Walmart. People-led, Tech-powered

The Next Practices Weekly call series has become a well-attended and wide-ranging discussion for HR leaders each Thursday at 11am ET / 8am PT. On this week's call, i4cp's CEO and Co-founder Kevin Oakes, and i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone, facilitated a conversation with special guest Maren Waggoner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, People, End-to-End Operations, Walmart U.S. at Walmart. Here are some highlights from the call:

• These days, Walmart describes itself as "a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer dedicated to helping people save money and live better." Waggoner noted that it is very intentional that People comes first in that sentence.
• Their goal is to create good jobs that turn into great careers and a better life for their associates.
  • Good jobs = attractive pay, with good schedules, managers and benefits
  • Great careers = having a culture of promoting from within (75% of managers started as hourly, including their CEO) and they're supplementing that with investments in training (Walmart Academies), education (Live Better U) and career pathways that connect frontline associates to in-demand roles
  • Better lives = commitment to improving the well-being of associates by helping them improve their earnings potential and financial literacy, providing them with mental health and counseling support, and giving them access to top-notch health care and benefits.
• Oakes asked how Walmart is supporting their associates in the face of high inflation, and Waggoner noted that their average hourly wage for front-line associates in the U.S. is now more than $17.50. They have also increased from 10 to 20 the number of free counseling sessions to help on mental health. And they have provided digital financial literacy tools to frontline associates, including checking credit scores.
• Waggoner shared that five years ago Walmart launched its education program, Live Better U (LBU). Since then they’ve saved associates nearly a half billion dollars in tuition costs, with more than 100,000 associates participating since 2018. Through Live Better U, Walmart pays for 100% of associates tuition and books for more than 70 college degrees and certifications. Recently they announced a partnership with the University of Arkansas – the latest of 26 universities.
• LBU has had a positive effect on the business, with LBU participants being twice as likely to be promoted as non-participants, and associates who participate in LBU leaving the company at a rate 4X lower than non-participants.

• We asked the following participant poll question: "Of these six areas of holistic well-being, which is your organization focusing on the most in 2023? Select up to three only."
  • 18% Physical health
  • 73% Mental/emotional health
  • 26% Financial – managing personal finances, savings, mortgages, etc.
  • 32% Community – connectedness to communities where people live/work, volunteer involvement, philanthropy, etc.
  • 68% Career – happiness with job, advancement opportunities, development, etc.
  • 22% Social/relational – connectedness to others at and apart from work: family, friends, colleagues, etc.

• At Walmart, their focus on holistic well-being as centered primarily on the mental, physical, and financial dimensions. 
  • Mental: In addition to the expansion of free counseling sessions for all associates mentioned above, this spring they introduced Workplace Mental Health training to teach managers how to help someone who may be struggling. More than 10,000 managers took it in the first month.
  • Physical: They have expanded parental leave, with new mothers, for example, now getting up to 22 weeks of paid leave to spend that critical time with their newborns. They've also invested in new fertility and adoptions benefits to help families grow.
  • Financial: They've really focused on financial literacy and ensuring associates understand how to manage their money and take advantage of the full suite of benefits they offer. For instance, this spring they took steps to make it easier for associates to see their financial information, access short-term help, and get education to plan for their future. They did this by adding new features to the Me@Walmart app, which is used by more than 1 million associates. With this technology, associates can seamlessly manage their monthly budget and can also get paid early or set aside a rainy-day fund. Associates can also access their Equifax Credit Score and can find out how the score is calculated and how to manage it and even set goals for their credit, including easy, medium and hard goals to improve their credit that are personalized to them and their spending. Associates can also enroll in the Walmart 401(k) plan to prepare for retirement, quickly update their contribution rate, review their options to get the most out of their money, and can be an owner and share in the success they help create by taking part in our Associate Stock Purchase plan.
• As noted earlier, part of Walmart's self-description is being "tech powered." Waggoner shared many ways this plays out in supporting their people experience, such as fashioning Me@Walmart as a one-stop shop for associates, putting everything they need right in the palm of their hand.  With it they can view their schedules, check on PTO and request schedule changes, clock in from their phones, and use a voice-activated personal assistant feature that helps them quickly locate merchandise and get answers to customer questions. Team Leads – their hourly supervisors –  can see who is on the shift, their birthdays, anniversaries, etc., which helps to create a culture of recognition and belonging.
• Another feature in Me@Walmart speeds up the time it takes to stocking associates to get items from the backroom to the salesfloor. Instead of scanning each device individually, associates hold up their phone and, using augmented reality, highlight boxes that are ready to go. It takes one-third of the time as the manual process.
• Waggoner shared that engagement and turnover are key measures for Walmart. They routinely survey frontline associates about their job satisfaction – everything from their leadership to the tools they have.
• Regarding culture, Waggoner noted that Walmart's culture dates back to when Sam Walton founded the company in 1962. He founded the company on 4 values that have stood the test of time.
  • Respect for the Individual
  • Strive for Excellence
  • Service to the Customer
  • Act with Integrity
• Those four values get embedded in all aspects of work at Walmart – starting on day one with orientation for new hires. First-time managers go through a program called Core Team Lead training, which gives them a feel for the culture of the company and equips them to lead people.
• Oakes asked Waggoner about what has been introduced or furthered in the past year to continue to maintain the Walmart culture? She described their Manager Academy, which involves new store and supply chain managers coming to Bentonville to learn about Walmart's history and culture – with everything grounded in their mission to help people save money so they can live better. As part of the program they meet with executive leaders, connect with fellow leaders, tour the new facilities, and see some of the innovative things the company is working on. The plan is to bring in all market managers and supply chain leaders this year.
• Given Walmart's vast size, it is a challenge to gather input and truly listen to all associates. Waggoner noted that Sam Walton said ‘our best ideas come from our people’ and that’s the approach they’ve taken for more than 60 years. The goal is to build a holistic listening environment that combines internal, external, and implicit feedback. In-person will always be key – company leaders, herself included, frequently travel to stores and facilities to hear directly from associates.
• But with 1.6 million associates, technology is also critical, as allows them to expand their reach and understanding of employees, easily survey associates with Me@Walmart, gain insights based on how they use the app and their devices. When it comes to soliciting their ideas, this year they launched a self-service, digital platform called MyIdeas, in Me@Walmart. They also aggregate data from external sources to see what associates are suggesting about a given topic, and then use NLP – natural language processing – to synthesize open text and distill it to actionable insights. Some recent, tangible changes that came from such listening strategies have included new vests for store associates that addressed issues with the previous ones, a Mark Me Safe feature in times of emergency reachable for all associates including stores and supply chain, and a change in training by moving from virtual delivery of certain Walmart U.S. store training modules—including Fresh, Auto Care Center, and Front End—to in-person delivery to improve effectiveness and experience.
• Walmart needs to stay current on trends and innovations, such as generative AI. Waggoner noted that they believe that the makeup of their workforce will evolve with technology – they’ll have a different combination of roles, but will ultimately have a larger business overall and the same or more associates in the company. Their early work with generative AI has set the foundation for removing friction and time in several ways:
  • Content creation – to help with first drafts of communications or social posts, for example
  • Search – to find people-related answers easily
  • Self-service – allow people to request to raise their 401(k) to 6% or update my individual development plan with this information.

Links to resources shared on the call:

• Upcoming i4cp virtual events
• i4cp's Next Practices Now conference
• Information on i4cp Membership
• i4cp’s AI & HR Survey (open through early July)
• i4cp’s Next Practices in Holistic Well-Being (report)
• i4cp’s Employee Listening Strategy White Paper (non-members)
• i4cp’s Employee Listening Strategy White Paper (members)
• The Future of Work: Using GenAI to Empower People, by Donna Morris, Chief People Officer, Walmart