Wal-Mart Human Resource Audit

Company’s profile

In 1962, Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in Arkansas, USA . The company is operating a multinational chain of stores as well of several warehouses that rapidly spread across the United States. Wal-Marts principal activities are in the global retail industry and his direct competitors are Costco, Target, Kroger and Home depot. This sector of activity currently generates annual revenues of about 4.7 trillion in North America and everyone is fighting for market share

Powered by a visionary low cost strategy, Wal-Mart expanded in 15 countries with 8500 stores and surprisingly, under various names. For example, it operated in the United Kingdom as Asda, Walmex in Mexico and under the name Seiyu in Japan. Wal-Mart’s entry in the Asian and Canadian market is very promising unlike their development in other countries such as Germany. Wal-Mart entered the Canadian market through the acquisition of the Woolco chain 18 years ago and has been thriving from the market ever since Wal-Mart is the largest growing retailer in the United States and is carrying on similar goal to our country with a increasing network of more than 370 stores each store is operating 7 days a week. Not only is Wal-Mart enables households to “save money, live better” but the multinational company is also largely contributing to our economy by employing nearly 90 ‘000 Canadian ratepayers.

According to the Forbes Global, Wal-Mart takes the 18th place of the worlds largest business and is also the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million employees. On the other hand, the company is also rank with the most turnovers. This Audit will serve to enlighten you to on how the organization’s is managing human resource and the strengths and weaknesses of their practices.

Strengths

First, when a company employs that many individuals, it is imperative to put human resources at the center of all decisions. Wal-Mart has long realized the importance of a happy workforce and treat employees as an integrated part of the business For example, to cultivate a sense of unity and belonging, they refer to employee as “associates”, a name that eliminates all pejorative associations. The multinational has also put in place programs that provide career opportunities and benefits for all job levels. For example, Wal-Mart is giving managers and employees credit for online sales that comes from their territories . Moreover, The Company has a priority status to employee policy, which favors internal recruitment before any other methods. With 15 000 to 50 00 full-time job opening annually, there is plenty of opportunities to climb the corporation’s ladder .

Secondly, Wal-Mart has done a great job in establishing a company culture and replicating it in all of their locations around the world. They Insist that workforce adhere to 4 principles: service to their customers, respect for the individual, striving for excellence and acting with integrity . According to Jones & Salks (Organizational behavior 2014) Wal-Mart’s techniques follows the concept of “strong culture”, describing an “organizational culture with intense and pervasive beliefs, values and assumptions”. These shared norms heavily impart the attitude and behavior or the workforce. Wal-Mart uses symbols, stories and ritual to help the socialization of new employee and increase employee’s motivation. For example, managers and associates have regular meetings that end with the well-known Wal-Mart chant that boosts everyone’s energy.

Additionally, Wal-Mart’s human resource practice aligns perfectly with the company’s mission statement of working as a team to save people money and help them live better. The company provides a clear guideline on the manner to work together as a team, to serve their clients. As stated earlier, Wal-Mart’s community believe that customers are the reason they exist, therefor they should give them the best service possible. Hence, worldwide, managers can be seen working directly on the store floors, and working along with other associates as it is of the company’s belief that leaders are better develop serving the employees then behind a desk. Richard Karlgaard (Forbes, 2009) describes this leadership style as “Humble servitude” . Wal-Mart’s managers lead by examples as their focus on customers as well as motivating others to do the same.

Finally, Wal-Mart is also very good in problem and conflict resolution. They realize the importance of communication and have established an open door policy to encourage associates to share ideas, suggestions on share any concerns they might have (Statement of ethics, p.9). Leaders treat all discussions fairly and with the least bias possible. This policy helps Wal-Mart fix their conflicts or problems, so they can return quickly to their main purpose: serving customers.

In brief, all of Wal-Mart’s human resource strengths have for purpose employee’s satisfaction that will lead to higher productivity and lower turnover rates. It is truly a competitive advantage when a company can create a stable and supportive environment where employee are motivated to develop their full potential and feel there are plenty of career opportunity for them in the future.

Weaknesses

On the other hand, Wal-Mart’s human resource department is also facing some challenges and is looking to improve their current policies and procedure to make their employees happier. In fact, their average employee satisfaction level is rating 2.9 on a five-point scale; witch is way behind other rivals including Target and Costco that are at 3.2 and 3.6 respectively.

First of all, most jobs in discount department stores require few skills. The majority of workers are employed in checkout areas, warehouses, and distribution centers. Turnover is high and companies rely on part-time workers. Companies like Wal-Mart depend on highly efficient operations to maintain their low costs strategy. Due to the large volume of goods, small inefficiencies in the supply chain can significantly impact profitability. By focusing all their effort on low cost efficiency, Wal-Mart’s does not take care of his employees like they should and that’s why they have the highest turnover rate in the industry while the retailing industry employee turnover exceeds 50 percent annually, higher than the average for all industries***REF. Wal-Mart are also the globe

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