Staffing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Case Analysis:

Staffing Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Submitted by:

Norman Miller

Submitted to:

Professor Kristina Collins Smart

MGT 522: MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Summer Term I – 2013 MBA

05/26/2013

The Wal-Mart company has been a main stay on the Forbes best companies to work for in the United States. The company is one of the largest employers as well as one of the largest retail stores. The store has had steady growth since its meager beginnings. Presently Wal-Mart has 41 regions in the United States. Each region has five or six districts with an average of 10-15 stores in each district.

The company’s culture was based on the principals of founder Sam Walton. Wal-Mart has a focus of customer service, and low prices. The other notable fact is that Wal-Mart used technology to train its employees and make sure that each employee understood the mission of the company. It supported this effort with continuous training of its managers and personnel.

Wal-Mart’s old school values caused a unique ripple effect across the company. Its policy of requiring managers to agree to a mobility clause left a big gap in male vs. female manager ratio. Wal-Mart had established a goal of having fifty percent of its work force consisting of women. In 2003 it discovered this goal was failing at an alarming rate. It found that women on average earned less than men. The findings also brought out that it took women longer to be promoted. Men who had been with the company with lesser time where promoted quicker at higher salary. It was stated that men earned more money because they had families to support.

Wal-Mart’s own value system which was formed in the 1960’s was timeless but not prudent for creating a diverse work force in the present day. The workforce which was male dominated in that era had drastically changed by 2003. These factors contributed to the growing gap of male vs. female management. What are not noted in this article are what steps Wal-Mart took to correct the issues that were occurring. How does the culture for the present management get changed to allow the new dynamic to take effect?

If management is majority male and most had been promoted in the current system, how does corporate management get the rank and file to buy into a new culture? Essentially Wal-Mart has to create a new culture that embraces not only women but diversity amongst its management ranks. Changing their training direction and giving incentive to make positive improvement is the first step for Wal-Mart to make a change. Since Wal-Mart has some many layers of management it should start from the top. It wouldn’t hurt to start with hiring a diversity executive that would report directly to senior management. The position would be occupied by a woman who could send a powerful message to the company. It would also show the company’s commitment to its original goal of bringing its workforce

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