Co-op Launches Colleague Promise to Focus on Talent Attraction and Retention

Co-op, the UK’s largest consumer co-operative, is refreshing its employer brand with a ‘Colleague Promise’ that brings together everything Co-op offers its colleagues in one place.

Created in partnership with the VCCP’s Employer Brand team, the Colleague Promise articulates Co-op’s ‘Owned by you. Right by You’ brand proposition in a colleague context, highlighting Co-op’s membership model as its unique value.

Unlike most businesses, Co-op is owned by colleagues and customer members rather than shareholders. Membership gives colleagues a say in how the business is run as well as access to a range of benefits that have been designed with colleagues’ needs at their heart.

To reflect the reality of the Co-op colleague experience across the employee lifecycle, the Colleague Promise was created and shaped directly by the views of its 54,000 colleagues. It is designed to bring greater clarity, fairness and consistency to the everyday experience for colleagues working in its 2,400 food stores, as well as its funeral care, insurance, legal services, support centre, distribution and wholesale business functions.

Co-op describes the Colleague Promise through three pillars:

• A Place with Purpose – where you are an owner, with a say in how things are run, opportunities to support your community, and a share of the profits when you help the business grow
• A Place you’ll Belong – where you are welcomed and included, cared for inside and outside of work, and empowered by supportive leaders
• A Place you can Thrive – where Co-op supports your physical, financial and mental wellbeing, and gives you the tools to own your development and career

Research played a pivotal role in the development of the Colleague Promise. It revealed that inclusion and belonging are among Co-op’s greatest strengths as an employer. Notably, over three-quarters (82%) of colleagues felt that Co-op is a place where people from diverse backgrounds can succeed, and over half (58%) said that their team or the colleagues they work with are the best part of working at Co-op. These findings were instrumental in placing belonging at the heart of the new Promise as one of its three core pillars.

More than simply a recruitment marketing tool, Co-op’s Colleague Promise is designed for both current and prospective colleagues. It aims to strengthen the link between the colleague experience and Co-op’s co-operative difference - helping colleagues connect their everyday roles to the wider purpose of the business.

Co-op will now embed the Promise across its people strategy through:

• A range of new recruitment and employability tools for hiring managers and internal candidates
• A measurement framework to track progress and hold the business to account
• A ‘People Excellence’ workstream to act on colleague feedback and improve delivery
• A UK-wide programme of colleague roadshows across depots and offices

Mel Matson, marketing director at Co-op, said, “Our new Colleague Promise reflects what makes Co-op different - a cooperative business where colleagues are not only valued employees but also owners who shape how we work and grow together. It brings to life our commitment to fairness, consistency, and doing the right thing for every colleague, just as we do for our members and customers. Every day our colleagues, across the group, are shining ambassadors of Owned by you. Right by you.

Built with our colleagues, for our colleagues, the promise reinforces our co-operative, purpose-driven approach and supports a workplace culture where everyone feels connected, proud of the role they play, and confident in the support they receive. It’s about ensuring the colleague experience truly reflects the values we promote externally – because doing right by our people is at the heart of who we are.”

Huw Morgan, head of employer brand at VCCP said, "A strong employer brand needs to balance aspiration with reality so that it is admired by job seekers on the outside and endorsed by employees on the inside. The aspiration of Co-op's Colleague Promise is reflected in the brand's tone and in the three Promise pillars.

The Colleague Promise is built on reality: it has been shaped by the views of Co-op colleagues working in its food stores, funeral care, insurance, legal services, wholesale, distribution and support centre. Built with insight from thousands of our colleagues, it brings clarity and consistency to what people can expect throughout their Co-op journey.

With a strong focus on purpose, belonging, and growth, the Promise reflects our co-operative difference – showing that when you work at Co-op, you’re not just doing a job, you’re helping shape a business that’s truly owned by you and driven to do right by you."