Consensus building at LaSiembra results in hierarchal cohesion
Fair Trade co-operative seeks consensus from board level down
Tuesday May 20, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
The board of directors and management at LaSiembra Co-operative are practicing organizational democracy by building consensus into their decision-making process.

Before any decisions are finalized by the co-operative’s board of directors or co-executive directors, there is an expectation that consensus and common understanding must be established.

Because the Ottawa-based Fair Trade co-operative is employee owned, reaching consensus ensures the decisions made are truly reflective of the company as a whole rather than one authority figure.

At the board level, Barry Ésau says there is a lot of consultation taking place between board members and employee owners to determine where people are at with certain issues.

“I can’t personally recall one vote where there was a dissenting voice. That is not because we all agree on everything, it’s because there has been a lot of work put into finding consensus before we get to that point,” says Ésau, chief marketing designer, employee-owner and member of the board of directors.

He adds the consensus building process isn’t as cumbersome as it sounds and doesn’t prevent important decisions for being made in a timely manner.

“Because of the fiber of the way we operate, we’re relatively nimble in arriving at consensus in most cases because of the way we approach things,” Ésau says.

Caitlin Peeling, sales and fair trade manager, employee-owner and member of the board of directors, says Jeff de Jong and Martin Van Den Borre, the co-operative’s co-executive directors are also practicing organizational democracy by reaching consensus on their decisions.

Because one of the executive directors supervises the sales, marketing and communications teams while the other supervises the finance and operations teams at LaSiembra, Peeling says the management structure allows for very informed and involved senior management in addition to inter-departmental collaboration.

Peeling says the theme of collaboration and consensus building permeates the management and governance models and trickles down into the day-to-day operations.

She says in her experience the way members of the sales team operate and work with one another is different from that of a traditional sales team.

“We don’t work on commission (and) we don’t compete against one another. The whole approach is very holistic,” Peeling says.

Ésau has also shared similar experiences in his job.

“Even though I’m working on a task that’s specific to my role, I feel very comfortable and free to consult with my colleagues, get their input and opinions,” Ésau says.

“It creates a different dynamic in terms of how we relate to each other structurally. There isn’t a sense of people trying to get ahead of somebody else.”

For more information, visit www.lasiembra.com.

Does your organization use consensus building or other democratic practices? To share your story of organizational democracy, phone (800) 294-0051, ext. 25 or e-mail jason(at)axiomnews.ca.