Why coop's discount chain focuses on leaders' mental health

The Coop-owned chain, 365discount, has chosen to focus on mental health in the education of its leaders – both for business and human reasons. This represents a modern approach to employee care that CfL helps bring to life.

By Nikolai Steensgaard, Business Journalist, April 2024

When employees step up the career ladder, they embark on a journey full of exciting challenges and opportunities for development—but they also come under mental pressure. The consequences of this must not be underestimated.

Not every employee can handle that pressure. Especially when work tasks are mixed with personal life challenges and compounded by the plethora of digital distractions we all face today. That is why an employer’s employee care today should include training in mental health for everyday work.

This is the view of Jesper Bay, who is responsible for Talent Pipeline and training in the 365discount chain. Over the past year, he has helped develop and implement programs within the Coop-owned discount brand that specifically train aspiring leaders in mental health – and for good reason.

“We want to help our young leaders with the huge challenge of stepping into a leadership role for the first time – and also at subsequent levels. We have seen that some do not feel comfortable in the role. They give up. Sometimes it is because they do not take care of themselves and their mental health,” he says, adding:

“In fact, I think our CfL instructor put it clearly: You have to feel good in order to do good. That’s simply true. It is a prerequisite for succeeding in your ambitions as a leader that you yourself are well.”

A concept with four dimensions

The CfL instructor was Senior Leadership Consultant Mette Groes Lønsted, who developed an entire program on mental health aimed at leaders.

The kickoff for the program’s rollout in the discount chain was a training day in January with about 25 participants from 365discount’s training program for aspiring store managers.

This is the level above the basic leadership training in the chain, and the plan is that in the future, leaders at several levels will receive training in mental health.

During the training day, there were two overarching focus areas. One was the individual’s personal mental health, and the other was the mental health of their employees. In addition, the training addressed the connection between these two levels – and how the individual’s well-being is a prerequisite for the well-being of their team.

According to Jesper Bay, the day was structured so that four dimensions were covered. These were:

• An overview of general mental health in the labor market – including relevant statistics.
• The theory behind what pressures the modern individual and where to look for solutions.
• Examples of common problems and concrete tools that the individual can use.
• Anchoring in the participants’ reality with take-home assignments to practice the methods.

Jesper Bay believes that much of the value for the participants was that the content was down-to-earth and concrete.

“It was a very logical and useful way to approach the subject for the participants. It was especially valuable that the challenges were made concrete through examples. They were unfolded – not least by Mette herself, who was excellent at sharing examples from her own world – including a previous job in the healthcare sector,” he says.

Hits the mark with the younger generation

After the training day, 365discount’s training manager, Jesper Bay, received very positive feedback from the participants. They were enthusiastic—not least because the day was more than just a reading of topics on a PowerPoint. Instead, the day was debate-inducing and inclusive.

“I have received a lot of positive feedback, especially regarding how the academic and statistical information was made relevant and useful. The participants thought it was fantastic. It wasn’t just a lecture – they received a toolbox. They really bought into Mette’s engaging way of teaching,” he says.

Jesper Bay assesses that the enthusiasm and engagement stem from focusing on mental health—a subject that the new generations can relate to. They simply feel the challenge in their everyday lives.

“There’s nothing new in feeling pressured by the combination of work pace, responsibility, personal ambitions – and one’s private life. But I also believe we must not underestimate the effect of digitalization,” he says, continuing:

“When young people are told to leave their phones in their pockets during a three-minute break, they can actually see the sense in it – and they appreciate being reminded. The brain gets a break. You can work on your breathing and find calm. That has value. The young know this well too.”

To be introduced at every level of leadership

Overall, 365discount is a large business with 366 stores and nearly 9,500 employees. In addition, it navigates an extremely competitive Danish discount market which has seen increased consumer interest following recent inflation-driven price pressures.

At the same time, there is fierce competition for young labor. All of this makes recruitment and retention of individual employees increasingly important over time.

This has, of course, been a factor in the decision to henceforth include mental health training at all levels—from sales assistant, to sous-chef, to store manager, and to sales manager aspirants – with assistance from CfL.

The idea behind it all starts elsewhere. It is not insignificant, emphasizes Jesper Bay.

“Our HR manager and I designed and launched the concept just over a year ago. We naturally want to attract young people and keep them for many years. But the starting point was actually a desire that all our employees succeed in their daily work while also being mentally well. That is what we want to help them with. Because there is simply a lot of pressure in everyday life,” he says and adds:

“We are not the only ones who see the pattern and the need. In fact, one of our major competitors, Salling Group, announced about a month ago that they too would focus on mental health. I can only applaud that. We’ve been doing it for a year. It’s wonderful to see that it is now spreading.