HR is changing. But for cooperatives, the change is not only about technology. It is about people, purpose, and the lives of our members.
When we talk about the future of HR, we often hear about Artificial Intelligence, digitalization, people analytics, automation, and new ways of working. These topics now find their way into many of our business planning discussions.
But what does all of this mean for our micro, small, and medium-sized savings and credit cooperatives in the Philippines?
Many of our cooperatives do not yet have a full HR department. Some have only one HR staff who handles recruitment, employee records, training, employee concerns, and many other HR responsibilities.
In some cooperatives, the General Manager also handles HR. In one small cooperative I encountered, the HR assistant doubled as the executive secretary. This assistant mostly wrote memorandums and issued them directly to employees rather than through their immediate supervisors. As a result, HR was viewed as pro-management, leading employees to keep to themselves rather than seek HR advice for work-related concerns.
Does this mean that smaller cooperatives cannot practice strategic HR?
I believe they can.
Strategic HR does not begin with a large HR department, sophisticated systems, or expensive technology.
It begins with a simple understanding:
Our people are essential to fulfilling our cooperative's purpose.
Dave Ulrich recently shared a framework describing four HR pivots for the future of HR. I found the framework particularly interesting when viewed through the lens of cooperatives.
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| Figure 1. Dave Ulrich's Four HR Pivots Source: Dave Ulrich, LinkedIn. |
So, I asked myself:
How can we translate these four pivots into something practical and meaningful for our cooperatives?
The four pivots come from Ulrich's framework; what follows is my interpretation of how these ideas can be understood and applied in the cooperative setting.
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| Figure 2 - Four HR Pivots for Cooperatives — A cooperative-sector interpretation of Dave Ulrich's Four HR Pivots framework. |
1. Stakeholder HR
From Employee HR to Creating Value for Member-Owners
Traditionally, HR focuses on employees.
We recruit people, train them, evaluate their performance, address their concerns, and try to keep good employees.
All of these remain important.
But in a cooperative, HR also needs to look beyond the employee because our work ultimately contributes to the well-being and success of our member-owners.
Our employees serve our member-owners.
Our Board provides direction.
Our managers and supervisors lead our people.
Our partners support our work.
And our cooperative exists to improve the lives of its members and contribute to the community.
Therefore, HR needs to look beyond the employee.
When we recruit a teller, for example, we should not only ask:
"Does this person know how to handle transactions?"
We should also ask:
"Does this person understand the importance of serving members with honesty, respect, patience, and care?"
When we conduct customer service training, we should ask:
"Will this help our employees serve our members better?"
When we develop a performance management system, we should ask:
"Are we measuring behaviors and results that contribute to the cooperative's purpose?"
This is what Stakeholder HR means to me in a cooperative setting.
It means moving from:
"What is good for our employees?"
to also asking:
"What creates value for our member-owners and the cooperative community?"
2. Human Capability
From Individual Talent to People + Leadership + Organization
This is perhaps the most important pivot for me.
Sometimes we think that if we hire competent people, our problems will be solved.
But a cooperative can have very good employees and still struggle.
Why?
Because talent alone is not enough.
Employees need good leaders.
Leaders need a healthy organization.
And the organization needs systems and a culture that allow people to perform well.
This is why I like the concept of Human Capability.
For cooperatives, I would look at it through three connected areas:
1. Talent
Do we have competent, committed, and engaged employees?
2. Leadership
Do we have leaders who can guide, coach, develop, and inspire people?
3. Organization
Do we have a workplace, culture, systems, and teamwork that allow our people to succeed?
These three need to work together.
A competent employee in a poorly managed organization can become frustrated.
A good leader cannot succeed indefinitely without capable people and appropriate systems.
And good systems will not work if people do not understand or believe in the cooperative's purpose.
Therefore, developing people should go beyond sending employees to training.
We need to:
Train employees.
Coach leaders.
Strengthen systems.
Build a healthy culture.
Develop future leaders.
Connect everyone's work to the cooperative mission.
That is how we build human capability.
3. HR Operating Model
From "Having an HR Department" to "Having an HR Way of Working"
This is particularly relevant to our MSM cooperatives.
Some may say:
"We only have one HR person. How can we possibly do all these things?"
My answer is:
You don't have to do everything at once.
And you don't have to do it alone.
HR is not only the responsibility of the HR officer.
The HR staff may coordinate HR activities, but people management is a shared responsibility.
The General Manager has a role.
Department or branch heads and supervisors have a role.
The Board has a role.
And employees themselves have a role in creating a healthy workplace.
A small cooperative can begin with the basics:
• Hire the right people.
• Give new employees a proper orientation.
• Set clear expectations.
• Give regular feedback.
• Provide opportunities to learn.
• Recognize good work.
• Address performance issues early.
• Prepare people for future leadership.
• Apply policies fairly and consistently.
• Connect employee performance to member service.
These may sound simple.
But simple practices, done consistently, can create significant change.
You don't need a large HR department to practice good HR.
You need people who understand that developing and managing people is everyone's responsibility.
4. AI as an Enabler
From Technology Trend to Practical HR Assistant
This is probably the pivot we hear about most today.
And interestingly, I believe AI can be particularly helpful to small cooperatives with limited HR resources.
Imagine having only one HR staff—and that person needs to prepare a job description, develop interview questions, create a training outline, draft an employee communication, analyze survey responses, or prepare an HR report.
AI can help.
It can reduce routine work.
It can help organize information.
It can generate ideas.
It can assist in preparing documents and reports.
It can support learning and development.
For a General Manager who is also handling HR, AI can become a very useful assistant.
But we must remember:
AI is an enabler—not the decision-maker.
AI can provide information.
AI can provide suggestions.
AI can help us work faster.
But it does not know our members the way we do.
It does not understand the history and culture of our cooperative in the same way our people do.
And it cannot replace our responsibility to make fair, thoughtful, and compassionate decisions.
This is particularly important in cooperatives because our work is ultimately about:
People helping people.
So, let us use AI to reduce administrative work and give HR more time for what really matters:
developing people, strengthening leaders, and serving members.
The Four Pivots Come Together
When I look at these four pivots from a cooperative perspective, I see them not as four separate HR activities but as one connected journey:
The ultimate question is not:
"How modern is our HR department?"
The better question is:
"How are our people practices helping us create better value for our member-owners?"
A Different Definition of HR Success
There is one important distinction that I believe every cooperative HR practitioner should remember:
"In many corporations, HR creates value for shareholders. In cooperatives, HR creates value for member-owners. That single distinction changes how we recruit, develop, reward, lead, and ultimately define success."
This is why cooperative HR cannot simply copy everything that corporations are doing.
We can learn from them.
We can use their tools.
We can adopt good practices.
But we must always ask:
"Does this practice fit our cooperative and help us fulfill our purpose?"
Our measure of success is not only how much profit we make.
It is also about whether our cooperative remains financially sustainable while making a meaningful difference in the lives of our members.
And this is where HR becomes very important.
When we recruit the right people, we strengthen our cooperative.
When we develop our employees, we strengthen our service.
When we develop good leaders, we strengthen our future.
When we build a healthy workplace, we strengthen our organization.
And when our people understand the cooperative mission, we strengthen the reason why the cooperative exists in the first place.
You Can Start Where You Are
A Quick Reflection for Cooperative LeadersTake a moment to ask:
- Are our people practices creating value for our member-owners?
- Are we developing employees, leaders, and the organization together?
- Is HR a shared responsibility in our cooperative?
- How can we use AI to help our people—not replace them?
Choose one question and start there.
For our MSM savings and credit cooperatives, I would not recommend trying to implement everything at once.
Start with one question:
"What is the one people-related problem we need to solve today?"
Maybe it is recruitment.
Maybe it is employee discipline.
Maybe it is high turnover.
Maybe employees need better training.
Maybe supervisors need to learn how to manage people.
Maybe there is no clear performance evaluation system.
Maybe your HR staff is simply overwhelmed by administrative work.
Start there.
One problem.
One improvement.
One step at a time.
You don't need a large HR department to start building a strong people system.
You don't need expensive technology to care for your people.
And you don't need to wait until your cooperative becomes big before you start thinking strategically about HR.
You can start where you are, with the people you have, using the resources available to you.
Because ultimately, the strength of a cooperative is not only found in its financial statements, products, or technology.
Its greatest strength is its people—and the lives of the member-owners they serve.
And that, for me, is where HR Thoughts for Cooperatives begins. 💙🧡
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