FCCS News & Insights

Listening at Scale: The 2026 Cooperative Employee Engagement Initiative

Employee engagement is no longer a secondary metric. In today’s cooperative environment, it is a leading indicator of workforce stability, leadership effectiveness, and organizational risk.

That is why FCCS is launching the 2026 Cooperative Employee Engagement Initiative, in partnership with NCFC and NCBA CLUSA.

Together, we are creating a cooperative-specific research effort designed to provide reliable, comparative human capital data grounded in the realities of cooperative workplaces. Rather than a one-off or isolated survey, this initiative builds a shared foundation cooperatives can use to inform strategy, leadership development, and long-term planning. All cooperative organizations have been invited to participate.

The initiative is designed to:

• Build cooperative-specific human capital data for comparison and research
• Identify agriculture and cooperative-specific challenges and pain points
• Publish meaningful insights cooperatives can use in strategic planning
• Support organizations in translating results into practical action

The Cooperative Employee Engagement Survey focuses on the issues leaders are actively navigating today, including communication, culture, leadership confidence, job alignment, growth and development, recognition, teamwork, service quality, safety, and employee Net Promoter Score. It also captures insights related to remote, hybrid, and in-office work, as well as generational dynamics.

FCCS will publish a consolidated report highlighting key findings across participating cooperatives. Participation is free, and all participating organizations will have access to the published research.

In an environment defined by tight labor markets and increasing complexity, listening to employees is not about sentiment alone, it is about understanding risk, alignment, and capacity.

Learn more about the 2026 Cooperative Employee Engagement Initiative by watching the short overview video: