Communication creates belonging at Red River Co-op

For Murray Dehn, vice-president of human resources at Winnipeg-based Red River Co-op, keeping the team members of the cooperative working well together comes down to one thing: communication.

“We have a really good, open communication model,” he says. “It’s just the way we do things. The senior leadership team is really in tune with what’s going on in the front lines, and we try to react as quickly as we can when there are issues that we need to address.”

The co-op consists of food stores and gas bars across the Winnipeg area and spread out as far as Gimli and Selkirk, and it has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade – from 35 team members to some 900 on the payroll and 900 more through the co-op’s gas bar operators.

“With that kind of growth comes challenges, but I feel we’re able to navigate the communication side of things really well,” Dehn says. “We’re doing newsletters, and we have huddle meetings every day in many locations. Those are good ways to get our messaging out, and if there’s something a staff member wants to bring up, we’ll include it.”

They also celebrate wins and sales achievements at those huddles, as well as birthdays and milestones. “It’s a friendly atmosphere,” says Dehn. “Staff feel comfortable. They find good friends in our co-op, and I think it helps that people find a place of belonging.”

Deb Choate, who’s been a cashier and supervisor at Red River’s Lagimodiere gas bar since it opened two years ago, agrees.

“What I really like about working here is the camaraderie,” she says. “There’s a good team effort, and people really like each other. There are different age brackets, backgrounds and orientations – it’s a fun mix of people to work with.”

Choate also appreciates the co-op’s generous benefits program and opportunities for advancement and training. “If you’re interested in moving into a management position, you can get trained in your store,” she says. “And if they’re posting a job, they’ll always look in-house first to see if anybody’s interested. The opportunities are there.”

When it comes to professional development, the organization uses a combination of internal and external programs.

“We’re really proud of the Elevate management training course we developed in-house,” says Dehn. “It’s a six-month program designed for front-line staff who want to become managers, and the training is done with our own leaders. That way they learn how to manage a department the co-op way, because it’s more focused on caring for staff.”

Red River is also developing a robust diversity and inclusion program. “We have a committee in place to provide guidance on the topics that staff should focus on learning,” says Dehn. “We design poster campaigns to inform employees about Indigenous reconciliation, Pride Day and women’s history month when we celebrated the lives of some Manitoba women, which was a nice way to tie it in locally.”

Both Dehn and Choate emphasize the importance of Red River’s connection to the communities it operates in. “We’re involved in all kinds of different festivals and celebrations, which is nice,” Choate says. “I think a lot of people are looking for that local, community-level experience right now.”

One important, and popular, community initiative is Red River’s volunteer program.

“We invest back into the community, and one way we do that is by paying staff members for up to eight hours of volunteering yearly,” says Dehn. “Our staff really appreciate that, and so does the community.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing the winners of this year's Manitoba Top Employers competition, published March 19, 2024 in the Winnipeg Free Press. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, who did not write or review the content.