Cooperatives consist of people with diverse culture. The organizational diversity makes the institution dynamic as it deals with people from various generations and ethnicity. Also, civil service organizations like cooperatives have mixed membership. Under Philippine laws individuals of majority age up to senior citizens, male, female and LGBTs; different ethnicities; religious beliefs; background and attitudes and skills are allowed to become members of cooperatives.
Further, a closer look at the work of Greg Hammill gives us idea on the generation timeline of members, employees and officers in the workplace. Individuals born in 1922-1945 are considered Veterans, Silent and Traditionalists; 1946-1964 often called Baby Boomers; 1965-1980 referred to as Generation X, Gen X, Xers; and 1981-2000 called Generation Y, Gen Y, Millennial, Echo Boomers. The generation gaps have implications in the workplace. Management must have a clear understanding on the behavior of each employee and come up with appropriate interventions to address the gap and harness the potential of every person in the institution. Well-crafted policies that assure respect for individual differences can mitigate issues and concerns attributed to distinct attitudes and habits of each generation.
Moreover, the diversity in membership must be taken seriously as the organization need to address the concerns of members who come from various generations with different attitude, background, core values, education and work ethics. Every organization needs to establish profile of each employee in order for the management and officers to consider these in the planning process.
In addition, cooperatives with members and employees from various ethnicities must be sensitive in handling the differences in culture that can be sources of conflicts within the institution. It had been observed that some institutions prefer to have employees from the same province or tribe on the assumption that they can work harmoniously as a team given possible issues on communication and cultural barriers.
Also, educational background and different specialization can have an effect in the life of a cooperative. The mixture of different people with different line of interests should be considered in the human resource planning. Assigning people on the right job and enhancing their performance through teamwork creates positive impact in the organization. Employees are happy when the right job with the appropriate benefits and good rapport within the group exist.
For cooperative operations to be successful, there is a need to look into the different challenges be it internal or external. The best way to handle the issues and concerns is to conduct strategic planning that can focus on the role of members, officers, staff and stakeholders; the policies concerning membership; operations; succession plan; personnel; election guidelines; sustainable development plans and programs, etc. Organizational Diagnosis through participatory approach can be done.
