Funeralcare thank you, Men in Childcare & Healthcare services
This article will take approximately 3 minutes to read
Published 5 Nov 2021 in Phil's blog
At the end of this week, the vast majority of colleagues from across the Funeral business will have transferred to Central England or other Co-operative Societies. As mentioned previously in my blog, the agreement with these Societies means that more than 95% of our existing funeral business remains within the co-operative movement as we continue to strengthen our strategic focus and investment on our travel, food, childcare, utilities and healthcare services.
I would like to say we are extremely proud and grateful to the incredible commitment our Funeralcare colleagues have shown. Particularly during the last year when they showed remarkable strength and versatility to support the bereaved in such challenging times. I thank each and every colleague for their hard work and dedication and wish them all the best for the future. If you missed it, there was also a personal thank you from Mark Adams, Chief Operating Officer, Funeralcare here.
Colleague Council
An important strand of Midcounties is Colleague Council. All about involving you and communicating matters concerning the Society, it helps us lead improvements in performance and the success of our business as a whole. So earlier this week at the Exec Colleague Council, our teams discussed the chance to work collectively on challenges ahead and outlined the importance of sharing and involving colleague matters at all levels. I encourage all colleagues to have their say and join the Colleague Council where possible.
Colleague Laura Stewart Hammond who attended the meeting mentioned, “It was my first experience of Exec Colleague Council today and was great to meet other colleagues from a variety of business groups. The meeting was brilliant with lots discussed and questions & answers for the wider colleague group.”
Imogen Battams and Laura Stewart Hammond who both attended the Exec Colleague Council
Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is so important to our colleagues, customers and members. It's something we always strive to achieve.
Around the subject, I had some time recently with Holly Jones, Continuous Improvement Manager for Food who joined in May, along with Chris Chandler and Sarah Yates. They took me through the great work being done to improve ways of working and how they have taken out unnecessary processes across the Food business. I can really see how this will make a big difference next year and I am looking forward to seeing the progress develop.
Holly who joined us in May, has been process mapping all of our end to end processes – including product set up, deliveries, instore activities and checkouts. Asking our colleagues where we encounter issues, where can we improve and what can we do about it. The main focus of all of this is to reduce our shrinkage and make our processes simpler for our colleagues, thus providing a better experience for our customers and members!
So far, we have been delighted with the colleague engagement and interaction, with a big thanks to all the store colleagues involved. I look forward to sharing more progress over the coming months.
Holly Jones, our Continuous Improvement Manager for Food
Member app launch continues
With the ongoing member launch of the app, I am proud to say that we now have over 7,200 new app users this week of whom 4,600 are new members. As our membership continues to grow and make a difference, please continue to share the app with fellow colleagues and customers so they can take advantage of all the incredible deals just for them and showcase how we as a co-operative support our communities and the planet.
In-store promotions continue with ‘Scan to win’ as well as a number of half-price deals and trading area offers from Childcare, Travel, Pharmacy & Utilities. Head over to the app to start getting more today.
COP26 is underway
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is now well underway, taking place in Glasgow until the 12th November with lots of media attention and pledges discussed. Recent research published by the ACS (Association of Convenience Stores) outlines that less than half of UK organisations are set to meet the Government’s carbon emission targets and that 66% of people agree that businesses should do more to help customers reduce their own impact on climate change.
Clearly, we all have a role to play in tackling climate change, with businesses having the opportunity to make a positive difference through their operations and working with customers to mobilise change. We are continuing our activity to promote climate action throughout COP26 including working with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to showcase a programme highlighting the business’ role in combatting global climate change. Helping to raise awareness, you can view a message from our Environmental Ambassador, Cal Major here. Our Society’s CSR Manager, Mike Pickering, is also presenting at an online event hosted by Co-operatives West Midlands next week on the 10th November entitled ‘Can Co-op’s keep the lights on?’. It is all about showcasing our activity to reduce carbon emissions. You can learn more about this event and book on here.
Men in Childcare – breaking down barriers
With only 2% of the early years’ workforce being male, last month I had the great opportunity to sit down with Co-op Childcare colleagues, Daniel Berry & Nuwan Dalugodage to discuss increasing our male colleagues in our early year settings.
In the long term, it’s something we want to be key influencers in, so our children are educated and are aware it’s reflected onto the demographics and local communities in which we operate. With a target of reaching 20% of male early years colleagues by 2025, we are really ambitious to become a pioneer in the field. Click here to watch Part 1 of my interview with Daniel and Nuwan on what it’s like to be a man working in Childcare.
Flu Vaccinations & Home Testing Kits
With over 400 jabs given out across our colleagues, members and via our B2B service, our healthcare teams have been busy up and down the country administering flu jabs. Just this week, I had the chance at Warwick support office to have my own flu jab by our Healthcare Development Manager and Superintendent Pharmacist, Raj Patel. Appointments in Warwick are available every Tuesday in November for both private jabs (£10) and NHS jabs with colleagues encouraged to book a time and venue suitable to them. However, if colleagues register their interest depending on where they live/work, the healthcare teams will look to come directly to them.
An exclusive service for all colleagues to take advantage of, you can find out how to book your own, by clicking here.
This week, the healthcare teams have also just launched a selection of home testing kits priced at £12.50. A competitive market-priced product that is very unique, as all health testing kits come with a personal Pharmacist consultation, at no additional cost. These easy to use medical health screening self-test kits can be purchased directly from Your Co-op Pharmacy and can be used privately at home, knowing our support teams are there for help if needed. Click here to find out more.
My flu vaccination at Warwick Support Office
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