GM Retirement Planning Best Practices, or How to Retire Gracefully
GM Retirement Planning Best Practices, or How to Retire Gracefully When a general manager (GM) is planning to retire, (as opposed to leaving the co-op for another job), the specific date of departure is flexible and known well in advance. The outgoing GM's legacy will be affected by how s/he handles the transition. Timing Once you decide to take the leap, let your management [...]
Engaging the Whole Person in Succession Planning
By Sarah Dahl 180 Sept-Oct 2015 There are two commonly seen staffing problems in co-ops that may at first seem unrelated: At Co-op A, sales had been declining for the last few years. Personnel costs, unfortunately, had not been declining, leaving the co-op in a tough position. The finance manager, who had been with the co-op for the last 15 years, decided it was [...]
Getting Ready for General Manager Succession
By Thane Joyal, Jeanie Wells 178 May-June 2015 Whether or not your cooperative expects to hire a general manager (GM) in the next year, your board should have an awareness of the skills and resources that would be needed to accomplish this essential task. Even if your GM is doing great and has no expressed plans for retirement or other career changes, your board [...]
Telling the Co-op Story
By Patricia Cumbie 176 January-February 2015 Stories are as old as humankind. If we didn’t have stories, we wouldn’t have progress or evolution. It’s how people communicate, organize, and instruct. Nor could most of us imagine a childhood without bedtime stories. Our most cherished memories are linked with a vivid story. As humans, we crave connection and meaning, and that’s why stories can feel [...]
Great Idea: Board President Succession Planning
Joe Marks had been the board president at the startup Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene, NH for three years. Marks had been instrumental in leading the co-op from its founding to operational governance. He’s currently finishing his current board term with one year left, but not as an officer. His new role as an at-large board member is to act as a resource [...]
Officer Elections
Within a well-functioning democracy, the process by which we choose our leaders is at least as important as whom we choose. The quality of the conversation we have about elections, board culture and leadership qualifications matters as much as the election itself. This Field Guide describes an effective process for board officer elections and provides some specific tools and ideas for creating and implementing [...]