Staff

Wholefood Planet,as a Social Firm, employs people with high support needs who may take longer to do tasks. It provides a working environment where staff with and without support needs work as a team in a business that involves manufacturing, packing and retailing. The latter element is very significant as it involves contact with the public and raises awareness of the abilities and aspirations of disabled people. Working with predominantly food products enhances the work experience for all staff, it is a clean and healthy environment.

Co-operative working within the teams at Wholefood Planet is part of the supportive environment, partly by increasing the commitment of all staff to the business. Other benefits of co-operative working are that it facilitates multi-skilling, which encourages disadvantaged people to move out of their comfort zones because they know they can move back again and the gap will be covered, and because they need to grow into the business; encourages participation from everyone, enabling everyone to learn and grow; is useful at all stages of a business, especially the start-up phases when it helps if everyone is prepared to do whatever is required, rather than taking an attitude of “it’s not my job”.

A team of between five and eight people is required in the first year of a fully operational Wholefood Planet. Over time a store can expect to employ three supervisors with a team of fifteen to eighteen, the faster a store can increase the number of staff employed the more turnover they can generate. However, training and ability to support staff needs to be considered when increasing the number of employees.

Staff at Wholefood Planets – in particular the team leader/supervisor role – do need definition and recognition. Experience shows that the more activities that are shared, the better all members of staff seem to work together, this does require good motivational and leadership skills from those managing the staff.

It is recommended that there are not large differentials in warehouse assistants’ and team leaders’ pay within a Wholefood Planet. The business model does not support large salaries, and any increased salary for team leaders should reflect additional responsibility and experience rather than a hierarchy. There is suggested model for structuring the Wholefood Planet, licensees are, however, not obliged to adopt this structure (but their structure will need to be approved by Wholefood Planet Limited).