Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Arta
Alagheband
a.alagheband@mail.utoronto.ca
Vigneshwar
Parameshwar
vigneshwar.parameshwar@mail.utoronto.ca
Sarovar
Patel
sarovar.patel@mail.utoronto.ca
Natalija
Sabljic
natalija.sabljic@mail.utoronto.ca
May23rd,
2014
995029400
1000453136
1001003059
1000934322
Group Assignment 2 | 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Conclusion
References
Group Assignment 2 | 1
Introduction
Human
Resource
Management
(HRM)
practices
are
typically
easiest
to
understand
in
an
office
environment.
It
is
therefore
motivating
to
see
how
HRM
is
applied
to
something
other
than
a
white-
collar
environment.
Walmart,
the
worlds
largest
retailer
with
2.2
million
employees
globally,
is
analyzed
in
detail
in
this
report,
with
a
critical
analysis
of
its
HRM
strategies,
recognizing
the
positives
and
suggesting
potential
ways
of
overcoming
the
current
flaws.
It
is
to
be
noted
that
Walmart
is
a
large
organization
with
many
business
verticals
like
logistics,
procurement,
transport,
retail,
etc.
This
report
focuses
only
on
staffing
in
the
retail
sector.
Sam
Walton,
an
ex-serviceman
in
Bentonville,
Arkansas,
USA,
started
Walmart
in
1962.
With
its
pioneering
concept
of
cross
docking
in
logistics
and
retail
philosophy
of
Everyday
low
pricing,
the
organization
managed
to
attract
a
huge
volume
of
customers
and
grow
rapidly,
from
a
small
retail
business
in
Bentonville,
to
a
global
giant
within
only
a
few
decades.
It
is
evident
that
HRM
practices
have
been
managed
appropriately,
because
according
to
Packards
law,
if
the
HRM
practices
were
not
managed
in
the
right
way,
they
would
never
have
managed
to
get
so
far.
Through
research
on
customer
and
employee
experiences
at
Walmart,
it
has
been
found
that
employees
are
not
always
helpful
to
customers
and
not
all
are
very
proud
of
working
there.
This
report
investigates
various
aspects
of
HRM
affecting
this,
such
as
Staffing
and
Training,
Performance
Evaluation
and
Pay
for
Performance,
High
Commitment
and
Internal
Labour
Markets
(ILM),
Motivational
Tools
and
Practices,
Non-unionization
Practices
and
its
Effects,
and
finally
the
Cultural
and
Social
Norms.
Group Assignment 2 | 2
and
sponsorship
programs
to
help
employees
bring
out
their
full
potential.
Special
training
is
offered
for
managers
in
partnership
with
a
university.
Employees
are
taught
how
to
interact
with
customers
in
their
10
foot
policy,
encouraged
to
seek
help
in
their
open
door
policy
and
contribute
new
ideas
in
their
grass
roots
[3].
However,
while
there
is
a
career
path,
the
progression
among
the
levels
is
unclear.
It
would
help
to
establish
consistent
job
definitions,
training
programs
and
rewards
procedures
in
order
to
ensure
that
employees
are
treated
consistently
in
comparison
with
each
other
and
across
time.
There
should
be
a
demarcation
on
what
benefits
are
available
to
hourly
employees
as
compared
to
full
time
employees.
The
path
to
transition
from
part-time
to
full-time
employees,
as
well
as
from
hourly
to
salaried
employees
should
be
clearly
defined.
A
counsellor
role
could
be
created
to
talk
to
employees,
understand
their
problems
and
to
guide
them
along
their
careers.
This
would
make
the
training
and
career
development
program
more
holistic.
The
pay
scales
at
Walmart
are
substantially
low.
Majority
of
employees
at
Walmart
receive
the
minimum
wages
benchmark
set
by
the
government.
Walmarts
official
compensation
policy
details
a
plan
consisting
of
a
rigid
pay
structure
for
hourly
employees
that
makes
it
difficult
for
most
to
rise
beyond
poverty-level
wages
[5].
Low
level
associates
typically
start
near
minimum
wage,
and
have
potential
to
earn
raises
of
20
to
40
cents/hour
through
grade
level
promotions.
In
addition,
wages
are
capped
at
a
certain
level
by
grade.
Flawless
performance
results
in
60
cent/hour
raise
per
year
Group Assignment 2 | 3
irrespective
of
the
time
the
employee
has
spent
in
the
company.
This
is
clearly
a
flaw
in
the
compensation
system
as
it
ignores
the
longevity
of
an
employee
while
matching
pay
against
performance.
We
recommend
that
while
deciding
the
pay
for
performance
of
an
employee,
past
experience
of
work
should
be
weighted
significantly
high
as
compared
to
what
is
being
done
today.
Also,
given
the
fact
that
minimum
wages
are
being
offered
to
employees
at
Walmart,
a
20
to
40
cent
raise
is
significantly
low.
This
structure
definitely
needs
to
be
revised
if
Walmart
wants
to
retain
its
employees
over
a
longer
period
of
time.
Most
jobs
at
Walmart
do
not
require
dealing
with
a
lot
of
complex
technology.
The
tasks
are
clearly
defined
and
quality
of
work
is
easy
to
measure.
Thus,
it
should
be
easy
for
such
a
company
to
match
pay
against
performance
and
if
exercised
properly,
it
could
be
beneficial
to
the
company.
Group Assignment 2 | 4
Motivation
is
alive
through
all
level
of
positions
at
Walmart,
evident
through
organizational
culture,
financial
benefits
and
training
programs.
The
organizational
culture
at
Walmart
enforces
to
make
use
of
the
term
associates
instead
of
employees,
making
the
employees
feel
more
engaged
with
the
company.
Also,
the
use
of
first
name
instead
of
last
name
for
all
level
of
employees
increases
the
involvement
of
each
employee
and
creates
a
family
oriented
business
instead
of
boss-oriented
one.
These
strategies
touch
employees
hearts
more
deeply
and
are
meant
to
intrinsically
motivate
them.
As
has
been
shown
in
previous
sections,
financial
benefits
of
compensation,
profit
sharing
among
employees
and
health-care
benefits
are
too
low
to
extrinsically
motivate
employees.
Although
Walmart
has
some
good
practices
of
motivating
employees,
it
is
found
that
due
to
lack
of
innovativeness
of
the
job,
employees
often
lack
intrinsic
motivation.
It
has
been
proved
that
intrinsic
motivation
is
stronger
and
lasts
longer
than
extrinsic
motivation.
Scarcity
of
intrinsic
motivation
is
deteriorating
customer
relations
and
customer
experience.
Walmart
should
restructure
the
jobs
such
that
a
single
job
requires
more
skills
to
be
applied
instead
of
one
person
doing
the
same
repetitive
task.
Given
the
fact
that
pay
scales
at
Walmart
are
low,
and
unfair
hiring
and
firing
practices,
it
could
significantly
reduce
the
expectancy
of
valance
for
an
employee
thereby
reducing
motivation.
Walmart
should
reconsider
its
strategy
of
saving
costs
without
affecting
the
motivation
of
employees.
This
could
be
done
by
creating
jobs
with
diverse
skill
sets
and
assigning
them
to
employees
in
such
a
way
that
redundancy
of
jobs
is
reduced.
Group Assignment 2 | 5
Group Assignment 2 | 6
Conclusion
Through
this
report,
some
HRM
practices
in
Walmart
retail
have
been
identified,
analyzed
and
recommendations
for
improvement
introduced.
Research
shows
a
number
of
problems
with
Walmart
HRM
practices,
such
as
unethical
and
discriminatory
practices,
inconsistent
HR
practices,
very
low
pay
scales,
miniscule
promotions
and
unclear
promotion
progression
rules,
unjustified
layoffs
to
save
costs,
drastic
measures
against
unionization,
and
incompatibilities
with
cultural
norms
of
different
societies.
It
also
shows
that
Walmarts
primary
concern
is
financial,
sometimes
at
the
expense
of
ethical
considerations.
Group Assignment 2 | 7
References
[1]
R.
Dudley,
"Customers
Flee
Wal-Mart
Empty
Shelves
for
Target,
Costco,"
26
March
2013.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-26/customers-flee-wal-mart-empty-shelves-for-target-costco.html.
[Accessed
15
May
2014].
[2]
"Working
At
Walmart,"
Walmart,
[Online].
Available:
http://careers.walmart.com/about-us/working-at-walmart/.
[Accessed
15
May
2013].
[3]
M.
Bergdahl,
"How
the
HR
division
at
Wal-Mart
drives
the
company's
success
through
people,"
HR
Magazine,
21
Septepmber
2010.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/analysis/1018448/how-hr-division-wal-mart-
drives-companys-success-people.
[Accessed
14
May
2014].
[4]
"Working
for
Walmart,
Part
Two,"
Chicagoist,
12
March
2010.
[Online].
Available:
http://chicagoist.com/2010/03/12/wal-mart_from_the_inside_-_part_two.php.
[Accessed
18
May
2014].
[5]
"Walmart's
Internal
Compensation
Documents
Reveal
Systematic
Limit
on
Advancement,"
Huffington
Post,
16
December
2012.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/walmarts-internal-compensation-
plan_n_2145086.html.
[Accessed
18
May
2014].
[6]
N.
Lichtenstein,
Wal-Mart:
The
face
of
twenty-first-century
capitalism,
The
New
Press,
2013.
[7]
R.
J.
Adams,
"ORGANIZING
WAL-MART:
THE
CANADIAN
CAMPAIGN,"
Just
Labour,
vol.
6,
no.
7,
pp.
1-11,
2005.
[8]
CBC
News,
"Wal-Mart
to
close
unionized
Quebec
store,"
CBC
News,
9
Feb
2005.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-to-close-unionized-quebec-store-1.554398.
[Accessed
15
May
2014].
[9]
G.
G.
a.
M.
Christian,
"The
Impacts
of
Wal-Mart:
The
Rise
and
Consequances
of
the
World's
Dominant
Retailar,"
Annual
Review
of
Sociology,
vol.
35,
pp.
573-591,
2009.
[10]
S.
P.
Sethi,
"The
World
of
Walmart,"
Carnegie
Council,
08
May
2013.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/ethics_online/0081.
[Accessed
14
May
2014].
[11]
A.
O.
a.
D.
S.
Proto,
"Happiness
and
Productivity,"
2009.
[Online].
Available:
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/35451.
[12]
Guardian,
"http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/05/walmart-workers-strike-us-thursday,"
Guardian,
5
Sept
2013.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/sep/05/walmart-workers-strike-us-
thursday.
[Accessed
15
May
2014].