Custom «Wal-Mart Stores » Essay Paper Sample

Wal-Mart stores inc. is one of the leading public, multinational corporations in the world. The supermarket has its headquarters in Bentonville Arkansas. The company runs manages and operates chains of large discount warehouse and department stores. According to Forbes 2000 list, Wal-Mart was as the ranked 18^th biggest public corporation. The same magazine ranked the supermarket chain at the top in terms in terms of revenue. Wal-mart Corporation is the largest private employer in the world. Currently, the supermarket has over 2 million employees (Brunn, 2005). The company was started by its founder Sam Walton in 1962; it became incorporated in 1969 and launched its initial public over in 1972. Wal-Mart is the leading grocery retail in the United States (Murphy, & Willmott, 2010).

Organization of the company

The corporation is organized in three product divisions; Wal-Mat stores, Sam’s club and international stores. The company is divided into regions where each region is supervised by a Regional Vice President who is based in the company’s headquarters. The vice president is required to travel to the region that he heads three weeks every month. The company has its executives and managers based in Bentonville Arkansas where there is the home office for the company. Under each region, there are approximately eleven districts that are each headed by a district manager who is stationed in the field. Under each district, there are about eight stores. The stores in each district will ensure that they stock enough for customers, and they sell at a price that is inferior to attract a large customer base. At the district level, the Sam’s clubs are called Directors of operation.

The company also has the Regional Personnel Managers who are involved in the solving of the personal matters in conjunction with the district managers. They are also based in the home office and are responsible for recruiting and selecting of store management and monitoring of individual policies. The regional personnel managers have to submit a weekly report to the five directors in the home office. Each store has several assistant managers to assist in the running of the store (Brunn, 2005).

The organization philosophy of Wal-Mat is expedient in the sense that they have set out the time that their employees need to work. In the case, of over time work the company’s culture require that employees be compensated basing on the time that he has worked over time. The culture of the company towards their customers is welcoming in the way that they treat the customers as the main purpose for its business. The company also offers low prices so that to attract many customers to its stores.

Types of information

Wal-mart need to understand employees issues properly in order to reward them competitively. The company should understand clearly the importance of employee compensation and how it impacts on the company’s performance. Employees deserve to earn a competitive package in order to improve in their performance. A reputable corporation needs to understand that paying employees well will improve their motivation as well as boost their morale at work. The company in compensating the employees it should be based on the organizations strategic plan and actions. It should control the use of labor intensive production when they arise in its operations. This will help the company in ensuring that the level of compensation is at per with the company’s profit portfolio.

The company should learn how compensation will impact on the behavior of the employees. The compensation given to the employees should be able to satisfy their needs so that they dedicate their time in serving the company diligently. Wal-mart has failed in its remuneration package. The company pays low salaries and wages to its employees despite the fact that it makes serious profits. The company has also been accused of putting employees in poor, working conditions and without insurance. The company should also be involved in learning and understanding of the consumer behavior. By understanding the consumer behavior, the Wal-mart will be in a position to employee the skilled individuals to offer the company guidance in dealing with customers. The company should make decisions in human resources that will ensure that the persons employed have a healthy relationship with the customers. In making, human resource decisions, the company management should ensure that there decisions are helpful to employees. The company should be well informed on what will be the feeling of the employees about a given issue. To make a reasonable decision the company needs to consider the impact of the decision on the individuals working there and how the stakeholders will view the decision.

Recruitment and selection process

Recruitment and selection of employees to the company is done through advertising of the positions that need professionals to cover so that to improve the performance of the company. Qualified individuals are required to apply before they are called for interviews. After the short listing, of qualified individuals interviews are done and the best qualified candidates are employed by the company.  The newly employed individuals are given the chance to work with the company after they have undergone a short training by the company (Werther, & Chandler, 2010).

Recruitment by the company is mainly done by the regional personnel managers in conjunction with the district managers to employ the individuals to work in the stores. Qualified individuals are interviewed to take up positions in order to improve the company’s performance.  The individuals working in the stores do not undergo any training by the company before they start working with the stores.

The recruitment process of the company does not involve many steps hence it ends up with poorly qualified individuals to work with the company. The process of recruitment will also depend on the feeling of the district managers that certain individuals do not qualify to work in the stores. To improve the recruitment, and selection process the company should put in place training programs for employees. The company should establish a selection and recruitment panel to ensure that the employees being hired are qualified to work with the company.

Stance on diversity

Wal-mart has a neutral diversity policy in its braches. The company employees people from all races in all its sections. The company in its diversity policy has been involved in providing training to managers and other employees. This is aimed at equipping customer with the necessary skill to maximize their performance. They have also introduced computer training for employees at all stages to harness performance of the company as it opens extra stores worldwide. The company has improved training to enable managers improve their management skills. Wal-mart came up with a strategy to increase its supply all over the world by supporting small businesses, and the women based businesses. The company has come up with means that are improving the performance of small businesses. The strategy used by the company is admirable; however, to increase its supply it should be involved in establishing more new stores in the areas that they are not there (Werther, & Chandler, 2010).

Compensation and benefits policy

Wal-mart does not have a generous compensation and benefits policy. The company does not award its employees competitively. There has been a public outcry accusing the company of paying employees poorly. Most of the employees are hired on a contractual basis. Only few employees mostly in the management are employed on permanent and pensionable basis. Getting a job opportunity in the company is intensely competitive because of the high demand for jobs in the country. Wal-mart seems to be taking advantage of that and thus paying their employees poorly. However, the company does offer incentives to its workers. This has motivated them to work hard making the company competitive. The workers of the company benefit from the free medical facilities that the company offers. The company also has a retirement benefit scheme to its employees (Robins, & Judge, 2008).

Training program

The company has a training program that educates the managers on how to manage the stores. The company is also involved in career development by ensuring that individuals employed go through management trainee program before they are employed. This program has enabled the company to remain competitive in the retail industry because the individuals employed have the skills to manage the company’s performance. To improve the companies training program, Wal-mart should establish training centres. This should be in every region so that all employees can access training in order to develop their career in the retail industry.

Conclusion

Wal-mat is a retail company that has an organizational structure that has enabled it to remain competitive in the retail industry. The company in making human resource decisions it follows some vital information that will be accepted by the employees. The company has a decent selection process that ensures that the individuals hired are qualified to manage the businesses of the corporation. The company should come up with a competitive remuneration package to pay its employees appropriately.