retailers, food co-ops are experiencing an increasingly urgent pressure to raise the bar on business operations while still maintaining and better communicating their distinctiveness as community-owned institutions.
13th
Sep, 2017
What Kind of Experience Does Your Food Co-op Deliver?
Customer service experiences are a very hot topic, especially online and in social media. People regularly share the good and the bad, and social media has become the new word-of-mouth. It’s where people hear from friends, family and acquaintances how they “rate” the businesses they frequent. The Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods has upped the ante on how customer service for groceries is going [...]
13th
Sep, 2017
Cooperative Service Training Helps Staff Promote the Co-op
Friendly City Food Co-op Harrisonburg, VA Year founded: 2011 Membership investment: $200 Number of members: 1,800 Number of employees: 34 Retail square feet: 5,600 When Friendly City Food Co-op in Harrisonburg, Va. opened as a startup in 2011, they quickly gained a positive reputation in the community for providing great customer service. As Mary Beth Kannen, the co-op’s front-end team leader said, “The name [...]
