Inspire through participation

Cooperatives can deliver what Gen Z is looking for – provided they have a fresh image. Combined with sustainable action and social commitment, the business model is a “perfect match” for generations growing up in a digital society.

By Andrea Karner

The baby boomers, born in the 1950s and 1960s, are retiring. They are leaving large gaps in the labour market and when it comes to social commitment, such as through participation in associations and cooperatives. Now, Millennials, also known as Gen Y, who were born between 1980 and 1995, are moving up. They are referred to as digital natives and have a different value system compared to previous generations. According to a study by the Swiss Idée Coopérative, they are considered highly educated, cosmopolitan, place great value on self-realisation, are willing to perform and are real team players. They already make up a third of the working population.

Almost one in ten employees now belongs to Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2010. Also known as the “Instagram generation”, they are seen as fickle and not willing to commit, when it comes to actions and relationships. Their values, life plans and priorities will shape future developments. They are looking for professional self-realisation and a sense of purpose; they have to be convinced.

Do cooperatives need a fresh image for Gen Y and Z in order to win them over as members, clients, staff and founders? This was the central question at the IGA’s conference in Innsbruck in November, to which IGA Chairman Arnulf Perkounigg welcomed many participants from the DACH region and South Tyrol.

“Gen Z is strongly shaped by societal challenges, such as climate change and social justice, while navigating a digital world,” says Sophie Leuenberger, Deputy Managing Director at Idée Coopérative, the Swiss association of cooperatives. Generation Instagram not only expects companies to focus on maximising profits, but also to make a contribution to solving societal problems. Referring to the “Generation Y & Z im Fokus von Genossenschaften” study (Gen Y & Z in focus for cooperatives), which was conducted by the association between 2017 and 2021, she sees “great potential for cooperatives that prioritise long-term values, such as solidarity and sustainable business operations”. Values like staff participation and working towards the common good are exactly what Gen Z is looking for. Their member structure, democratic decision processes, locally anchored structures and examples for the tangible effects of their work make the case for cooperatives. However, first they need to “position themselves with a future and value-oriented focus”.

With a fresh image and dynamic participation, the Kirchweihtal Raiffeisen bank in Upper Bavaria was able to win over young people as members of staff. According to Günter Dreher, the bank’s Chairman, employees discuss leadership styles and give feedback by means of an annual 360 degree feedback process; they anonymously answer event-based surveys regarding currently pressing issues and also generally feed back on a weekly basis. Through staff participation in shares as part of their income, specific social and ecological projects in the region as well as professional on-boarding, employees successfully identify with the targets set by the bank, which was rated as a family-friendly employer by the Bertelsmann foundation. A participative leadership style, professionalism and fun at work is what spurs on young employees, and this does have an impact: “We have established an agile team for organisational improvements. They work on issues in a self-guided way and implement the results in coordination with the departments,” says Dreher. The team is self-reliant and only needs the Boards approval to act on the issues being discussed. This has also significantly improved leadership perception in surveys.

Members of “HausWirtschaft”, a cooperative setting the tone in the “Nordbahnviertel” urban development district in Vienna, also take pleasure in jointly creating a new and sustainable working and living environment through participation. The new seven-storey building with 48 residential units offers extensive office and working areas, co-working spaces, workshops for crafts and creative professions as well as communal areas that can be flexibly used by all residents. The idea developed in 2016 among a circle of the founders’ friends, which resulted in a cooperative being founded in 2019, evolving around the sociocracy’s cybernetic system, in order to keep hierarchies flat and decisions consensual. The system of circular management instruments benefits a group of people, who get together on a regular basis trying to achieve certain goals together.  “Everyone who uses working spaces at HausWirtschaft is a member of the cooperative,” says Angela Kohl, Board member at HausWirtschaft, currently employing three people. “It would be impossible without the members’ voluntary help,” says the Managing Director, relying on various skills and abilities available in the cooperative: “We have lawyers, tax advisers, web designers, graphic designers, IT experts, yoga instructors and many more”.

During the subsequent panel discussion with the speakers, which was presented by Manuel Hanselmann from the Austrian Raiffeisen Association, Theresia Theurl, Director of the Institut für Genossenschaften (Cooperatives Institute) at the University of Münster re-iterated the importance of communication in cooperatives: “Cooperatives are well-known, but not in their entirety as an overall model. Cooperatives are a brand built on values”. Her recommendation: “Trust in the traditional characteristics of cooperatives and fill them with modern ideas”.