#LeadingWithPurpose Spotlight: Claire Costello, Chief People Officer at Co-op

Our #LeadingWithPurpose Spotlight interview series sees organisational leaders explain what leading with purpose means to them and how they strive to make their organisation a force for good in society.

In this episode, read how Claire Costello, Chief People Officer at Co-op, does so.

Claire, What inspires you personally to lead with purpose?

I’m fortunate to work in an organisation that has purpose, activism and bravery throughout its 180 year old DNA, so the inspiration really comes from my colleagues and peers around me who all feel very strongly about us doing the right things and in the right way. I was told within my first week of joining - doing good is good business. 

Can you share a specific example of an initiative or project that made a significant impact?

The biggest initial initiative was to really focus on the data and listen to our colleagues. This enabled us to understand where we see opportunities to remove gaps to inclusion and what we could do to bridge and minimise impacts. It also helped us to understand that this is a complex, multi-layered challenge, where we cannot fix everything in a year.

Why is your organisation committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity?

We, supported by our 6m member owners, feel that everyone should have the opportunity to develop and progress to be the best that they can be in whatever way that means to them.

We recognise that we have amazing, talented individuals within our organisation and that there are people who may wish to join us that can bring a wealth of lived experience with them. If we want to do right be our members, communities, customers and colleagues, we have to understand and be representative of them.

To do that we need to ensure the barriers to opportunity are removed so that everyone can progress to all levels.