Co-op transformation & retail support director Matthew Speight

Matthew Speight, the Co-op transformation & retail support director

More than 10,000 Co-op food store staff signed up to a new mobile website designed to help them manage their working hours better in the first two days after launch this week.

The Co-op introduced the new technology, known as Shifts on Sunday, after what it hailed a ‘successful’ trial involving a few hundred staff. The tool allows all store employees to view which days they are working, how many hours they are scheduled to work, holidays and break entitlement via their mobile phone - wherever they are.

The retailer said Shifts came about as a result of feedback from staff, and forms part of a series of projects designed to empower workers and simplify processes through developing more efficient and agile ways of working.

It follows the rollout of “How do I?”, a single source of information to help store-based staff get answers to questions digitally and find out how to do things in store.

Co-op transformation & retail support director Matthew Speight explained: “It is a challenging retail environment, and Co-op is responding positively and moving forward with real momentum. We need to be competitive and innovative, and this means being more efficient and agile in how we work. But more importantly, we’re listening to feedback and making things simpler for colleagues.

“We’ve already achieved a lot in the last year, but this isn’t a one-year journey - it’s a re-wiring of convenience. Everything we’re trying and testing is built for colleagues by colleagues, who’ve been involved from the start.”