The Mythology is Shattered: Would You Treat Family Like This?

New Memo Reveals Wal-Mart's True Beliefs About Its Associates

The “Secret” Wal-Mart memo has shattered the myth that America’s largest corporation has a unique culture that prizes its Associates and cares for them.  Despite its so-called family-friendly environment, the truth is Wal-Mart fails to provide adequate benefits and cares about its bottom-line more than its people.  The sad truth is that 56% of Wal-Mart employees are not covered by the company health care plan and costs are high for those who are covered.

SHATTERED MYTH: Founder Sam Walton on Wal-Mart’s Corporate Culture

  • Wal-Mart People are A Family. “And we make our people feel part of a family in which no one is too important or too puffed up to lead a cheer or be the butt of a joke – or the target of a persimmon-seed spitting contest.” Sam Walton [Sam Walton: Made in America, 1992 p. 201]
  • Wal-Mart Associates Make the Company Great. “We want our associates to know and feel how much we, as managers and shareholders, appreciate everything they are doing to make Wal-Mart the great company that it is.” [Sam Walton: Made in America, 1992 p. 215]
  • Wal-Mart Associates Are Vital To Us. “We like to let folks know we're interested in them and that they're vital to us. ‘Cause they are. Those department heads are the ones who really know what's going on out there in the field, and we've got to get them to tell us,” [Forbes, 12/1/77]

SHATTERED MYTH: CEO Lee Scott on Wal-Mart’s Corporate Culture

  • Wal-Mart Associates Are Not A Matter of “Dry Statistics.” This isn’t matter of dry statistics. I know Wal-Mart is often a step up for our associates because I talk to our new hires. I know many of them lined up four and five deep for a job at Wal-Mart precisely because their old jobs paid minimum wage or worse…didn’t have any benefits…and didn’t provide any opportunity for personal or professional growth. … Wal-Mart offers the right job at the right time in their lives, and it gives them a step up on the economic ladder. [Lee Scott Address, Town Hall Los Angeles, 2/23/05]
  • Sam Walton Always Said that Our Associates Are Number One. “I think Sam would say today, as he always did, is that the number one thing in this company is our associates. And we’ve got stores that aren’t treating associates the way they should be treated and that’s got to be fixed.” – H. Lee Scott from CNN In The Money
  • Wal-Mart CEO Touted Company Tradition of Treating Associates With Respect. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, “With 900,000-plus employees in the United States, Wal-Mart has a lot of people to keep happy. The discount retailer boasted about the availability of health benefits to part-time as well as full-time workers and about its tradition of promoting hourly employees to management positions, but it focused on the culture of respect fostered by founder Sam Walton.” “The secret, as Sam Walton figured out years ago, is to treat people with respect,” said Lee Scott. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock), December 31, 2000]
  • My Obligations are to the 1.6 Million Wal-Mart Associates not to Company Cronies. During remarks before the Executive Club in Chicago CEO Lee Scott said, “I don’t care anything about personal loyalties.  My paycheck comes from Wal-Mart stores.  That’s who my obligations are to.  They are to the 1.6 million associates and they are to the shareholders. They [my obligations] are not to some cronies that I’m pulling through the company or that are pulling me through the company.” [Lee Scott Remarks to Executive Club Luncheon Meeting, 5/17/05]
  • At a Wal-Mart Shareholders Meeting, Lee Scott Describes Higher Expectations.  “We can’t do this unless we are a great place to work,” he [Lee Scott] added. “This means more than having competitive pay and benefits. We must recognize the individual and be respectful of customers so we reach out to them and not them to us. We are large, we are huge, but we are a growth company. People have high expectations of us. [Retail Merchandiser, June 9, 2003]
  • Our Associates Are The “Greatest in the World.” CEO Lee Scott applauded the Wal-Mart Associates during the Annual Shareholders meeting. “[I]f the energy and enthusiasm of our associates in this room is any indication – I’ll just say again, Wal-Mart has the greatest associates in the world.  Associates who are excited by what we do, dedicated to our mission of service to our customers, ready to meet the challenges that each new year brings – and committed to the great traditions of this company.” [Remarks of Lee Scott at the 2005 Wal-Mart Shareholders Meeting, 6/3/05]

SHATTERED MYTH: Wal-Mart Executives Echo the Company Line

  • Wal-Mart Does Everything It Can. “We are doing everything we can to take care of our associates and not shift costs,” said Susan Chambers, the executive vice president who oversees benefits at Wal-Mart. [New York Times, 11/2/04]
  • Susan Chambers: Wal-Mart Exec Conflates Health Care With Job Demand. “Our health care is, I think, really good. One of our areas of focus is affordability,” says Susan Chambers, executive vice president of benefits administration. “When you have thousands of people stand in line every time you open a store, that says something,” she says, referring to Wal-Mart job applicants. [USA Today, 06/23/2005]
  • Wal-Mart’s is More Like A Family Than Anything.   Former Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin discussed the company policies. “We provide benefits to part-time workers. We have a profit-sharing plan. We're not ashamed of the benefits we pay. When you take a package of what a person makes at Wal-Mart compared to the industry, we have nothing to hang our heads about,” Coughlin said. “People make fun of the culture here, but I don’t give a s—t. It’s more like family than anything I’ve ever seen. We get criticized for it, but how important is it to the economy to employ untrained people, good people but untrained people, who then have a chance to grow?” [Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), 4/28/02]
  • Mr. Sam Would Want Us to Take Care of Our Associates. ‘‘If Mr. Sam were here,’’ Kevin Turner, the youthful president of the Sam’s Club warehouse stores, told the audience at the shareholder meeting, ‘‘he’d tell us: As long as we take care of our customers and we take care of our associates, they’ll take care of us.’’ [New York Times, 6/30/04]
  • Wal-Mart Commitment to Associates id Unparalleled. “I am very pleased to be joining the Wal-Mart Board,” said [Wal-Mart Board Member David] Daft. “Wal-Mart has an unparalleled commitment to its customers, its suppliers, its associates and its shareholders. I’m looking forward to working with the Board and Wal-Mart’s world-class leadership team.” [PR Newswire, January 6, 2005]
  • Spokesperson Claims Plan Is More Affordable. ‘‘We are lowering the costs to make health insurance more affordable,’’ said a Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Fogleman, who declined to comment on how much the plan would cost the company. Asked if the new insurance plan was in response to growing criticism, he said, ‘‘It’s fair to say we are listening, but more so to our associates than anyone else.’’ [New York Times, “Wal-Mart To Expand Health Plan For Workers,” 10/24/05]
  • We Treat Our Employees Very, Very Well. All full-time Sam’s and Wal-Mart employees are eligible for health insurance, profit-sharing, 401(k) and stock purchase programs. Part-time workers are eligible after two years on the job. “More than 800,000 people have been able to feed and clothe their families and prosper by working at Sam’s and Wal-Mart,” Maher said from the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. “We treat our employees very, very well.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 9, 1998]
  • Weber Says Wal-Mart Offers Competitive Benefits. “We do our best to take care of our (employees),” Weber said Wednesday. “They are all being offered employment with comparable benefits at the stores in that (county), or whatever is most convenient.” [Orlando Sentinel, July 24, 1997]
  • Wal-Mart – One Big Happy Family. Sharon Weber, Wal-Mart's spokeswoman explained how Wal-Mart worked provide to tell employees about the new CEO. “We’re a family, and before any public announcement was made, we wanted everyone at Wal-Mart to know that there was going to be a new head of the family,” says Weber. [AV Video Multimedia Producer, 5/1/01]
  • We Take Care of Our Associates, Offer Generous Benefits. “The fact is we take care of our associates,” [Spokesperson Jessica] Moser said. “We offer our associates competitive wages and a comprehensive benefits package. For example, a [part time] cashier at Wal-Mart can receive health benefits for $8.50 a pay-period or every two weeks, a 401K plan and a profit sharing plan, which the company contributes to regardless of whether the associate personally contributes.” [Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, 6/25/01]
  • Happy Employees Mean Better Service Says Sam’s Club Director of Operations. “We feel that, if we take care of them (employees), they’ll take care of business,” said Bruce Redding, Sam's director of operations. [Albuquerque Journal, December 20, 1996]
  • Executive Discusses Three Goals. Frank J. Howard Jr., a Wal-Mart regional community relations representative, discussed the company. “Howard said the company adheres to three basic principals: Be a good neighbor, treat workers (Wal-Mart calls them ‘associates’) like family, and provide value and service to customers.” [Carroll County Times, March 30, 1994]
  • Taking Care of Associates is Leads to Success. “We know we will not succeed if we don’t take care of our associates while we take care of our customers. This is a company dedicated to helping people raise their standard of living through good jobs and low prices for quality goods, while operating with integrity,” said Pam Simpson- District manager . [Akron Beacon Journal, 1/22/04]