International Human Resource Management of Walmart
The report, “International Human Resource Management of Walmart,” aims to show that the function known as talent management in the industry has risen to be as important as any other in ensuring the successful completion of tasks, especially in MNCs that operate in turbulent conditions.
And this study zeroes in on the issue of Walmart, a multinational which gained a tremendous following through its smart operations and adaptations to the recent pandemic.
Walmart came into being in 1962 by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas. The company, now the largest retailer in the world with nearly hundreds of stores across 28 countries, has diversified into different formats. Since its founding, more than 2.3 million people are working for Walmart across the globe.
And it has both its physical and digital presence. At the end of a year Walmart’s income usually exceeds a few dozens of billion dollars which show how well it is succeeding in the global market
The Coronavirus crisis of 2020, which impacted one of the selling of essential commodities in large scale, created demand for all basic products and services and hence, the demand for this quick and effective response was the need of the hour.
Through this paper, I will highlight how Walmart applied its talent management strategies to selectively recruit, assess potential candidates, train and manage, and develop its employee’s force while experiencing fast growth.
Furthermore, we will focus on Walmart’s methods for core HRM functions like training, performance management, and employee recruitment or retention, depending upon the projections of demand, and continuity of operations during hard times.
Additionally, we shall assess the global influence of Walmart’s HRM strategy, looking at how cultural, regulatory, and operational issues in different regions affected it. Hence, its overall approach and prose in connection to performance were affected.
This analysis considers management of skills, human relations functions, as well as consideration of the global context, and uses this to help develop the niche that spans Walmart to respond to unwanted circumstances and stay on top as a retail company.
Read more: International Human Resource Management of Ali Baba Group
Literature Review
Explain
The very start of the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the world’s business community with a previously unseen amount of disruption and unpredictability, forcing organizations to find ways to quickly put in place change management strategies, in order to face the stormy seas of the situation.
Based on a thorough examination of relevant literature, it is evident that there are numerous ways in which businesses not only managed to sustain their operations but also grew while experiencing the problems posed by the pandemic.
According to Kath is one of the scholars who has broadly examined the dynamics of change management. Leadership, communication, and agility in decision-making have been identified as the pillars for guiding organizations in these turbulent times.
Katter’s influential writing provides a guideline for proactive leadership by deciding where the organization is headed, rallying support, and team building in the face of uncertainty. For this particular case, the issue concerning the leadership of organizations facing the COVID-19 crisis, where quick decision-making became extremely important for the organization, it was truly indispensable.
Moreover, the literature of Jindal explains the significance of organizational culture and employee resilience in the process of organizations’ change, is a crucial factor for successful change initiatives. Cameron and Quinn’s findings clearly demonstrate the tremendous impact of organizational culture through its effects on behaviors, norms, and decision-making processes in the company.
At difficult moments, a robust organizational culture becomes a signal of stability, which helps in sustaining cohesion, adaptability, and creating a common understanding among employees.
It is evident that Walmart, one of the pillars in the global retail industry, survived the pandemic largely because of its strong organizational culture that acted as a compass in the time of the pandemic. This combination of a steadily focused commitment to customer-centricity and constant operational efficiency was always the primary driver which allowed Walmart to deal with the situation.
According to Larry, Walmart’s ability to overcome the challenges, during the pandemic, was possible because of its strong emphasis on serving its customers, and being agile in management led it to quickly respond to the changing needs of the consumers.
In truth, the COVID-19 outbreak became a requisite measure for the businesses around the world and it laid down the basis for the organizations to adopt effective change management strategies that revolve around strong leadership, clear communication, and resilient organizational cultures.
By the thorough evaluation of the works of the leading authors, and the analysis of the Walmart’s response to the crisis, the critical elements that constitute the resilience and success of the organization in the face of the uncertainties, become clearer.
Analyse
The GTM has risen as a crucial part of the IHRM as a result of challenges unmatched which the global pandemic of COVID-19 has brought forth. It was concurrently the time for Walmart, and other companies like that, to cope with an upsurge in demand for their products and services, which could be addressed through quick and tailored workforce management solutions.
A careful review of a GTM literature accumulation points out the pivotal role of strategic recruiting and selection procedures in talent matching process with organizational goals. While for Walmart it was about having a swift recruitment plan in place to address the surging need for these products, this also meant adopting novel approaches that were designed to fit the unique conditions of the pandemic era.
In year 2022 the annual income of Walmart Inc was 157,983 billion US dollars that was higher than the previous year 2021. In the year 2021, the annual income of Walmart Inc was 138,836 billion dollars that affecting the large growth possibilities of the business. Walmart Inc improve the organizational performance and takes the sustainable eras in the current practices by the valuable operations in the future.
The recruitment process at Walmart during the time of the surge in demand involved a multi-faceted strategy in which the company used advance technologies for hiring and onboarding the employees that raise the annual income. With a rapid move to virtual recruitment systems and digital onboarding procedures, Walmart made sure that there would not be a hiccup when it came to the influx of new employees and that it can continue to expand its workforce to face the increased consumer demands
The technology feature also served as a core sales driver for the company by easing the recruitment process and demonstrating Walmart’s adaptability and innovation when faced with a challenge.
In addition, literature accents the importance of training and development programmes as the way to educate employees and give them skills which help them to cope with an ever-changing business environment. Among the many noteworthy developments during the pandemic, Walmart’s commitment to training employees and up skilling initiatives served as a crucial element of its GTM strategy.
Consequently, sensing the significance of taking on the challenge of agility and improved operational efficiency in an environment of a shifting market, Walmart gave priority to T&D in order to equip its employees with the necessary competencies to operate in the new normal.
The human resource management of Walmart Inc uses the key structured interviews and the job knowledge evaluation for the most job positions in the particular organization. If a candidate’s interview goes well and he is best fit for the company, then Walmart Inc receive the offer as an employment to lead the background opportunities.
Walmart Inc uses the various training methods to improve the employees’ motivation and the satisfaction, Walmart Inc optimizes the both on-the-job and the off-the-job training methods in the organizational system. Walmart Inc uses the job rotation management trainees through the 3 or more departments of the store like customer service, Human Resource, and the credit departments.
Building the advanced strategic positioning and maintain the valuable sprits, the organizational core activities will be applicable in the future. Every store has a virtual reality headset that puts the associated in the immersive by the real-life scenarios as encountering in a retail-environment.
Via building up a culture of continuous learning and development, Walmart not only made sure that the workforce was adaptive but also set the company in for the future, post-pandemic. Via the way of specific training programs and up skilling initiatives Walmart (the retailer) provided its employees with the necessary knowledge and sources to make the proper decisions under the complicated conditions of the ever-evolving retail sector. In doing this, Walmart’s (the retailer) organizational resilience and competitiveness were reinforced.
Overall, Walmart’s investment in GTM through cutting-edge talent acquisition and comprehensive talent development manifest the fact that talent management holds intrinsic value in strengthening organizational agility and resilience amidst serious challenges.
Synthesis
Globalizing operations of Walmart required a sophisticated and complex International Human Resource Management (IHRM), a system that had to operate within the cultural, regulatory, and operational environment of each region. In delving into the Global Talent Management (GTM) literature, it becomes apparent that the strategies employed by Walmart to manage human capital were carefully sculpted by taking the multidimensional international aspects into account.
Therefore, when confronting the complicated issues of different cultures and rules, Walmart adopted a localized approach to both recruitment and selection procedures. Through the acknowledgment and subsequent changes in regional talent deficiencies and cultural nuances, Walmart ensured a successful business strategy implementation that was nevertheless flexible and responsive to the local market dynamics.
It was through this neighborhood’s way of handling the business that the firm not only realized the best approach for sourcing and onboarding talent but also encouraged a sense of belonging and inclusivity among workers, which later translated to enhanced cohesion, performance, and productivity.
What is more, Walmart’s belief that continuous learning and development should be fostered throughout the company have become a cornerstone of the culture of flexibility and innovation at all of its global operations. Walmart applied specific programs of training and up skilling for its workers to enable them to cope with the challenges resulting from the pandemic and to benefit from the emerging trends in various markets.
This unrelenting willingness to learn and to grow gave employees the confidence and the tools they needed to succeed in their roles, as well as the resilience the organization needed to keep going and to continue growing through the turmoil.
The incorporation of GTM literature and the application of the outcomes into the framework of global operations of Walmart is of strategic importance in understanding talent management’s significance in the success of an organization in multidimensional and dynamic environments.
Through the localized approach to recruitment and selection as well as the unconditional commitment to continuous learning and development, Walmart not only withstood the hurricane of the pandemic but also has emerged stronger and more resilient, thus giving the IHRM its credit for shaping the trajectory of the multinational corporations in a world that is progressively becoming interconnected.
Critical Evaluation
In spite of Walmart’s noble leadership in the implementation of the pandemic change management strategies and GTM practices, the analysis indicates the prevailing challenges and weak points that call for a caution. However, the fight to keep employee morale and engagement high remains one of the most persistent and heavily influenced by uncertainty brought about by the pandemic.
The role of leadership and communication in building employee confidence and trust as well as empowering them during hard times is what pinpoints. While Walmart strives to build a strong organizational culture that supports and encourages employees, there could have been times when communication gaps, or feelings of insubstantial support, contributed to morale drops and may have affected employees’ productivity as well as their happiness.
Walmart effectively applied technology to online recruitment and e-training, there are risks that online technology might replace the real deal for those regions with weak internet access or/and technology infrastructure.
The digital divide widens the gaps in the opportunities, which risks to separate some parts of the workforce, leading to the exclusion and the decline of the inclusivity. This implies the necessity of a method of talent management that is balanced which brings technology and tradition work together as a team rather than technology and tradition working independently of each other thereby minimizing the chances of increasing the existing inequalities.
Moreover, the ever-changing nature of the global business environment demands the constant reappraisal and frequent adjustment of IHRM strategies so as to tackle new challenges and take advantage of the window of opportunity for innovation and advancement.
Moreover, though Walmart’s approach to the pandemic exposed agility and capacity to handle the situation, there is still a necessity for undertaking regular checks of GTM programs to make them more relevant to the organization and the external environment.
The creation of a culture of continuous improvement is a necessary condition for the success of an organization, and allows Walmart to stay ahead of the changing market dynamics and the expectations of its stakeholders in the long term.
IHRM strategies that Walmart implemented through the COVID-19 pandemic were indeed effective in dealing with challenges, although it is critical to note that there are points for improvement and that vigilance is still required. Through developing an employee morale and engagement strategy, revising the digital divide policy, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement, Walmart can strengthen its resilience and competitiveness in an ever-fluctuating and unpredictable global environment.
This once again emphasizes the fact that critical reflection and adaptation are the tools by which the future of multinational companies like Walmart is shaped in the process, giving them a place in the sun.
Conclusion
The analysis of the ways Walmart faces the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and Global Talent Management (GTM) results in a profound story of persistence, ingenuity, and adaptability.
The study which involved a thorough analysis of relevant literature, showed that leadership effectiveness, clear communication and agility of decision making that has been priority for the company, has been the key to the successful change management initiatives for the company, which eventually enabled it to not just survive but to also thrive in the midst of uncertainty.
In addition to this, the company’s ability to employ collaborative channels of communication and workforce flexibility, to facilitate strategic recruitment and selection processes, and to invest in employee training and development, was striking and it highlighted the crucial role of talent management in achieving organizational agility and performance when facing a crisis.
Customizing its global expansion strategies to fit the various cultural, regulatory, and operational environments of the different regions globally showed the organization`s understanding of the global business arena as well as the fact that it was ready to set the talent objectives of the organization in line with its goals.
Nevertheless, critical analysis uncovered some persistent issues and restrictions, such as the need to sustain employee fuel and engagement in the period of uncertainty and the mitigation of risks related to the excessive use of technology for the purpose of attracting and training.
Walmart has to continue to be watchful concerning these challenges and to develop the culture of continuous improvement for the company to continue to enjoy sustained success.
In a nutshell, Walmart’s experience of survival through the period of COVID-19 pandemic is an illustration of how effective IHRM and GTM policies can assist in coping with crises and maintaining the growth of organizations in those situations.
Walmart will use the lessons learned and its unique culture of being future-oriented to ensure that it comes out stronger and more resilient than before. This move will help position it as a global leader in the retail industry.
Recommendations
Strengthen Employee Communication Channels:
The first and foremost issue that emerged during the pandemic was the team’s morale and engagement, with the employees having to work under uncertain conditions. In order to improve this, Walmart should concentrate on the development of communication channels that would not only ensure openness and trust but also create a sense of belonging among its employees.
This might be done with town hall meetings held regularly, feedback sessions in virtual mode, and the establishment of specific platforms for complaints and proposals by the employees.
Diversify Recruitment and Training Methods:
Humanize it into: Besides avoiding risks associated with technology overuse for recruiting and training, Walmart should adopt a balanced approach by integrating both digital and analog techniques. This could be made possible by use of technological tools for remote hiring and orientation. There should be provision for in-person training opportunities, especially in places with unstable internet connectivity.
Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning and Development:
Walmart should remain committed to the training and development programs for its employees so that they can adapt to new business strategies in a more agile and resistant manner. For example, it could be the making of an online learning platform more accessible to all, starting mentorship programs and finding the opportunities for skills development and occupational advancement.
The company can promote a learning environment that emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and development thereby enabling its employees to be agile and capable of adjusting to the changing business requirements, which in turn will drive organizational success.
Conduct Regular Talent Reviews and Succession Planning:
To ensure the readiness of skilled people for future leadership positions, Walmart should build regular talent reviews and succession planning processes into its operations. Such is the responsibility of the organization for identifying the high-potential employees, creating the avenues for growth and development, and getting them ready for the leadership development campaigns in the future.
It is in Walmart’s best interests to find and develop talent from within its ranks. This will help to reduce the impact of disruptions and ensure the organization is led by capable people.
Enhance Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives:
Diversity and inclusion initiatives should be at the core of Walmart to make a workplace environment that can be perceived as more inclusive and equitable. This can be carried out in many ways, for example, by providing unconscious bias training, setting up employee resource groups, and setting targets for recruitment and promotions.
Through the acceptance of differences and the creation of an inclusive work culture, Walmart can tap into the minds of all its employees, helping the organization to innovate and to create new ideas.
Monitor and Evaluate HRM Practices:
Auditing the performance of human resource management methods of Walmart on a regular basis through monitoring and evaluation is critical. It involves soliciting information from staff members, monitoring key performance indicators, and conducting regular audits of HR processes. Through anticipating possible flaws and taking into account the burgeoning issues, Walmart can make sure its HRM strategies are effective and relevant.
