Cooperative Identity, Membership and Member Education Lessons from the UK experience

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Co-operative Identity, Membership and Member
EducationLessons from the UK experience

• Mervyn Wilson
• Chief Executive Principal

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Early Co-operative Education

• Co-operative Societies provided libraries, hire
  of scientific equipment and pioneering adult
  education for members and their families
• Grays Co-operative Society Reading Room

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Co-operative education - meeting members needs

• Co-operative education programmes reinforced
  co-operative identity and values, combining
  classes run locally with pioneering distance
  learning delivery, a nationally agreed curriculum
  and examination framework, and from 1918 a
  Co-operative College.

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Member benefits the dividend

• Dividend (patronage refund) was the principal
  member benefit in the UK consumer co-operative
  movement and its major tool in member
  recruitment but member education provision was
  also actively promoted
• Darwen Co-operative Society queue for dividend
  1960

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Erosion of member benefits -Price cutting

• Member distributions were steadily eroded in the
  face of growing retail competition
• Cut prices started to replace dividend
  distributions as here in Leicester

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Erosion of member benefits Dividend stamps

• Dividend Stamps introduced in 1966, were
  available to all customers, not just members,
  thus removing the main incentive for becoming a
  member.

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Co-operative identity and membership the
position in the early 1990s

• Co-operatives were slow to respond to fundamental
  changes in the market from the 1960s
• The drive for economic survival was often at the
  cost of co-operative identity e.g. hasty mergers,
  loss of local identity, rapid store closures,
  loss of member benefits/facilities
• Key personnel brought in from outside the
  movement for commercial expertise lacked
  understanding of or empathy with co-operative
  ideals and values

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Co-operative identity and membership the
position in the early 1990s

• The significance of membership was ignored We
  need customers not members
• Collapse of member recruitment
• Declining number of active members
• There was a denial of co-operative identity in
  business strategy and this was replicated by an
  erosion of member education
• Member education was often replaced by low key
  Customer relations

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Governance scandals follow

• A governance working party was established in
  1993 following a series of high profile
  governance scandals

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Corporate Governance Code of Best Practice

• We consider that an active and involved
  membership that has available to it open and fair
  information is an absolutely essential ingredient
  of good co-operative governance
• Governance working party report 1994

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Co-operative identity concerns grow

• The ICA led debate on co-operative values drew
  attention to the dangers of neglecting core values

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Statement on the Co-operative Identity

• Published in 1995 Our emphasis highlighting
  that co-operatives are member based organisations

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The demutualisation challenge

• The attempt to take over the CWS in 1997 became a
  wake up call for co-operators
• Members, managers and employees unite to resist
  the attacks

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The response the Co-operative Commission

• Successful co-operative businesses require a
  large and widespread membership that is
  supportive of the broad principles of
  co-operation and the participation of an active,
  informed and representative elective membership

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Co-operative Commission - Membership

• It is of fundamental importance to the
  co-operative movement to recognise that its
  future is linked with its ability to build a
  strong membership across the country

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Refocusing member education

• Resources to help Co-operatives and their elected
  members review all aspects of their membership
  policy and practice

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Just Ask Membership Toolkit

• Onion rings exploring opportunities for member
  involvement at different levels in a co-operative

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Rebuilding membership and identity

• Strong values and membership message in brand
• Unambiguous identity!

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• Members Network quarterly
• Good for Everyone twice a year
• Website
• Web chats
• Networks
• BME
• Women
• Youth

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1871 The Co-operative News first published. Now
published every fortnight giving a round up of
whats happening in the Co-operative Movement.
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Co-operative education today - Member Training

• Director and member training programmes are held
  throughout the UK with over 1,000 learners
  actively involved

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Co-operative education today - Working with
schools

• Most business specialist schools concentrate
  solely on the plc model and fail to include the
  co-operative alternative to running a business.
  We are showing young people that the co-operative
  way of doing business is very relevant in the
  21st century.
• Dave Boston, Head Teacher Sir Thomas
  Boughey
• Co-operative Business College

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Co-operative education today - Working with
schools

• The schools specialist status and strong links
  to the Co-operative movement have had a major
  impact on standards and achievement, which have
  improved considerably in the last two years.

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Co-operative education today - Working with
schools

• Reddish Vale is leading the way by pioneering a
  co-operative approach to education. Its about
  embedding a co-operative culture into the school,
  building on existing strong local relationships
  and providing a platform for all those interested
  in the school's success to work together.
• Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State,
  Department for Children Schools and Families

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Co-operative education today - Working with
schools a vision.

• A national network of Co-operative Schools and
  Academies sharing an enterprising ethos derived
  from our globally shared co-operative values and
  principles, working together to transform
  achievement, raise standards and aspirations for
  the benefit of learners, members and their
  communities.

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Co-operative education today - New ways of
learning

• A range of College websites making materials
  widely available.
• The development of a A different kind of business
  - e-learning programme
• A Different Kind of World exploring how
  co-operatives contribute to the MDGs.
• Online modules for Director and Member learning
  in partnership with the Co-operative Group

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Co-operative education todayBreadth of College
programmes

• The development of work with membership based
  businesses particularly in health and social
  enterprise.
• The delivery of training programmes for social
  enterprises in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.
• Co-operative values/identity programmes in
  Australia, New Zealand, Italy, East Africa and
  Ghana as well as the UK.
• Training Trainers in Italy, Czech Republic,
  Tanzania and Kenya
• Supporting the re-building of the network of
  Co-operative Colleges in Africa.
• Supporting young co-operators programmes in North
  America Europe and Africa
• The roll-out, in the UK, a training programme in
  partnership with the Ethical Trading Initiative
  and its piloting in India.

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Conclusion

• There is a clear need for co-operative and mutual
  businesses in a 21st century diverse economy
• Successful co-operative businesses will be those
  confident in their co-operative identity, and
  determined to promote that identity in their
  business strategy
• Membership in all aspects is central to that
  identity
• Member education, with co-operative values at its
  heart, is critical to ongoing democratic
  challenge and renewal