Deborah Co-oper
Director
Warren Partners

 What we’ll come away with...
 An understanding of how co-operatives can compete to attract the best talent
 Ideas as to how co-operatives can integrate their distinct ways of doing business, values and culture within their approaches to recruitment

 Executive Search
 A talent led, values driven approach to enhancing business performance
 Cross-sector and functional expertise
 Offices in NW, London and Edinburgh

 Executive and NED Recruitment
 The Co-operative Group
 Fifth of Building Societies
 NFU Mutual
 First Milk
 Talent Mapping, Benchmarking &
Integration

 Recruiting ‘Co-operatively’
 Best Practice Approaches
 Overview
 Attracting and Assessing Talent
 Retaining and Developing Talent

 Significant Stakeholder Management:
‘Think’ Team
 Importance of both the Client and the
Candidate experience
 Adding Value: we’re at our most effective when treated as a partner

How can this be a positive experience?
Make or break moment.
What can we do to maximise t he opportunity and experience?
Interaction on a speculative basis when actively looking
As a previous candidate or ‘source’
Pre-Assignment
Initial approach and follow up dialogue with researcher/consultant
Ease of application when replying to advertisement
Admin: quality, speed and frequency of communication
Candidate
Accepted/Post
Assignment
Pre-Shortlist
Opportunity to speak with consultant
(pre applying/interview or as to why they’ve not been progressed)
Quality of assignment brief and appropriateness to their background
Psychometric Assessment if budgeted
(currently not undertaken for Coop)
Post Shortlist-
Candidate Offered
Offer made: attractiveness, negotiation and timeliness of documentation
Timeliness of meeting schedule & subsequent feedback
Clients knowledge of the candidate
Shortlist notes include career history, high level competency based assessment, remuneration, career motivation and areas to probe
If multiple meetings, important to avoid duplicating questions/areas/assessment covered.
Interview (format, venue, professionalism of consultant)
Consultant feedback post interview (positive as all areas for development)
Timely management and Communication of Logistics for meeting with the client
Consultant briefing prior to meeting the client

 Understanding Your People Requirements
 Recruit strategically and invest resources
 Benchmark against market leaders
 Consider going outside of sector
 Create diversity
 Give equal weighting to skills/capabilities as well as values/behaviours

 Search Led
 Advertising: Internally/
Externally
 ‘Blind’/Branded
 Proactively: Be the Employer of Choice

 Your Brand Values
 Clear Vision/Strategy
 Culture and People
 Remuneration

 Greater Rigour for all levels
 Focus on ‘The What’ and ‘The How’

 Skills & Experience
 Values/Culture Fit
 Competencies/Behaviours
 Tool Kit

 Values/Culture Fit
 Honesty/Openness/Authenticity
 Social Responsibility/Sense of Community
 Other Centred/Caring For Others
 Customer/Member focus
 Stakeholder Management
 Ability to deal with ambiguity

 Differentiating Competencies/Behaviours
 Transformational Leadership
 Strategic Vision
 Commercial/Customer Focus
 Performance Driven

 Candidate Experience: Internal & External
 On-Boarding: First 90 Days
 Talent Management and Development

How can Co-operatives best Co-operate?
 Ideas
 Share and challenge best practice/toolkits
 Combined ‘buying’ power for PSLs
 Preparedness to jointly undertake Talent
Management and Development

How can Co-operatives best Co-operate?
 Your comments and questions?!
e: dcooper@warrenpartners.co.uk
t: 01606 812784