In the first part, we mentioned that some of the practices of top performing cooperatives include: 1) Conduct of Strategic Planning and Assessment. 2) Conduct of Regular/Special General Assembly Meeting. 3) Business Diversification/Expansion. 4) Conduct of Pre-Membership Education Seminar.
5) Continuous training of officers, staff and members. Officers, personnel and members of successful cooperatives are usually trained on customer service; effective communication; cooperative management and governance; cooperative standards; fundamentals of cooperatives, credit management, risk management, financial management, bookkeeping, etc. These trainings enable them to relate with different people with diverse background and behavior. Also, having the needed skills related to the job enhances the competencies of staff and officers to perform their respective tasks. Enlightened members also support the plans and programs of their cooperatives given the correct information.
6) Competitive salary packages and incentives to employees and officers. It is an observation that successful cooperatives in the Cordillera offer attractive benefits to prospective employees and officers. Usually, the rates offered by some billionaire and millionaire cooperatives are higher than the minimum wage law. 13th month, 14th month pay; anniversary bonus; Christmas bonus and other incentives motivate employees to perform beyond targets. Board of Directors and Committees when performing their functions receive per diems. Another incentive is the granting of tokens and transportation allowances to all members during general assembly meetings. Raffle draws for door prizes encourages members’ attendance. Some top performing cooperatives recognize members in terms of their contribution to share capital; savings/time deposit; business patronage and prompt settlement of obligations.
7) Presence of organizational structure and clearly stated job descriptions. Successful cooperatives ensure harmonious vertical and horizontal relationships with the presence of organizational structure. Job description of officers and employees are usually discussed or reviewed upon assumption to office. Conduct of orientation on newly hired employees and newly elected/appointed officers is part of the business culture of top cooperatives.
8) Frequent Internal and External Audit. Successful cooperatives prepare interim and duly audited financial statements. It is one of the basis of the Board and top management in coming up with business decisions and appropriate interventions when required. They recognize the importance of financial statements that reflect the true picture of the business enterprise.
9) Regular Board/Committee and Staff Meetings. Most successful cooperatives conduct regular meetings. Other successful cooperatives recognize the importance of joint meetings and usually conduct officers and staff meetings either quarterly or semi-annually. The said meetings allow interaction among the officers and staff and harmonize and institute corrective measures to deviations in the plans or iron out differences. It is also a venue to assess the performance of officers and staff in relation to the annual plans and budget.
10) Presence of dedicated employees and employees. Most billionaire and millionaire cooperatives have qualified officers and staff willing to work beyond the required time. In most cases, the idea of overtime pay is not in the vocabulary of cooperative personnel. Often, most cooperatives with bank like operations need to balance the day’s transaction before leaving office. Just like in banks, the need to ensure that everything is in place especially financial transactions require thorough evaluation.
11) Presence of Manual of Policies/Operations. Successful cooperatives have Manual Of Operations or Policies that serve as ready reference for the members, management and officers. Clearly stated policies that pertains to the various aspects of cooperative including membership policy; personnel policies, business services; election guidelines; conciliation and mediation procedures; ethical standards; use of funds and investments; etc. reduces organizational problems. Without policies cooperatives have difficulty in addressing issues and concerns of the business enterprise.
12) Computerization of Operations. Most large and medium cooperatives embraced computerization of operations. They had employed the services of computer programmers that developed system applicable to cooperative operations. This reduced time spent on manually computing members’ transactions and lead to lesser number of hired employees.
13) Exposure/field trips. Successful cooperatives likewise offer incentives to officers, staff and members to attend exposure trips locally and internationally. Some cooperative leaders and management visit Asian and other countries to observe the best practices of their counterparts. Drawing lessons from the sharing and experiences of foreign counterparts, they become active and introduce some innovations in their respective primaries.
14) Alliance Building, Networking/Affiliations. Most of the successful cooperatives are members of cooperative unions and federations. They also maintain alliance with banks, non-government organizations; government entities and other stakeholders. These entities provide technical and financial assistance to the cooperative officers and employees. Successful cooperatives also invest their resources to their affiliates and allies that make the relationship dynamic.
15) Top performing cooperatives also practice Social Intelligence. Cooperative leaders of successful cooperatives are noted for their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Their ability to communicate and put across their messages to the membership and stakeholders enable them gain trust and confidence. Officers and management staff build good human relations; listen from experiences of others and improve business operations through effective feedback mechanisms. Their learnings and insights contribute to the growth of the business enterprises they manage. It is their ability to interact with others and reflect upon themselves that keeps them alive and motivated.
Finally, we would like to extend our profound gratitude to the different cooperatives and local government units that involved us in their activities. We are proud of your accomplishments and we fully support your plans and programs for the realization of our vision for socio-economic growth and development.
