Co-op Managers pose with Melanie Reid, Columinate Human Resources Consultant, after discussing the results of the 2026 staff survey.
by Amy Leo, TPSS Co-op Community Engagement Manager
Early this week, the Co-op’s management team gathered in the Takoma Park Fire Station’s meeting room (because our current office space isn’t large enough to hold us all!) to discuss the results of our recent staff survey. I sat across from Jane Batt, our Wellness Manager with 15 years of tenure at TPSS. She sat next to Kijaa Rashid, Front End Manager with 15 years of tenure. Yodit Gebremeskel, our Finance Manager with 12 years of tenure, sat next to her, and so on. The average tenure at TPSS is 9 years, so it’s unsurprising that “I am interested in working at the co-op for a long time.” received an average score of 4.46 on the staff survey’s 5-point Likert scale.
Every three years, the Co-op conducts a staff survey. The goals of the survey are to assess employee satisfaction, identify the Co-op’s strengths and weaknesses as an employer through the eyes of employees, and to monitor compliance with Board policies on Staff Treatment and Compensation.
For many years, the Co-op has partnered with Columinate, a national consulting cooperative serving mission-driven organizations, to administer the survey, which included a set of questions online and 1-on-1 interviews with 12 Co-op staff members to capture deeper insights and ideas. The overall staff survey participation rate was 98%. Using Columinate’s standard staff survey questions allows TPSS to compare our results against those of 412 other food co-op surveys, as well as previous TPSS surveys.
TPSS is pleased to share that the survey results reflect what staff and shoppers already sense every day in our store: our team is engaged and happy to be here. This is good news in a time when one in every two frontline retail employees is unhappy with their job.
TPSS staff enjoy a catered lunch on May Day.
While it is widely known that co-ops produce much happier workers compared to conventional (stockholder) companies, TPSS’s Engagement Index score (4.17 on a 5-point Likert scale) is also higher than Columinate’s average Engagement Index score for co-ops (3.93). In fact, TPSS scored above the median on 41 of Columinate’s 44 standard staff survey questions, 16 significantly above the median. Only two were below the median. We are proud of these outstanding results and celebrate all of the efforts that contribute to such a positive working environment and culture at TPSS.
TPSS’s strong staff engagement seems to stem from a personal connection with the Co-op’s mission and values. “I see a clear link between my work and TPSS’s Ends statement” received an average score of 4.49, and being appreciated. “I feel valued at work” received an average score of 4.28. Staff commonly used the words “peaceful, cooperative, supportive, mutual respect, and positive” to describe the work environment at TPSS.
In a time when employment-related burnout is so widespread its practically normal, the Co-op seeks to create more opportunities for people to be happy at work through opening a second store. The staff survey was well-timed to help the store’s leadership team identify growth areas to focus on in preparation for opening the second store. But most importantly, it was a chance to celebrate what we have built and discuss how to maintain and transfer such high staff satisfaction into a two-store model.
As the staff survey review meeting closed, Jane Batt remarked “if 40 people from 20 countries can do this, the whole world can do this.” While that kind of scale may be out of reach for TPSS, we do have an opportunity to create mission-driven, meaningful work for at least 40 more people. If you’d like to invest in doubling TPSS’s impact in our region, please consider investing in our second store project.