Work Life Realities: The Coop Doctors Are In... 1st Ever, Coop Consultancy Clinic in the Philippines

National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO Network) has established the Consultancy Team in service to its primary members. The purpose is to help these cooperatives address their needs specifically in providing management solutions for credit cooperatives' management. The difference with other consultancy services is that the Consultancy Team of NATCCO Network provides integrated approach to its members.

Handouts all packed

When we say "Integrated Approach", the team looks at the different areas in management - Financial Management, Credit Management, Marketing Management and HR Management. These areas are all significant parts of the management body. If one part is ailing or ill, then the other parts are affected. Thus, we need to look at the root cause of pain. Sometimes it can be found in the bloodstream (credit operation efficiency) or sometimes it's in the physical well-being (human resources) of the cooperative. There are several reasons why cooperative bodies were not being able to meet their goals and as a federation, we hope to provide accessible professional services to its cooperative members. As a result of this passion - Serving Our Members, the Coop Consultancy Clinic comes into fruition.

The first ever Co-Op Consultancy Clinic in the Philippines will be held on October 23 to 24, 2014 at Fernandina 88 Suites Hotel, Cubao, Quezon City. There are 23 primary cooperative members participating on the said event, coming from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The total expected number of participants is seventy (70) coming from the following Co-Ops:

LABO PROGRESSIVE MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE (MPC)
PASSI CITY EMPLOYEES MPC
KANGARA MPC
BUKLURAN MPC
ILOILO CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND EMPLOYEES MPC
RED RIBBON MPC
OLONGAPO MPC
ILOILO EMPLOYEES MPC
BUENAVISTA DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE
BONTOC MPC
BAGONG SILANG 2 MPC
REGION 8 COMELEC EMPLOYEES MPC
MOTHER RITA MPC
NOTRE DAME OF MARBEL UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES DEVELOPMENT COOP
STA. CRUZ MPC - MAASIM
ST. VINCENT FERRER PARISH MPC
ASIAPRO
CALSEDECO
ABRA DIOCESAN TEACHERS AND EMPLOYEES MPC
JOBS 4 ALL MPC
HOLCIM MPC
CORDOVA MPC
LIGAS KOOPERATIBANG BAYAN SA PAGPAPA-UNLAD MPC

This event will serve as venue for cooperatives to discuss their issues and concerns and access professional advice from experts on their savings & credit operations, as mentioned earlier, on credit management, human resource management, marketing management and financial management. This is a return service of the Cooperative Education and Training Fund (CETF) remitted by the cooperatives to NATCCO Network. Training is not always the answer to experienced issues. Some issues can be addressed with improvements in the processes or development of guidelines and policies. Some interventions may be on the development of new products or through employees' competency development.

We need to diagnose further and through consultations on specific issues, consultants would be able to mentor and coach on how to implement recommendations in resolving identified issues & concerns. Although NATCCO consultancy opens their door to cooperatives for consultations, the advantage of participating on this event would provide further learning on ASEAN Integration, Integrated Network, and Information Technology for cooperatives. This will also serve as a venue for learning best practices from the sharing of Success Stories of some large cooperatives - St. Martin of Tours Credit Development Cooperative (SMTCDC) and Tagum Cooperative. Also, there are participating units within NATCCO Network that would serve as pharmacies:
1) IT, 2)Education, Training, Consultancy Group (ETCG), and 3) Central Fund (Treasury & Credit). The speaker for the ASEAN Integration is also an expert from AIM, Mr. Mark Chan. This would be one busy and fruitful day for the participating cooperatives.

The NATCCO Network Consultancy Team is very excited for the upcoming event because they would be able to extend their hands and share their expertise not only to the participants but also to all the members of the participating cooperatives. If we were able to help these cooperatives improve and provide quality services to Co-Op members, then we will be able to help the Filipinos as well. It's our way of giving back to the society and serving our country.