After participating in the World Cooperative Management, a delegation from the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Educadores de Honduras (Coacehl) spent three days visiting experiences under the auspices of Sicredi.
Thanks to Proposal for training internships from Cooperatives of the Americas For its members, a Coacehl delegation has participated in World Cooperative Management, an activity that, through the voice of representatives of the cooperative movement and beyond, shares experiences that contribute to the management of cooperatives.
Afterwards, the delegation took a tour of the experiences of the different cooperatives that are part of the Sicredi system.
Among other spaces, the visitors have learned about the Cooperativism Route in Nova Petrópolis, the national capital of cooperativism in the South American country, the experience of Sicredi Pionera and Serrana. They also went to Porto Alegre and were able to exchange ideas with directors of the Sicredi Administrative Center, the center in charge of support management for all cooperatives under the Sicredi system, the main cooperative financial entity in Brazil and chosen as “the best place to work in Brazil” (Great Place To Work® (GPTW) 2024).
Among other topics, they addressed the management of organizational culture focused on the prosperity of the associate instead of the merely quantitative goals of the business, which requires investment in the work team and in tools that allow getting to know the associate.
They also found that the cooperative identity must be worked on internally within the organization (employees) and through training programs for members and managers. To this end, Sicredi has structured programs called “Grow” (for members) and “Belong” (for candidates for management positions).
Another topic of great interest was artificial intelligence and its implementation in cooperative organizations. From their perspectives, cooperativism can also make use of it to improve the capacity to serve members and make work more efficient, allowing employees to have time to do more strategic work and not stay stuck in operational work. Through it, at Sicredi, they are seeking to “give time back to people,” according to Alceu Meinen, Superintendent of Relations and AI.
Romeo Balzan, Superintendent of Cooperativism and Sustainability, added: “Being different is difficult, but it is what society needs. That is why for Sicredi, financial and non-financial solutions are not the end, they are the means to achieve our purpose of prosperity for members and society.”
The Coacehl delegation thanked Sicredi for the welcome and guidance during their stay in Brazil, especially thanking them for opening the doors to knowledge and leaving the invitation to receive a Brazilian delegation in Honduras.
This internship is carried out with the support of SICREDI and OCB.
