Empowering HR in Social Enterprises: A Journey from Grassroots to Visionary Leadership

In February 2012, I worked as an HR advisor for financial cooperatives. I got deeply involved in the workings of over twenty cooperatives, mentoring their HR staff from the ground up. I noticed a significant difference in HR skills between the corporate world and the credit and savings cooperatives. Many small cooperatives, which had modest beginnings, started with minimal staff and were often made up of volunteers. As a result, the general manager usually ended up handling HR management responsibilities, which led to a misunderstanding of the role of human resources in organizational development.

As these cooperatives grew and sought to formalize HR functions, existing employees were often given HR responsibilities instead of hiring trained professionals. Cooperatives' distinctive culture and ethos posed a challenge for those taking on HR roles. The need for customized HR management practices that align with the cooperative's values became increasingly apparent.

During my master’s degree in Entrepreneurship, focusing on Social Enterprise Development at Ateneo Graduate School of Business, I gained a deeper understanding of cooperatives. Under the guidance of Professor Eduardo Morato, Jr., I learned about the cooperative sector as part of the broader landscape of Social Enterprises in the Philippines. I found that my classmates shared the same intentions and values, all driven by a mission to improve the lives of the communities where their social enterprises operate.

With this understanding, I am developing a book to empower HR practitioners in social enterprises. This book aims to bridge the gap between basic HR requirements and the complex task of shaping and nurturing the culture of a reputable social enterprise. It is a guide for those entering the realm of human capital management within these unique organizations.

To all my dear readers, this book will help you navigate the challenges of HR management in the social enterprise landscape and support your mission of uplifting the lives of your people through practical and values-driven leadership. Join me on this journey towards its development, and please share your thoughts and insights as I post some content on my blog.

When Does Employee Benefits Becomes a Motivator?

Many cooperatives have lower compensations and benefits packages compared to other financial institutions.  So employees seldom feel that they are receiving enough for the work they do.

But considering the work requirements and the culture of cooperatives, there are benefits that are not well communicated to them.  For example, the training and travel opportunities that they get for attending seminars given by federations are not much valued as a benefit.  Other employees in the corporations have to earn their training opportunity and some even have to spend out of their own pocket to be able to improve their competencies. But in the cooperative sector, training are abundant (except for some cases of front liner employees like cashiers, who finds it hard to leave their post).

HR of cooperatives should be able to communicate the monetary equivalent of all the benefits they give to employees, to help their employees realize the value of their work.  As I have read in an article of "employeebenefits.excellenceessentials.com" (written by Lynn Lievonenn),  "Communicating effectively and regularly about the benefits of benefits plans provides a better understanding and higher adoption rate by your employees. It helps build employee engagement and a more loyal workforce that takes less sick time."

By communicating the benefit plans to the employees, they will see that the organization is not neglecting their basic needs and the plan tells them how the organization understands their needs.  If there's no schedule of increases due to the organizational performance, at least the employees would also know that if they work together and try to achieve the targets, there's a big chance that they will reap the fruit of their labor in the future.  Employees need to understand that they are stewards and partners of the cooperative, and valuing their members and being able to serve the members well, will be rewarded too.

Some cooperatives even offer opportunities for the family members of the employees to find employment in the organization.  Some cooperatives allow relatives to work at the same organization, provided that the internal control is not sacrificed.  Some co-ops also provide scholarships for the employees' children, and some give scholarship for the employees as well. 

So my advice to HR of cooperatives is to review what compensation and benefits' packages that you have and try to monetize it.  This will give you an understanding of what you can offer for recruitment and what you can tell your employees should they decide to find greener pastures.