Central Co-op has launched a flexible working trial for 7,700 employees across its support centre and food and funeral operations teams.
Named WorkFlex, the trial will see the introduction of a four-day week and nine-day fortnight model on a compressed hour basis. It began this month and will run until the end of the year, and includes staff across all levels of roles.
The pilot builds on Central Co-op‘s hybrid-working scheme, which was introduced in December 2022. Aligned to its co-operative value of self-responsibility, it includes guidelines to help staff prioritise their health and wellbeing and make their working patterns work for them.
The pilot is part of the organisation’s investment in its wellbeing offering and was created in response to feedback from employee engagement surveys. It hopes to adopt WorkFlex for all of its workforce in the near future.
Jen Roberts, senior reward and wellbeing manager at Central Co-op, said: “WorkFlex is an exciting trial for us. In recent surveys, our colleagues expressed an interest in flexible working and we’re so pleased to be able to pilot this approach. We’ve learnt from our industry colleagues along the way and have opted to trial this across all of our business areas at the same time, from store teams, to funeral directors through to our executive team. Early results are positive, with colleagues sharing they’ve felt more productive and have benefitted personally from the additional free time.”
This year has seen Central Co-op invest heavily in its wellbeing strategy with the introduction of wellbeing champions, the provision of a free virtual GP service for employees and their families, access to free counselling, mental health training for leaders and a free annual health check for all of its workforce.