Why do some people enjoy a job and stay with it for years while others seem unhappy and leave—or stay on but complain, come to work late, and call in sick more than others? Why do some people enjoy a job and stay with it for years while others seem unhappy and leave—or stay on but complain, come to work late, and call in [...]
Should staff be eligible to serve on the board of a consumer co-op? Many of today’s food co-ops started as small buying clubs. No one was paid, everyone pitched in. As the co-ops grew, incorporated, opened store fronts and hired staff, little attention was paid to role clarity and accountability. Paid staff and member workers often served as the board of directors. Now that [...]
David Jones* first suspected something was wrong when Christy Wright missed three days of work and didn't call the store. "It wasn't characteristic of her," Jones says. He'd promoted Wright to grocery manager after three years with a strong track record. "She was as good as I've ever seen in dealing with difficult customers." With only 25 employees, the workforce of Jones' natural foods [...]
By Carolee Colter 130 May - June - 2007 By now, probably most co-op boards of directors have a policy on conflicts of interest. For example, when a board member has a financial stake in a company that potentially or actually competes or does business with the co-op, this information is revealed to the board, and the affected board member may be barred from [...]
By Marilyn Scholl, Carolee Colter 088 May - June - 2000 What we love most about co-ops is the emphasis on people. Food co-ops are businesses that operate on a human scale, valuing individual voices--whether it be the democratic aspect of choosing leaders, the ongoing dialogue with customers through comment boards, or staff involvement in key decisions. In cooperatives, people are valued. What drives [...]
By Bill Gessner 063 March - April - 1996 Our cooperatives are truly empowering organizations, in origin and in practice, in vision and in mission, in theory and in action. Empowerment can be a simple and clarifying concept. Yet often we find ourselves misguided and muddled in the empowerment process within cooperatives. I believe this confusion serves as a primary obstacle to the healthy [...]
