Walmart’s

A Walmart store in Quebec, Canada. Walmart’s human resource management has

comprehensive efforts for human resource planning and job analysis and design. (Photo:
Public Domain)
Walmart’s human resource management is a critical success factor for the business. The
company’s retail service offers goods in a way that is convenient and efficient for shoppers.
In this service context, Walmart’s human resources directly determine business output. The
company’s human resource management aims to maximize employee performance to
correspondingly maximize capacity for sales. Human resource planning and job analysis and
design are some of the major components of Walmart’s human resource management
strategy. Through human resource planning, the firm develops an adequate workforce.
Through effective job analysis and design, Walmart ensures that job descriptions and
specifications relate with the HR needs of the organization. These components of human
resource management influence how Walmart maintains its more than 2 million employees to
provide adequate service to an expanding population of target consumers.
 Walmart’s Human Resource Planning:

1. Forecasting. Walmart’s human resource management forecasts its workforce needs

to ensure capacity to address changes in consumer demand. While other forecasting
methods and techniques are also used, these three are the most notable at Walmart:

1. Bottom-up approach
2. Trend analysis
3. Delphi method

 The bottom-up approach analyzes human resource needs starting at the lowest level

of the organizational structure. Walmart’s human resource management objective for
this approach is to ensure that all levels of the organization have adequate employees
based on HR needs at the frontline (e.g. hourly sales employees). The company starts
forecasting HR needs of frontline employees. Walmart’s HR managers then proceed
to analyze HR needs at the next higher level of the organizational structure. This
human resource management approach ensures that all human resource needs at the
lowest levels of Walmart’s organizational structure are supported through an adequate
number of employees at the upper levels of the organizational structure.

 Trend analysis is used in human resource management to predict future HR needs

based on current needs. For example, Walmart analyzes the series of recent HR
changes and uses this information to extrapolate future HR needs. A current trend that
shows an increasing demand for human resources indicates a larger workforce
requirement in the future. Walmart’s human resource management uses trend analysis
to determine HR needs along with the company’s global expansion.

 The Delphi method forecasts future HR needs based on expert opinion. Walmart’s

human resource management uses the Delphi method to ensure adequate human
resources in establishing new brands, stores or other facilities. For example, HR
experts can opine about the HR needs in opening a new Walmart store of a certain
size. The company’s human resource management applies the Delphi method to
 estimate the number of employees needed in each type of job, such as supply chain
jobs, inventory jobs, and sales jobs.

2. Surplus & Shortage of Employees. Walmart faces minimal concerns about the
shortage of employees, especially sales personnel. The company receives a
continuous influx of applicants for sales positions. However, Walmart experiences
HR surplus when aggregate consumption declines. Such surplus is a challenge to
human resource management because it translates to lower HR cost-effectiveness.
Walmart uses the following approaches to determine HR needs and prevent surpluses
or shortages:

1. Sales performance analysis

2. Turnover rate analysis
3. Gap analysis

Walmart’s human resource management changes recruitment efforts based on changes in

sales performance, which is an indicator of HR needs. Turnover is the rate at which
Walmart’s human resources leave and/or are replaced. Turnover, together with the rate of
recruitment, is an indicator of changes in the size of the company’s workforce. Walmart’s
human resource management ensures that the recruitment rate is commensurate to the
turnover rate. If the turnover rate is lower than the recruitment rate, Walmart’s workforce
increases in size.

An increase in workforce size usually happens when the company expands or opens new
stores. In addition, Walmart’s human resource management uses gap analysis to determine
the gap between HR needs and actual HR capacity. A significant gap means reduced HR
cost-effectiveness or inadequacy in meeting organizational needs. Walmart uses gap analysis
to decide on changing recruitment efforts. The company has a gap allowance or threshold.
When the HR gap exceeds the threshold, Walmart’s human resource management increases
or decreases recruitment efforts.

3. Balancing Supply and Demand. Walmart balances HR supply and demand by

adjusting the compensation strategy and recruitment efforts. These adjustments are
based on trends in internal human resource demand and the rate of applicant entry.
 Thus, the firm’s human resource management uses the following approaches to
balance HR supply and demand:

1. Changes in recruitment
2. Changes in compensation

Changes in recruitment are Walmart’s main approach to balance HR supply and demand. The
company’s human resource management changes the recruitment rate to address workforce
requirements. Walmart can easily adjust its recruitment efforts without significantly
impacting financial performance. In prioritizing changes in recruitment to balance HR supply
and demand, Walmart’s human resource management minimizes changes in the firm’s
compensation strategy. On the other hand, changes in compensation are also used to prevent
an imbalance in HR supply and demand. Walmart’s compensation strategy is designed to
minimize HR expenditure. This strategy agrees with the company’s cost leadership generic
strategy. When HR supply becomes inadequate, Walmart’s last resort is to increase wages.
Theoretically, higher wages attract more applicants. Walmart’s human resource management
uses this second approach to effectively compete in the labor market.

Walmart’s Human Resource Planning process:

Human resource planning at Walmart is stratified in terms of the programs and solutions
developed and applied. For example, HR planning takes place at the top management level of
the corporate human resources department. However, the company is a large organization.
Each store has its own personnel responsible for HR management. As a result, each store
translates the general human resource plan from the corporate HR department. The stores
have varying interpretations of the corporate human resource plan. Such variations indicate
that actual human resource planning occurs at different levels of Walmart’s organization.

In terms of forecasting, Walmart uses special software to automate the process of analyzing
changes in the workforce. For example, the firm gets its employee or workforce data from its
stores. The data is fed to the central database, and organized and processed to reveal trends in
the company’s human resources and related operational needs. Through this forecasting
system, Walmart forecasts possible future changes in the workforce, such as changes in HR
demand per season or per region. This condition contributes to the company’s flexibility in
the area of human resources.
In relation, in addressing the surplus or shortage of employees, Walmart uses its information
system to determine which areas or aspects of the organization will face increased demand in
human resources and which areas will have a surplus. The company’s HR management
applies corresponding plans that stabilize the workforce. The HR plans specify the number of
employees needed and the recommended schedules for increased recruitment, along with
adjustments in related areas of the retail business. In this way, Walmart ensures adequate
human resource support despite fluctuations in retail market conditions and corresponding
business operations.

In balancing HR supply and HR demand, Walmart’s goal is to ensure adequate access to

qualified workers. The company has a continuous process of hiring and training new
employees. The continuity ensures that vacant positions are immediately filled. The nonstop
recruitment activity helps Walmart access the labor market to maintain an adequate supply of
human resources to match changes in demand for employees at its stores.

Walmart’s Recruitment Strategy

Walmart’s recruitment strategy uses different sources of new hires. Considering the
company’s large organizational size and diverse workforce, the recruitment aspect of the
firm’s human resource management has a decentralized system that uses local information as
basis for recruitment processes. In relation, the actual sources of workers are typically the
localities where the company’s stores operate. Walmart’s methods in its recruitment strategy
include online recruitment, direct recruitment at localities, and recruitment through academic
institutions. These HR management methods in the recruitment strategy ensure a diversity of
applicants. For instance, the online method allows the firm to reach applicants who are not
near Walmart stores. Referrals help the company get qualified applicants based on reliable
referrers.

It is recommended that Walmart improve its recruitment process through new strategies for
global competitiveness of human resources. The company’s workforce is already locally
competitive. This recommendation for international competitiveness should allow the firm to
address changes in the global business environment. Global competitiveness is critical
because Walmart is a multinational business. Emphasis must include diversity and the ability
of employees to deal with diverse populations of customers.
 Selection: Steps in the Selection Process at Walmart

The selection process at Walmart is based on the ability of applicants to handle sales
transactions and human resource management. However, the following process is suited to
the situation of the retail business:

1. Background check. This includes educational background and work experience. This
step determines the applicant’s potential to satisfy the demands of the job. The
applicant must possess the qualities for achieving the expected job outcomes.
2. Knowledge, skills, and abilities evaluation. The applicant’s knowledge, skills and
abilities must allow for fulfilling the job position, based on Walmart’s standards.
3. Person-organization fit evaluation. Employees must match the company’s
organizational environment. For long-term career growth, the applicant’s values must
match those of the company. The objective is to align the workforce and the
organization.
4. Assessment of the applicant’s willingness to work at the company. Among other
considerations, the applicant must be flexible enough to contribute to the firm’s
organizational flexibility.

The selection process steps outlined above are basic to the global retail business. Walmart’s
human resource managers modify these steps to suit specific operational areas. For example,
changes in some criteria are applied, based on the conditions of specific stores in some
locations. A strategic objective is to maintain Walmart’s flexibility by aligning corporate
measures with the management initiatives in individual retail stores.

Walmart’s Employee Retention Strategy

Walmart maximizes employee retention to minimize financial loss linked to turnover. Higher
turnover leads to higher financial loss, considering human resource expenditure for
recruitment, selection and training. Employee retention at Walmart is achieved through a
combination of approaches. The following employee retention strategies are applicable:

1. Recognition based on the employee’s performance

2. Benefits based on the employee’s status or position
3. Incentives based on the employee’s status or position
Performance Management at Walmart

Performance management at Walmart involves a performance appraisal system. This system

provides feedback to employees on their performance levels. The company also gives
feedback to workers on how to improve their performance. In addition, the firm uses human
resource management software that analyzes individual and team performance levels. In this
business analysis case, an applicable recommendation is to use a micro-tailored appraisal
system. Such a system allows variations based on the employee being appraised. The purpose
of these activities is to enable Walmart’s human resource management to fine-tune job
responsibilities, specifications, goals and objectives. The company’s career development plan
is also based on performance plans.

Walmart’s corporate objectives are linked to performance management practices, standards

and measures through sales performance. The firm is mainly concerned about maximizing
sales revenues. Through its performance management activities, the company’s human
resource management ensures support for sales performance through employee productivity,
especially sales personnel productivity. Performance interviews are used at Walmart to
provide more information for appraisals. These interviews are conducted so that the progress
of employees is regularly monitored. The interviews also allow the company to obtain
feedback from employees.

Measurements and standards are used to evaluate if the company’s human resource
performance is satisfactory. For each performance measure, the company has a set of
standards. Different HR standards are used for different areas of the business. The following
performance measures are suitable in Walmart’s case:

1. Effectiveness of processes
2. Efficiency of processes
3. Quality of customer service
4. Timeliness of supply chain activities
5. Productivity of sales personnel

Walmart encounters performance problems, such as low employee morale and tardiness.
These HR problems reduce the firm’s financial performance. Walmart can address low
employee morale through job rotation and flexibility, incentives, and recognition for
employees’ achievements, among other approaches. The company can address tardiness
through motivation strategies and new policies, such as rules imposing a maximum
percentage of tardy days per number of workdays.

Career Development at Walmart

In addressing career development, Walmart’s human resource management uses training

programs regularly conducted to increase knowledge, skills and abilities. Training provides
the opportunity for employees to improve skills specific to the retail business. Also, the
company supports employees in attending seminars and other programs outside the
organization.

Walmart matches individual and organization needs through analysis of the person-
organization fit. The person-organization fit ensures that each employee is aligned to the
needs, demands and expectations of the organization. This fit also ensures that the
organization is satisfactory to the worker. The person-organization fit is important in HR
management because it helps the company minimize expenses on recruitment, selection and
training of workers who do not fit the company. A higher person-organization fit leads to
lower turnover.

Employee potential is assessed at Walmart through a number of ways. The following HR

activities are suitable in this case:

1. Appraisals matched with standards of the organization

2. Feedback from managers, supervisors and colleagues
3. Productivity based on records
4. Individual employment record
5. Personal interview results

Career opportunities and requirements are identified through Walmart’s internal business
processes, job positions and expansion plans. When the company expands, more career
opportunities are created. Also, anybody pursuing a career at the company must satisfy the
firm’s job positions and business processes. On the other hand, career development initiatives
are instituted at Walmart through personnel involved in human resource management at the
store level. For example, managers and supervisors implement the HR initiatives, and adjust
them to suit the unique conditions of the individual store.