Wal-Mart Employee Morale at “Rock Bottom”
Articles like this are a prime example of the fact that cheating employees out of overtime pay, scrimping on benefits, and paying rock bottom wages won’t save money: Wal-Mart’s demoralized workforce is costing the company valuable revenue. It’s bad for employees and it’s bad for the company. Instead of focusing on new ads and hip fashion, maybe Wal-Mart would be wiser to sustainably invest in its workforce.
Wal-Mart: A Snap Inspection [BusinessWeek]
At the Wal-Mart store in Uniondale, on New York’s Long Island, when a customer swipes a credit card two questions pop up in the card reader: “Did the cashier greet you?” and “Was the store clean?” It’s all part of an effort by Wal-Mart Stores and Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott to improve customer service at the retailer’s 3,500 locations across the U.S.
Scott may need a new strategy. During a recent visit to the store, one cashier didn’t greet two customers, and, when asked about the survey, she replied with outright scorn. “I don’t care,” she said. “If Wal-Mart doesn’t care for me, why should I care?” She took up the issue of cleanliness unprompted. “There was this horrible smell in the store the last two days from some overnight spill,” she said. “They did nothing about it. It got so bad that on the second day the fire department came by and we all had to wear masks.”
Employee Morale at Rock Bottom
It’s clear that Wal-Mart is struggling these days. The once-vaunted retailer is facing slowing sales and a stagnant stock price (BusinessWeek, 4/30/07) at the same time its reputation has been battered for its workplace practices. But what exactly is going wrong at Wal-Mart? What has gummed up the gears at the previously unstoppable growth machine out of Bentonville, Ark.?To get some answers, BusinessWeek decided to take a detailed look through several of its stores, to see from the inside how the retailer is handling everything from merchandising to morale. Retail consultant Patricia Pao joined us for three store visits to add an expert’s insight to the experience. There were certainly many positive surprises, among them Wal-Mart’s cleanliness, but there were also flaws in store layouts and product presentations.
The most significant finding is what appears to be an enormous problem with customer service. As the experience with the cashier in Uniondale illustrates, many of Wal-Mart’s workers feel outright hostility toward the company, and, by extension, they often treat customers with indifference or worse. That puts Wal-Mart in a box. Without reasonable service, the company is forced to compete almost solely on price. That in turn squeezes margins and makes it difficult to pay employees the better wages and benefits that could boost morale. It’s a vicious cycle that now appears to be working against Wal-Mart. “When you’re trying to change your customer service, it’s very difficult to do that unless you win the hearts and minds of your employees. After all, they are your ambassadors on the front line with customers,” says Pao, founder of a consulting firm, the Pao Principle.
Wal-Mart declined to comment for this story. The company’s top executives have said that bolstering customer service is an important priority. In May, during a conference call with analysts, CEO Scott noted that customer service is being targeted as a key element of Wal-Mart’s three-year strategic plan to improve its business. “The core of that plan, improving our customer service and improving returns, is critical to continued success for our company,” he said.
Wal-Mart’s service has been sliding for many years, according to an annual survey conducted by the University of Michigan. The most recent information from Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index shows Wal-Mart dropped to a score of 72 last year, down from 81 in 1995. It’s behind Kohl’s (KSS), J.C. Penney (JCP), Target (TGT), Dillard’s (DDS), and Sears (SHLD), although it does rank ahead of Macy’s (M) and Kmart. The average score for the retail industry is 74. Wal-Mart’s score puts it on par with the health insurance industry, which has an overall customer satisfaction score of 72, pulled down by the poor performance of UnitedHealthGroup (UNH) and Aetna (AET).
Spiffier Look, Slack Service
The first store we visited was located in Valley Stream, N.Y., about 20 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island. The store is situated on the fringes of the Green Acres Mall, which also houses a Macy’s and a J.C. Penney. The discount store National Wholesale Liquidators sits on one side of the Wal-Mart, and Petland Discounts, a pet supply store, is on the other. A Best Buy (BBY) and a Circuit City (CC) are also in plain view.The average household income in the three-mile radius of the mall is $85,000, and the Wal-Mart store here reflects the retailer’s effort to broaden its appeal to upscale customers. Last year, Wal-Mart started an 18-month remodeling program of 1,800 stores to improve the layout and appearance of the apparel departments, adding faux wood floors, widening the aisles, eliminating clutter, and upgrading the bathrooms. Pao was impressed with the cleanliness and neatness of the location, a recurring positive at the company’s stores. The once-common complaint that customers would find clothes, toys, and other items strewn about was definitely not an issue. “Wal-Mart really put neatness as a No. 1 priority and we can see it,” says Pao.
The Valley Stream store has clearly benefited from the various upgrades. The first thing that strikes Pao is how much the store reminds her of Target. Faux wooden floors in the men’s and women’s areas glow under muted lighting. Stylish signs featuring models guide customers to sales areas for undergarments, sportswear, or the more upscale George and Metro 7 apparel lines. The aisles are much wider than they are in Wal-Mart’s older stores.
The positive aura faded, however, when Pao looked for help. We walked into the electronics area, where Compaq (HPQ) and Acer computers are displayed under glass cases. Pao wanted to see some of the computers from Dell (DELL), the PC maker that just reversed its longstanding strategy and began selling its products through retail stores (BusinessWeek, 5/24/07). No salesperson volunteered to help, so we approached one employee dressed in the company’s uniform of polo shirt and khakis. When Pao asked about the Dells, he said, “We’re sold out of them, and I have no idea when the next shipment is coming in.” Then he turned and walked away, never volunteering to find a computer at another store or suggesting he could find out when the next shipment would arrive.
The Risks of Selling on Price Alone
Pao wondered aloud what had happened to Wal-Mart’s well-respected point-of-sale system, technology that is supposed to automatically order items when they’re close to selling out. The issue may have something to do with working out the kinks in the new Dell relationship, although Wal-Mart declined to discuss the missing computers.Consumer electronics is clearly a big focus for Wal-Mart (BusinessWeek, 4/23/07). In each of the three stores, the electronics departments displayed several 32-inch, flat-panel TVs on the walls. Trying out the products, however, can be problematic. There was typically no way to experiment with a television and no salespeople around to help. It’s a far cry from the experience at Best Buy or Circuit City, where customers can plop down on comfortable sofas in a living room-style setup and play around with the features on huge plasma and LCD TVs. “You have to bet on a hope and a prayer that this is what you want, because there’s not much you can demo here,” says Pao.
In the second store we visit, in Westbury, N.Y., we see a row of fancy Apple (AAPL) iPod display cases. Pictures are shown for two versions of the music player, the shuffle and the nano. But the display cases are empty. No actual iPods are anywhere within view, and no employees are nearby to help. Pao says she worries that this lack of service means that Wal-Mart’s strategy is to sell at the lowest price (BusinessWeek, 11/15/06), rather than compete for higher-end customers who may be willing to pay for a little expertise or hand-holding. “If they don’t differentiate themselves [in electronics], the low margins will come back to bite Wal-Mart as they already have in the rest of the store,” she says.
The Westbury store is located in an area with a median household income of $82,000, but it wasn’t as chic as the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream. Faux wooden floors are used sparingly, seen only in a few sections such as handbags and women’s apparel, and the aisles are relatively narrow. Pao felt like it was a half-hearted attempt at looking nice, since the rest of the store still had the unsightly gray linoleum floors.
The store in Uniondale was the last we visited. The town is about 28 miles east of Manhattan with a median annual income of $68,000. It was the most neglected of the three stores, with minimal upgrades. Rows and rows of clothing hung on T-bars with little attempt to make the products appealing. The displays here reminded Pao of Woolworth’s, the five-and-dime store that went out of business in the 1990s. “Customers need visual cues to focus on—they need the little boutique-like effect that Target creates by focusing on different items in various parts of the store,” says Pao. “The clothes on T-bars as far as the eye can see gives it the feeling of a big mess, even though it’s neat enough.”
Fashion Disaster
When it came to fashion, Pao found Wal-Mart lagging. It’s a subject close to Pao, who in the past has consulted with retailers like Ann Taylor (ANN). Even at the store where the displays were nice, Pao felt that Wal-Mart’s more upscale George and Metro 7 line lacked excitement. She says these so-called affordable trendy lines are mostly upscale basics, only modestly different from the vast swaths of jeans, T-shirts, tank tops, and other basic clothing lines displayed in the many aisles at Wal-Mart. “It’s certainly not trendy, but a collection of upscale basics that their core customers could gravitate to,” says Pao.Yet another disappointment was in store for us. The fitting rooms were locked, and no one was around to open them, the third time in as many stores that we had encountered such a problem. Similar to the situation with electronics, customers looking for clothing largely find themselves on their own. They can furtively try on T-shirts or sweaters between racks of clothing, or they just have to hope that the clothes they’re interested in will fit.
Pao tries several doors in the unmanned fitting room area. Finally, one opens. Still, she is unimpressed. “It was the size of a small closet and didn’t have any mirrors, so you have to walk out to see how you look,” she says. Pao says that nice fitting rooms are one of the basic tenets of good customer service. Requiring customers to track down a sales clerk or wait to try on outfits is off-putting to many shoppers.
Pao’s distinct impression was that the floor salespeople did not want to help on any front. At all three stores, Pao asked for an organic beauty line called Noah’s Naturals, whose products she had heard were available at Wal-Mart. In the Uniondale store, not far from the cashier who would later say Wal-Mart didn’t care about her, Pao approached one female employee who was stocking shelves to make her inquiry. Without pausing in her work, the worker said she had never heard of the line. She then turned back to the shelves to stock more beauty creams, without offering to locate the product at another store or find out if it would be coming in later.
Successful retailing is “10% a great idea and 90% execution,” says Pao. However, in the case of Wal-Mart, especially when it comes to customer service, she says it looks like “90% was spent on strategy and thinking, and 10% on execution.”
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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COMMENTS
I’ve invited some current/former Wal-Mart associates from another message board to comment on this thread. I hope they do.
Speaking of rocks, heres an item to warm the heart of any anti Wal-Marter.
</i>The mounds of concrete by the Ohio River look like large piles of plowed snow! They’re not. The sight is actually large chunks of concrete and twisted steel that will be used to help fill in the land on the sight of Ashland’s riverfront project. Stephen Corbitt is Ashland’s City Manager. He says, “we’re taking something going to a landfill, and we’re going to reuse it.” Corbitt is talking about the tons of concrete that used to be the floor of the old Walmart at the Ashland Town Center Mall. The contractor involved in the demolition project offered the refuge for free and city said, “OK.” Corbitt says, “it’s money in the pocket. Money we can spend on something else."</i>
I kew Wal-Mart stores were good for something. Fill!
Ken V in Texas
Tuesday, October 02 at 10:36 AM
I do not know about all stores but I will bet it is the same everywhere.The floor associates have a limited amount of time to do their stocking. They often have several departments to cover. Its all part of “saving on payroll” As far as calling another store to find your item ,that is a nightmare,If the associate even knows how to do that.To get the other store (who are also underataffed) to get to the phone takes a hudge amount of time.And while they are doing this their stock is not getting put out ( for which they will be in trouble for later) and other customers are looking for help in those departments that that associate was covering. As far as finding out when the item you want is due in,if again the associate even knows how to look it up on the system, they often can not find the handheld item( as there are not enough of them) that they need .If they are lucky enough to know how and have the handheld item to look it up, the system is VERY slow and so the time ticks by. Its all about the staffing .When the associates feel this pressure and know what is in store for them later by the manager for not completing their assingned tasks it is very hard to have good customer service.They want to serve the customer well, but the odds are stacked against them.
Just an over worked associate in
Tuesday, October 02 at 10:48 AM
What can this website do for us?
Another associate in
Tuesday, October 02 at 11:31 AM
gives you a place to tell all these wm lovers the truth about
the hellhole you work at. they think wm is this really great place to be and nothing is better and you are treated very well. I know that is a lie and the more people tell the truth the better the public might understand.
ooo in
Tuesday, October 02 at 12:20 PM
Wages are so low that individual associates must work
two jobs, or both husbands and wives must both work,
just to pay their bills, to make ends meet.
Stores are so under-staffed that associates are being
called away from their own areas to help in other
areas, and then get into trouble when they can not
get their own jobs done.
Associates ask managers for help, managers say
“Oh, I’ll see what I can see about it,” and the
manager is not seen again.
For all of these examples, and probably more,
management still wonders why there is a problem.
Rob in Surfside Beach, SC
Tuesday, October 02 at 01:09 PM
Everything these folks have said about morale and staffing is absolutely true. Morale doesn’t always depend on management - my store has both good and lousy managers. THe policies they have to enforce, the policies that screw us over night after night...those are the killers. They want to leverage payroll to save money. So they cut hours. And then people can’t afford to live, so they quit. And no replacement is hired, because either no one wants to work there, or no one is hireable, or because we’re in a “hiring freeze”. And then there’s one person working alone in a busy dept. on a Saturday night, trying to get his lunch covered - if he can’t he can lose his job - and it’s a state law that he be off the clock for at least 30 min by a certain time. And that person becomes responsible for one or two other departments as well as his, when others go to their lunch breaks, or disappear because they’re lazy, or have to go up front to run register, or what have you. And then, one overwhelmed person simply can’t do the jobs of three people simultaneously. Customers get pissed off, and take it out on the worker. The worker in turn gets upset and takes it out on the customers. Managers come around and make veiled threats because something isn’t done, when there’s not enough time or hands to get it done. And if that worker takes the time to look into things...he becomes utterly apathetic toward the company. If not completely hateful.
Walmart has to spend money to make money. Pay better wages. Staff the store. Invest in training for managers, so they’re better equipped to handle this mess they call their job. Happier workers will treat customers better.
MasterofDisarmony in Wal-Mart
Tuesday, October 02 at 01:25 PM
Think anything is up with David Glass Selling 1/3 of his stock one week after the dallas meetings ? Ken v go back to that site every now and then to bump up your post. Also scroll to the dallas notes thread while your there.
RDS in
Tuesday, October 02 at 02:19 PM
Everything you guys have said may be true, but answer me this: why do you still work there?? If things are indeed so bad, why not find work at another store?? It’s funny how no one who bitches about WM seems to be able to answer this questions satisfactorily.
Perhaps you’re lazy . . . perhaps there ARE no other jobs . . . perhaps you don’t want to drive another 10 minutes up the road to Target . . . I don’t know, there are several possible answers, but until you answer it, I can’t take your comments seriously, because it drives me up a freakin’ wall to see Americans biting the hand that feeds them. If there are no other jobs available, then you should be quite appreciative that Walmart is there to offer you employment. How do you guys manage to so completely misunderstand that???
jay in
Tuesday, October 02 at 04:02 PM
Jay you ask the same dumb questions why not quit. Why can’y wm wakeup . They make major profits and treat people like dung. You are another one of those knowitalls
that never worked there. Just a big mouth like the rest of wm lovers. Go get a job there .
RDS in
Tuesday, October 02 at 05:07 PM
In today’s economy, job hunting itself is a very hard job.
So many associates still want to find other jobs, but, for
whatever reasons, they are not to be found. Don’t blame
us for lack of trying.
At the moment, we have jobs with Wal-Mart, our pay
checks come from Wal-Mart, our names our not
among those of the unemployed. That is where our
loyalty stops.
Rob in Surfside Beach, SC
Tuesday, October 02 at 05:28 PM
Okay so people ask why we don’t quit?? I personally like my job....now. It took me seven years to find a place where I actually like what I do. Do I like what’s going on?? Absolutely not. I see things go on around me and it drives me crazy. I try to inform associates of their rights according to our “policies.” I am pretty well informed just to cover my butt. It has paid off for me and other associates. I do my job, have a good time, and help other people there try not to be miserable. Could I find another job?? Sure. Am I stupid?? I don’t think so. Until they find a reason to fire me I am staying....
mmsfan in Walmart..
Tuesday, October 02 at 06:32 PM
mmsfan very well said I wish more people would come on here, wakeupwalmart,walmartsucks.org ,walmartblows.com walmartassistantspeaks.com and all the sites to the right of this site .The more people find out the truth about wm the better.
JOE in
Tuesday, October 02 at 06:51 PM
The more people find out the truth about wm the better.
Like this-
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood
“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
Where did your good wages and benefits go? Try here-
Samuel Robson (Rob) Walton (born 1945, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is the eldest son of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. According to Forbes, his net worth is $16.7 billion as of 2007.
John Thomas Walton (October 8, 1946 - June 27, 2005) was a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Just before his death, Walton was estimated to be worth US$18.2 billion by Forbes magazine, and he was tied with his brother Jim as the 4th richest person in the United States and 11th-richest person in the world.
Jim Carr Walton (born 1948) is the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
With an estimated current net worth of around $16.8 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 23rd-richest person in world.
Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton, and sister of S. Robson Walton, John T. Walton (d.2005), and Jim Walton. She has an estimated net worth of about $16.6 billion.
Helen Robson Kemper Walton (December 3, 1919 - April 19, 2007) was the wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. She was the eleventh richest American and at one point the richest woman in the world. Helen died with an estimated net worth of $16.4 billion.
Working at WalMart is like working at the morgue. Your ‘living wage’ job was killed and the endless autopsy reads “died from Global Labor Arbitrage and low wage exploitation of labor”. WalMart crematorium slaves cash their meager paychecks as if they are death certificates sign by the Waltons and Lee Scott. WalMart is a poverty engine for America’s workforce operated by “low wage low benefit” economic undertakers in Bentonville.
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”
Abraham Lincoln
WalMart- Where advanced payday loans are part of the employment package. Your health care benefits? See the state welfare office for our de facto subsidies. The Waltons thank you for your poverty.
SanDiegoView in
Tuesday, October 02 at 10:11 PM
Glad to see that someone is having fun again using my handle!!
Rob,
“So many associates still want to find other jobs, but, for whatever reasons, they are not to be found. Don’t blame us for lack of trying.”
Right, they have said that associates work 24 to 32 hours a week, so I guess that doesn’t leave much time for job hunting!!
All of a sudden we have a lot of ‘associates’ here complaining about their jobs, (wonder how many are phoney?), now I don’t work at Wal-Mart but shop there quite often and have yet to see anyone busting their butt, so to speak!! Also, I know and talk to many employees that work there and they for the most part, are satisfied!! The problem is, almost anywhere people work, there are people who complain about being over worked and under paid and these people think these conditions occur at Wal-Mart only!! Perhaps they really know this and that is why they don’t seek employment elsewhere, because they know things won’t be any better at a different job!! Some people try to take care of their lives and others want someone else to take care of them!! If you DON’T LIKE YOUR JOB, quit, because, if you “become utterly apathetic toward the company. If not completely hateful”, it will show in your work and it will become a self fulfilling prophesy, if you lose that job!!
SDV,
Thanks, we have only heard those things about 300 times now!! And, we know YOU hate the Waltons, you’ve made that so visably clear too!!
RDS in
Tuesday, October 02 at 11:37 PM
“And, because I choose to consider fact over ‘emotion’, is that what makes me pathetic? I think that someone who chooses blind ‘emotion’ to decide a case instead of the facts and truth, is the pathetic one!!”
RDS in
Tuesday, October 02 at 12:04 AM
We understand that the WalMart/Walton facts bother you RDS, that… is what makes you pathetic. If my posting those facts makes you uncomfortable, then think of it as the only reason I do it.
I don’t hate the Waltons. That is not required. But if it is important for you to believe so in the effort to avoid embarrassing truth about them, then these would be the three truths you most desperately want to avoid about them-
“The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.”
Proverbs 29:7
Psalms 24:1
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
1 Timothy 6:10 (King James Version)
WalMart- We are the largest and most perverse destroyer of American wages. We are not just impoverishment wages, we are your dream of advanced payday loans as well. Let’s blame someone else. Trying to make others look bad will make WalMart and the Waltons look good in the RDS dreamworld.
SanDiegoView in
Wednesday, October 03 at 12:17 AM
WALMART WORSHIP SLOBS MUST INSERT YOUR EDELMAN ‘WAR ROOM’ PROPAGANDA KEYBOARD SLOBBER HERE
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SanDiegoView in
Wednesday, October 03 at 12:55 AM
mmsfan very well said...
Not only is she smart, JOE, she’s a hottie!
Thanks for commenting Blows members, and as we say in Texas..
Y’all come back!
Ken V in Texas
Wednesday, October 03 at 02:50 AM
Speaking of employee morale…
Kirby Archer aka ‘Gilligan’ apparently is now a suspect in the deaths of the Skipper, the Professor and the Howells. I can understand the moral atmosphere at WalMart driving an employee to steal 92 grand by way of a microwave oven, but my question is this. If he wanted to do the Howell’s out of ‘class envy’, how did he get lost on his way to the Rocking W Ranch?
SanDiegoView in
Wednesday, October 03 at 03:01 AM
Additionally, Kirby Archer stated that the 92 grand was for funding his new “Bay of Pigs” invasion. If there was any truth to that he would never have left Bentonville. I think Kirby ‘Gilligan’ Archer is a shill for the ‘phony sailors’ in Rush Limbaugh’s navy.
SanDiegoView in retrospect
Wednesday, October 03 at 03:16 AM
“Hey Look...this guy is just guarding the bank like he was told!”
Big Joe in Claremont
Wednesday, October 03 at 04:08 AM
I would just echo mmsfan, she said it very well. I have been there for too many years to just give up. Things were not always this bad. For some strange unexplainable reason that’s what keeps me there.
ReceivingQueen in
Wednesday, October 03 at 05:04 AM
As a long time associate, I can remember a time when morale was good. Before our store became a superstore, every year at christmas one Sunday was set aside for associates and their immediate families to come in the store before the store was opened to the general public and shop and enjoy a buffet meal. Not only did the store make money but it was a morale booster. In July the store would host a family picnic for associates and their families, there would be food, games and just good old fashioned commaraderie. Once a month we would have a cake for associates who had birthdays in that month. All that has stopped. Even though we have a associates relations fund we get the same old deli food for our christmas party and even then we are encouraged to add to it by bringing a covered dish and they raffle off prizes that is it. Every year we use to get a small increase in pay on our yearly evaluation date. As small as the amount might have been it was something to look forward to and it made you worker harder, now we have pay caps. Once you reach your cap that is it you dont get anymore money, even though the cost of living may be getting higher. Some of us stay because we are older and its harder to get another job when you are older plus why should we give up everything we have done to make this company the success that it is. The memo that Miss Chambers let out some years ago didnt help morale either. The new manager hopefuls are coming out of Walmart U with attitudes and letting the title go to their heads. Instead of working and communicating with long term associates and learning from one another they make it clear its their way or no way. Some of them talk to us like we are in kindergarten and there is a feeling that the company is trying to get rid of long term associates because like the memo said its costing the company money for us. We are very under staffed and sometimes we have to do the job of three people but most folks especially our customers dont see that. I have seen floor associates have to leave the departments to run registers cause the front end was short handed. This leaves the floor empty. Because our buyers send over loads of frieght in the store it sometimes doesnt get put up over night like it should, when that happens it has to be done in the day time and it is in the way of the customers. Assistant managers use to chip in and work along side you sometimes, I havent seen that happen in a long time. This is just my opinion but I feel like we should go back to the old ways of closing the store at ten or maybe even eleven and maybe staying open a little longer during the holidays. Open back up at seven or eight. This would allow the floor crew to get the floors clean and not worry about people having accidents by walking on wet floors. Third shift could get the store stocked and picked ujp, returns put up and we woud be clean and ready for business the next morning. Also we use to be closed on Thanksgiving so associates could be home with their families, also at Easter that is a morale booster. As far as Black friday is concerned why not extend the sale for all weekend, especially since we dont have lay a way anymore, this would give people time to shop and every one wont be pushing and shoving and creating chaos. We should close early on Christmas eve and open the day after Christmas at seven or eight or whatever. I noticed that every year we seem to be in the store later and later every christmas eve. Let our Store Managers have some input in what decisions Bentonville is planning. Not every store is the same. Lets start making American made goods and creating american jobs and make sure all products are tested for safety before we put them on the shelves for our customers. We use to have banners displayed in our store that said Made in the USA, created x amount of jobs in somewhere usa.
kathleen in
Wednesday, October 03 at 08:00 AM
kathleen,
I realize that people don’t really like change, but change happens!! Wal-Mart is a huge company now, so some things are not feasable any more with 1.7 million employees!! The gist of your post, is “What have you done for ME lately?”, or “How come you want to make me work”!! I see the old, “It’s not my job” in your post as well!!
Also, it is that 24 hour open, that put Wal-Mart out ahead of K-Mart and other stores and you want to end it!! Then, you want more days off, tell us, how do you make money when you are not working? This is the problem as I see it, you want MORE hours, but LESS at the same time!! You want more money, but want to do less work for it!! You want the company to Give, but don’t want to Give in return!! You complain about how ‘bad’ your job is, but don’t want to lose it!!
Those good old days are gone, face it and deal with it, crying won’t do it for you!! Don’t like it, do something about it or quit crying!!
RDS in
Wednesday, October 03 at 09:42 AM
rds you are a fool ,why don’t you get lost ,nobody cares or listens to your tripe. get a life .you are a senile old gezzer .go back to your backwoods farm and play with your sheep you idiot punk .
JOE in
Wednesday, October 03 at 12:24 PM
“you are a fool ,why don’t you get lost ,nobody cares or listens to your tripe.”
Thanks, JOE—I may need to use that quote on one of your buddies, sometime!
Bill
Bill in
Wednesday, October 03 at 12:27 PM
Walmart is going down the tubes faster every day. They treat their employees like dirt and that feeling is passed to the public. If the company doesn’t care about the employees, then why should they care about the customers? It has gone from a possible career at Walmart to just earning a paycheck and not much of one at that. I stuck it out only to get through school and have since found something else. More and more of my friends are leaving every day and I’m happy for them and their new future. Walmart doesn’t deserve the hard workers that, for some reason, have decided to stay. They have forgotten that it’s the employees as well as the customers that have helped them make their billions. Without enough staff to help customers, the customers will say “forget this” and go somewhere else. Then where will their billions come from? The Walton kids sure won’t take a pay cut to prop up the company.
ex slave and happy about it in Grove City OH
Wednesday, October 03 at 12:51 PM
These employee horror stories don’t surprise me one bit. This is what you get when dealing with one GREEDY corporation. Wal-Mart has had only ONE business strategy since the very beginning. Low prices. The problem is they have to cut expenses to the bone in order to CONTINUE to give their customers those low prices. And what is the result of that? I’ll tell you.
First of all they have to cut the NUMBER of employees who are working at any one time. Employees represent expenses which is something Wal-Mart HAS GOT TO CUT. So when you can’t find an employee to help you--that’s the result of CUTTING EXPENSES. Secondly, you have to wait longer at the check out lines for the stuff you are buying. Why? Because many check out lines aren’t staffed with employees. And why is that? TO CUT EXPENSES. Thirdly, you want a high turnover among your employees. Why? Because you will be paying your newcomers LESS than your older employees. And why would you do that? TO CUT EXPENSES
The saddest part of all this is employee dissatisfaction. Employees who are not happy DO NOT GIVE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. Sam Walton may have started this company, but it is the day to day employees who KEEP IT GOING. Where would Wal-Mart be without their daily employees? OUT OF BUSINESS!!
Wal-Mart cares only about profits and stockholders. They stoped caring about anything else a long time ago!
Jane in N.Y. in
Wednesday, October 03 at 01:15 PM
I am sorry RDS, I did not mean to come across that way. I like my job and I do do my job. I do whatever it takes to make my customers happy but they are not happy when there is no coverage on the floor or they have to trip over stock that is on the floor or when the store is dirty. MY point is that no one has to be demeaned by a overzealous manager or the company doesnt have to give us anything but a Good Job remark would be nice once and a while. My point of closing the store and not being open twentyfour hours was so that third shift could get the store cleaned up and the shelves stocked for our customers. Target closes at ten oclock and they are still in business. Also I did try to do something about it but our toted open door policy does not work and when a union was called in the hawks in bentonville swooped down on the store and by way of intimidation scared the associates of what the consequences would be if they formed a union.
kathleen in
Wednesday, October 03 at 02:47 PM
bill you can use it on yourself for now
JOE in
Wednesday, October 03 at 03:40 PM
Kathleen in :"Target closes at 10:00 o’clock and they are still in business”...Yes,Kathleen,and they are saving shoppers just as much or MORE $$ than Weaselmart ,without sacrificing the dignity and safety of both Target employees and shoppers...ever checked out the crime stats of Wal mart tvs.Target ?
ddrb in
Wednesday, October 03 at 04:23 PM
P.S. :Correction:The above post should not have had tvs.before Target?-that’s a typo -nothing to do with T.V.s!
ddrb in
Wednesday, October 03 at 04:27 PM
JOE,
“rds you are a fool ,why don’t you get lost ,nobody cares or listens to your tripe. get a life .you are a senile old gezzer .go back to your backwoods farm and play with your sheep you idiot punk.”
First, I’m not the fool, you are, I don’t work at Wal-Mart, never have, I worked at ‘good’ jobs!! Next, I have a life and am not the one complaining, I was able to retire at age 60, which is more than you will be able to do if you continue to work ‘low paying’ jobs, it’s YOU that needs to get a life!!
Jane,
“The problem is they have to cut expenses to the bone in order to CONTINUE to give their customers those low prices.”
Have you ever heard the term “The customer is King”? I never heard that “The employee is King”!! You are at your job for one reason, to do your job, if you can’t handle it, go to somewhere you can handle!!
“Where would Wal-Mart be without their daily employees?”
And, where would the daily employees be without Wal-Mart? UNEMPLOYED!!
“Wal-Mart cares only about profits and stockholders.”
Sorry to have to break this to you, but the main purpose of starting a company in the first place, is to turn a profit for their stockholders, not to create a charity for employees!! Their second aim, is to please the customer, as that is where the profits come from!! And, like or not, the employees come LAST, and are paid based on the type of work they do, and the supply of people looking for work!! Also, you know when you accept the job, what the pay and benefits will be, if you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have taken the job!!
RDS in
Wednesday, October 03 at 04:42 PM
Walmart peeked around 2002 2003 and is now on its down hill run. This happens to all big retail companies. Its the Law of Deminishing Returns. A retail company can only get so big before it implodes.
Walmart will not die because of customers not coming. They don’t care and really shoud not care. They are there to try to save a buck. Walmart will die a slow death like Winn Dixie because all there old employees are leaving or being run off. There are very few peple under the age of 30 anymore who are worth a crap for anything. They will just implode because the freight keeps pouring in no one to put it out. One day its all going to back up. I hope Susan Chambers has a memo ready for this problem.
me in there
Wednesday, October 03 at 06:00 PM
My frustration stems partly from the fact that there is little or no accountability at WM anymore. At my first store, everybody from the newest stocker to the store manager was expected to do the best job possible and without whining. If you did the best you could, life was peachy. At my current store (my fourth), it seems that everybody is just collecting a paycheck. I’m getting to the point where I have to force myself to go to work. If my assistant manager doesn’t care about the department and she won’t hold my associates responsible for not doing their jobs, why should I care?
Also, I don’t understand WM’s thinking in implementing pay scales and wage caps, along with discontinuing merit raises, while they keep adding more people to the market team payroll. Currently, there is a market manager, a market asset protection manager, and a market HR person, along with market managers for electronics, grocery, fashion and TLE (did I forget any?). Such an enormous outlay for salaries, company cell phones, company cars...yet I’m limited to a token raise for two years until I’m capped out. Not only that, but there is little or no markdown money, so the stores are full of deleted and old merchandise that nobody will buy at the current prices.
Jillian in Michigan
Wednesday, October 03 at 06:18 PM
When I began with the Company, I really loved working for Wal-Mart. The managers were top-notch. They all knew what they were doing, and even though they were hard, they would also pitch in and help you work.
Now, it’s like the difference between night and day. Management isn’t looked upon as something that most people aspire to. Or, in using an old saying to illustrate a point, the cream of the company isn’t rising to the top. You have people becoming assistant managers who have never done a modular and who aren’t familiar with a Telxon, yet they are above you in the chain of command and they are the ones that you are supposed to go to whenever you have a problem. No wonder the company is screwed up.
If Wal-Mart doesn’t start taking a long and hard look at the people they promote into management, then I give them another ten years. You can stick a fork in them, because they’re done.
Also, I agree with Jillian regarding the personal cars, the cell phones. etc...while all along there is no markdown money and tons of deleted crap just piling up in bins and security rooms all over Wal-Mart. What a waste of company resources!
IndigoBiatch in the Gold Coast
Wednesday, October 03 at 07:26 PM
Yeah, we’ll be looking like K-Mart before long. All I can say is that those that don’t know of the Chambers Memo need to read it before rushing to the company’s defense. It could just say “the more tenured you become with Wal-Mart the more useless you become and the more of a burden you are to us” and have been done with the rest.
I used to give the company the benefit of the doubt on everything and defended them more often than not in the past too. And that’s easy to do if you only hear their side of things and don’t get informed. Once you do it makes some things different. When they deserve it I’ll still defend them, but they don’t deserve as much defense as I once thought in the past.
As far as the “why don’t you quit” question, the answer is simple. Because although I think what they’re doing is stupid as hell I want them to be a successful company by doing what’s right. I assume most everyone else feels somewhat the same way because you don’t complain about something that you don’t care about at all. Furthermore, I don’t put myself out to the public as though I’m some great company for America and all about the family like they do. They’re all about families, but they cut employee’s hours. Yet hire more part-time people at the same time. So, they can’t afford to pay people for 40 hours a week that are already working there and are experienced but they can afford to pay the expenses of hiring and training a group of new part-time workers instead? They don’t outright demand open availability, but tell you if you don’t give that to them even though you might not have been hired under those terms that you won’t get any hours. That’s all about families?
Their idea of full-time is 28 hours for some more tenured people and 34 for newer people that haven’t as much tenure as others. They present this in such a way as to make it sound like a boon to the average worker as though they have access to better benefits. The fact is that if you’re not working 40 hours a week you’re not making enough money to afford any of these benefits anyway. And some can’t even if they are.
On the part-time side, they want open availability from them too. Well, just how is that supposed to work when part-time people are part-time for a reason? They go to school, the have children to deal with, they have another full-time job, or any number of other obligations that caused them to want a part-time job from the beginning. Nobody in their right mind that is seeking a part-time job is going to accept open availability as a term for their employment unless they have no life and/or no need for a full-time income. Those people are very few and nobody else will look at Wal-Mart as their number one priority over their other obligation that caused for them to want to be a part-time employee there from the beginning. Thus, you have people constantly quitting and wasting the investment in hiring and training them that was spent just to have to do it all over again while the customers and other employees suffer without help, service, and having to do more work than any one person can do. Is that “striving for excellence”? Getting rid of layaway, is that offering better service to the customers? Management that has a progressive disciplinary policy in place for their use that won’t deal with lazy employees, is that why we need a Chambers Memo?
It’s easy to sit in an office in Bentonville and never come to a store and see their “excellence” in the making. The stock price dropping over all of this time apparently isn’t enough of a clue that things aren’t what they should be. Grassroots results plumetting in a store apparently isn’t enough to get their attention and bring them out of their ivory office either. In fact, any time anyone of authority over a store would come to visit their visit would be announced and the management freaks out trying to fix everything before they get there because they know everything is wrong, but none of them have enough sack to come out and say, “hey, this really isn’t working”. Which is why we end up doing it for them and nothing gets done over it anyway. Because “we all just want to be negative because we can be”. No, I want more positive things to say about the company but they need to make me want to be positive about them, not expect me to make something up for them.
Darkwraith in
Wednesday, October 03 at 08:38 PM
Worst customer service ever experienced!
WM consumers should demand better.
Jeanie in Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, October 03 at 08:43 PM
Three things in the above posts struck me:
“There are very few peple under the age of 30 anymore who are worth a crap for anything.”
and:
“won’t deal with lazy employees”
And:
“Management isn’t looked upon as something that most people aspire to. Or, in using an old saying to illustrate a point, the cream of the company isn’t rising to the top. You have people becoming assistant managers who have never done a modular and who aren’t familiar with a Telxon, yet they are above you in the chain of command”
This would make me think that the older employees don’t want management positions and complain when the youngsters take over management and screw things up!! And, why don’t the older people want the management jobs, because then they are no longer looked at as part of the “crew”, but rather, the ‘enemy’!!
RDS in
Wednesday, October 03 at 11:29 PM
rds you are losing . I think KEN V should post on those other sites more often . I like hearing the truth about the real wm ,instead of your madeup bs . YOU ARE LOSING HA HA HA.
ooo in
Thursday, October 04 at 05:15 AM
<b>Let Them Eat Cake<>
I enjoyed reading your insider’s view Kathleen.
“...before the store was opened to the general public and shop and enjoy a buffet meal.”
“In July the store would host a family picnic...”
“Once a month we would have a cake for associates...”
“Also we use to be closed on Thanksgiving so associates could be home with their families, also at Easter that is a morale booster.”
You have identified so many reasons why Wal-Mart is the epitomy of a company without a soul.
That sad fact is there aren’t too many companies around anymore where these things still happen. It’s all part of that Great Race to the Bottom.
My suggestion… go get yourself another job. You could do as well almost anywhere! Good luck.
ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Thursday, October 04 at 07:36 AM
Nothing Personal, Darkwraith!
I didn’t mean to suggest that Kathleen’s post was the only “insider’s view” I appreciated. It’s great to see all of these Wal-Mart associates stopping by to share their thoughts! Kudos to Ken V for getting the word out and extending the invitation.
“As far as the “why don’t you quit” question, the answer is simple. Because although I think what they’re doing is stupid as hell I want them to be a successful company...” ~Darkwraith
Ken V and myself have often likened the battle against Wal-Mart as a “WAR,” Darkwraith. If you want Wal-Mart to be “successful,” you’ve unfortunately chosen which side you’re on.
ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Thursday, October 04 at 07:49 AM
“ever checked out the crime stats of Wal mart tvs.Target ?”
ddrb, I wouldn’t pose that question to anyone from the Kansas City area…
Bill
Bill in
Thursday, October 04 at 08:27 AM
ooo,
“rds you are losing . I think KEN V should post on those other sites more often . I like hearing the truth about the real wm ,instead of your madeup bs . YOU ARE LOSING HA HA HA.”
Oh yeah, what am I losing? I don’t work for Wal-Mart, so I can’t lose my job, I don’t own any Wal-Mart stock, so I can’t lose any money, so just what is it that I’m losing, the argument? Sorry, I guess if a person goes to an Anti Wal-Mart site, it wouldn’t be hard to find people who will talk trash about Wal-Mart!! There have been many people at this blog who have been Pro Wal-Mart and they didn’t even have to be asked to post here!! Like I said, I have nothing in this race to lose, except to watch another one of the people’s ‘Rights’, go down the drain!! It is the employees, the economy and customers that will be the losers, should Wal-Mart go out of business!! Yeah, 1.5 million people (not to mention workers at suppliers)’out of work’ and if they can’t find a different job now, how will they find a ‘new’ one then? Too bad that you guys never look at the ‘big picture’!! And then, guess what, Target will be next!!
RDS in
Thursday, October 04 at 11:03 PM
Is That a Fact, RDS?
“...they didn’t even have to be asked to post here!!”
Some people might question this.
“It is… the economy...that will be the losers, should Wal-Mart go out of business!!” ~RDS
“Too bad that you guys never look at the ‘big picture’!! ~RDS
Oh...but we have looked at the “big picture” RDS, and it isn’t pretty. Pardon an old colloquialism, but Wal-Mart has gotten too big for its britches.
This is EXACTLY why Wal-Mart was shot down in its bid to get an ILC to leverage its way into the banking business. Wal-Mart already has its tentacles around too many areas..general merchandise, food, pharmaceuticals, eye care, and organics (?).
The brakes should have been slammed on 10-15 years ago, after the passing of Sam Walton.
I think many many people are aware of the implications for the economy if Wal-Mart should “go under.” So rather than making it easier on them by granting Wal-Mart all the tax incentives or subsidies it can devour, the better alternative is to fight them every inch of the way as we go forward!
ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Friday, October 05 at 06:05 AM
rds you claim you have no interest in wm . You stated that you went to wis to see some stadium. you can’t stay off this site for one day. even during the holidays last year and this year . i think you have some kind of problem ,like the need for attention, like the little boy that screams MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY LOOK AT ME AND THEN DADDY GETS SO MAD HE BEATS YOU , explains why you hate your dad. the only reason you come to this blog is for attention. PATHETIC Another thing is you only care about wm is so you can get junk cheap .you don’t care about anything else. not if but when wm goes under someone will take their place, best idea would be a co that demanded US MADE PRODUCTS You also said you had a lot of rentals ,are those counted as income against your soc sec.
oo in
Friday, October 05 at 07:08 AM
oo,
“rds you claim you have no interest in wm”
First, the only interest I have in Wal-Mart, is as a shopper and that interest is in being able to save money and as a retired person, saving money is important to me, as I live on a fixed income!!
“You stated that you went to wis to see some stadium”
Not just some stadium, the legendary LAMBEAU FIELD!!
“you can’t stay off this site for one day”
Wrong, there was a full week that I didn’t post, when I went to Wisc. and another full week when I went to Tenn.!! As I said, I’m retired and have no job to go to and I love to debate!!
“explains why you hate your dad”
Who ever said I hated my dad? I love my dad, he is a great guy, who helped make me the responsible person I am today!!
“you only care about wm is so you can get junk cheap”
If it were ‘junk’ I wouldn’t buy it, that is your opinion”!! Example: I bought a T.V. there 10 years ago and I still watch it!!
“best idea would be a co that demanded US MADE PRODUCTS”
So, you are a ‘Protectionist’, right? Sorry, but we live on a planet, not an island and have to deal with the rest of the world, get used to it!!
“You also said you had a lot of rentals ,are those counted as income against your soc sec.”
I never said I had ‘a lot’ of rentals, just 2 duplexes and YES they are counted against my social security!!
BTW: Why do you post here?
RDS in
Friday, October 05 at 11:42 AM
out of interest.
oo in
Friday, October 05 at 11:50 AM
Its a matter of time the way they treat associates before one or more goes POSTAL. It will happen.
Larry T IN OHIO in
Friday, October 05 at 07:33 PM
oo,
“out of interest.”
Short attention span, right?
RDS in
Saturday, October 06 at 12:44 AM
IT MUST BE BECAUSE YOU KEEP REMINDING ME OF HOW STUPID YOU ARE!
oo in
Saturday, October 06 at 04:25 AM
Some of you are the biggest bunch of whiners The only thing that makes my morale low is lazy coworkers that stand around and complain about how bad their life is instead of doing their freaking job.
dn in
Saturday, October 06 at 07:58 AM
dn and now you whine about co workers.
RDS in
Saturday, October 06 at 02:58 PM
dn,
“Some of you are the biggest bunch of whiners The only thing that makes my morale low is lazy coworkers that stand around and complain about how bad their life is instead of doing their freaking job.”
Yeah, there are workers and there are people putting in time until their paycheck comes!! Think about the people who claim Wal-Mart’s stores are dirty, who’s job is it to keep it clean, Lee Scott’s? And, you know what those lazy co-workers call you, when you do your job, they call you a ‘suck ass’ or ‘brown-noser’!! I have heard people say, “I get paid the same whether I work fast or slow”, but then they cry loudly, when they get called on the carpet for being lazy, “Those unfair managers actually expect us to work hard for our pay, and they are always picking on me for some reason”!!
RDS in
Saturday, October 06 at 10:29 PM
This is for all the people who say"If you don’t like Wal-Mart why don’t you leave? Well for one thing WM across the US are built in smaller towns where there aren’t many options for long-term jobs except factory and food service. Also people fall for the WM produced information about fair wages and insurance benefits so that they line up to sign away their lives in the hopes of building a long term job experience that will take them through to retirement. In reality and in just a short time these same people realize that they have made a mistake and signed on for a very stressful and bumpy employment ride. A lot of employees are single parents, people with health problems, or single bill paying individuals who depend on the meager wages(compared to the many jobs they perform) to eat, live, get life substaining medications and healthcare. They feel stuck and if they have been there for a while..they continue to hold out hope for a new management team or company head that will see the common sense in taking better care of it’s employees who in turn will take better care of it’s customer which in the end will translate into more profit. WM thrives on it’s stuck employees who can’t afford to start over somewhere else and it’s employees who in essence hate where they work but truly love to help their customers. I cringe to think what Sam Walton would think if he were alive now.
Overworked In A Small town in Ohio
Thursday, October 11 at 04:57 PM
Overworked in:I think that you might agree with me that making a living and making a life aren’t the same thing-and from what I have heard from some of the employees of W/M,theres not much of a living,or a life to be had once your down the rabbit hole-did you see the post where one employee likened working there as a Nazi death camp?I think of Walton’s plantation.
ddrb in
Friday, October 12 at 08:52 AM
I am going to vent to get this off of my chest. On October 6, 2007 my daughter got fired from Wal Mart for insubordination. She was told by her manager to have her first job done by 3am and to move to second job and have it done by 5am and to move to 3rd job till time to go home. She had overheard the people doing the job that she was supposed to go to (her 3rd job) that they only had 2 isles to zone and they did not need any help so she had a CBL to do so she went back to the computer and started on it. The manager came back and started yelling at her and said she did not have permission to do her CBL. The next night when she went into work after she had one of her pallets done the manager called her into her office and of course had another manager in there with her, they never can talk to an employee without having 2 or MORE managers in the same room with an employee when they talk to them, they told her she was fired for insubordination.
She has worked for Wal Mart for 6 years, but for the past year and a half she has had managers that have continually harassed her and allowed fellow associates to harass her also. She had a coaching on her record that would have been completed in December of this year and she was waiting until it was over with and then she was going to transfer to another store. They change managers every 6 months at this store. All of the good managers either find other jobs outside of Wal Mart or go to other Wal Marts so the only ones left at this store are the bottom of the barrel.
My daughter has a learning disability but that did not stop her from doing a very good job for Wal Mart and having very good attendance, and making sure her job was done and done right and done completely every night that she worked. She got her 6 years in and got her raise and I guess the managers decided well we can get rid of her and hire someone to take her place at a lot less money. She lives with myself and her Father and she was at a point where she could contribute money to a 401K that would provide income for her future, she had health insurance but for 2008 it was going to cost her $78.10 every 2 weeks which was ok because she lived with us. Now she is without a job and the security that goes with it but I would NEVER let her go back to a Wal Mart to work because they treated her like SHIT the last year and a half and allowed her fellow associates to treat her like that also. She was going to transfer to another Wal Mart because she heard the one she wanted to transfer to treated their employees fairly. They could not get her on attendance or job performance so they fired her for the next best thing.
Sharon in Peculiar, Missouri
Sunday, October 14 at 01:29 PM
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