Friday, August 5, 2016

Scrap It! Walmart's Scheduling System That Is



Scrap It! 
Walmart’s Scheduling System That Is

5 August 2016
Copyright © 2016 – It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!  & RightTurnMedia2014

It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore has long been a advocate of scraping the centralized scheduling system that has taken scheduling out of the store management team’s hands and placed it into a computerized system at the Home Office in Bentonville.

Walmart announced this week that it was “improving” the system to allow for schedules to be generated for six (6) weeks.

This is the same type of schedule thinking that call / contact centers have been using.

It is a system that does not work, period.

One such call center in Omaha uses the same thinking and probably the same software Walmart is using to schedule.  On any given day callers are made to wait for sometimes an hour, due to the system’s own inability to schedule correctly, not to mention inadequate staff.

Returning scheduling to the store management level will not only improve service in each and every Walmart, but will allow store managers the flexibility to make changes to allow for local events that increase customer visits to the stores, in climate weather, as well as times where associates are out due to family issues or emergencies on short to no notice.

Under the store level scheduling system, I personally was one of the on-call part time overnight associates who many times got extra hours when the store was short handed.  It is a system that worked, in fact, my store won many Supercenter honors for exceptional service, and sales revenues.

Scheduling and Staffing are two of Walmart’s biggest sales boat anchors that have been dragging the ship down since 2009.

It is time for the leadership of Walmart to step up to the plate, man and woman up, and admit the scheduling system is a failure, instead of making it worse.

It is also time for Walmart’s Leadership to step up and start beefing up store staffing, and be flexible once again.

Flexibility is one of the reasons I joined Walmart in 2001, and walked out the door in 2012, and I’m still waiting for a call from the Home Office to discuss those reasons.

For “It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore”, I’m Mark W.,  Thanks for stopping by!

Knowledge is power! 

It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!  is here for one reason, to return Sam Walton’s beliefs, values, and trail blazing business spirit , that stresses Customer Service and Value to Walmart! 

We encourage you to share this social media post, however, publication without consent for profit is prohibited.  Unlike other bloggers, we share information with the world in the efforts to educate our readers, not to make advertising money.

Important disclosure notice

Some articles for “It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!” are  written by  a 30 year shareholder of Walmart Stores Inc., stock and former associate with over 10 years of service.  This shareholder has no plans to purchase or sell any shares of Walmart Stores Inc., and has not done so in the last 90 days.  


Monday, May 30, 2016

Time For The 2016 Walmart Orgasm!



It’s Time For The 2016 Walmart Orgasm!
a/k/a Walmart Annual Meeting

30 May 2016
Copyright © 2016 – It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!  & RightTurnMedia2014

Walmart Associates from around the world will be heading to Bentonville, Arkansas this week in advance of the annual celebration of Walmart’s Annual meeting on Saturday.

But what is there to celebrate?

Another year of failure after failure?

Mr. McMillion stated “We’re not living in a new period of disruption, largely driven by rapid technological advances, and that change is likely to accelerate even further.  Our efforts are squarely focused on emerging as the retail leader.”

What?

With that statement, Mr. McMillion is trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

Granted it’s a better line than that used CEO of Target stating the company’s 25% sales drop was due to “global warming”, instead of the company’s mis-management, up to and including the LBGT deal which really put the royal flush on Target.

What’s The Real Problem At Walmart?

Simple, 10+ years of liberal, progressive leadership, which had Mr. Sam not built such a great company, would have tanked Walmart many years ago.

Let’s Look At This Year

Blanket raises were dolled out to most Walmart associates in response to the push back from groups like Our Walmart.  Instead of being pushed around by groups that are funded by unions, Walmart should be pushing back, something sadly forgotten since Mr. Sam passed, and those he had in place to run his great company were shoved out the door.

Here's an thought about the difference between a liberals / progressives in charge of a company, and a more conservative leadership.  Liberal / Progressive will give raises to everyone no matter whether their performance shows they deserve recognition with a raise or not.  A more Conservative leadership team will give raises on a regular interval based upon the employee's performance.

Stockholder’s lost money, again.  Forget the dividend increases, those are just another smoke and mirrors routine to keep shareholder’s eyes off the problems of declining sales, and profits.

How Much Did You Lose?

Based on Fiscal Year 2015: Your shares began the fiscal year at $84.98 and ended the fiscal year at $66.36, a loss of $18.62 per share or 21.91%.

Based on Calendar Year 2015: Your shares began the calendar year at $86.27 and ended the year at $60.41, a loss of $25.86 per share or 29.98%.

Plus for the 13th year in a row, no stock split.
 
How To Get Walmart Back Out Front?

This one is ludicrously easy, and to coin one of Walmart’s iconic sale routines, it is time to “Rollback”!

Rollback 10 plus years of stupid liberal, progressive idea after idea.

Step One – Reduce Management Ranks & Eliminate Bad Managers

Management ranks at Walmart swelled when the liberal progressives took over.  While steps have been taken to thin those ranks, not enough has been done.

Along with that, there are still plenty of members of management that do not walk and talk the classic Walmart ways.  It is time to weed them out once and for all.  Poor management causes customer dissatisfaction, decline in sales,  and high employee turnover,  just to name a few.

Step Two – Associate Power

It is past time to get stores staffed again.  No one wants to wait in a check out line, or worse yet, try to deal with those stupid self check outs.

Step Three – Get Shelves Stocked

An ongoing issue that must be resolved for once and for all

Step Four – Eliminate Centralized Scheduling

Return scheduling to the store management teams, period.  Realize to get the best people, a company MUST be flexible.  Too many companies are not, including Walmart.

Step Five – Eliminate Task Manager

Task manager is another expensive tool that does not boost productivity, it decreases it.  Previous system in place worked far better than Task Manager ever has.  It also puts more staff back on the floor, as without Task Manager, no management needs to sit at computer and watch over it, nor do associates have to constantly go to a computer to update their status.

Step Six – LAYAWAY!

I cannot say this enough, Walmart’s decision to eliminate Layaway was a BIG Multi Billion Dollar Sales (loss) MISTAKE!

We have a bad economy, and it will not be getting any better any sooner.

Restoring layaway now will provide an immediate sales boost and return shoppers to Walmart that have gone elsewhere that offers layaway.

Step Seven – Address Associate Issues Present & Past

The primary reason union backed groups like Our Walmart have gained power is the fact Walmart has been addressing associate issues with the “if we ignore it, it will go away” tactic.

Walmart must address associate concerns, and problems, immediately.
To this date, It’s Not Sam’s Walmart, knows of an associate that has never been contacted by the Home Office leadership regarding an issue where he was called “gay” in an Omaha store in 2012.

We know of numerous other issues, where Walmart has done the wrong thing, ignore the problem, instead of the right thing.

What About Benefits?

Healthcare - With Obamacare, Healthcare insurance at any big company, stinks.  Obamacare’s main job is to put so much of the cost of healthcare upon you, the insured, that you will be forced to join one of the exchanges.

If you do not understand that Obamacare is all about wiping out company sponsored healthcare, then you do not understand what is going on in our country.

Admittedly, Walmart could be doing more.  If Mr. Sam was still alive, he would be pushing back against this as it takes away from what his company could be doing for his associates.

Raises – Associates must earn raises through a fair and balanced system, period.  Blanket raises to quiet down union funded groups like Our Walmart, do not work.  All those do is increase costs, and give those underperforming associates no reason to improve.

Walmart’s annual review system must be improved and simplified.

Reach Out To Former Associates, Get Them Back!

There are tens of thousands of former Walmart associates out there that left in disgust.  Not only do we need a “rollback” to Mr. Sam’s rock solid business model, we need those associates to make it happen.

Only way Walmart can get back to the front and be the leader is by doing all of these things

How Do We Make Change?

First and most important step, if you are an associate with Walmart stock, or a Walmart shareholder, vote against all directors, either standing or nominated.

If you have already voted your proxy, you can change your vote.  Please do so by Thursday, June 2nd.

Walmart is no longer a controlled company.  With the failures over the past 10 years, the Walton Family trusts and Family members control less than 50% of the stock.  They have to hope large holders like Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway will vote their blocks of shares in favor of the director’s decisions.

Change can be made!

Last But Not Least – We Do Not Need “Our Walmart” To Speak for Us!

Mr. Sam realized the awesome power of his associates long ago, associates do not need Our Walmart or any other organization to make change.  I challenge each and every one of you, whether you are in Bentonville this weekend for the annual meeting, or in the stores, to join together and take this challenge to make change to restore Walmart to the once great company it was when Mr. Sam was in charge. 

For It's Not Sam's Walmart Anymore, I'm Mark W.

Knowledge is power! 

It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!  is here for one reason, to return Sam Walton’s beliefs, values, and trail blazing business spirit , that stresses Customer Service and Value to Walmart! 

We encourage you to share this social media post, however, publication without consent for profit is prohibited.  Unlike other bloggers, we share information with the world in the efforts to educate our readers, not to make advertising money.

Important disclosure notice

Some articles for “It’s Not Sam’s Walmart…..Anymore!” are  written by  a 30 year shareholder of Walmart Stores Inc., stock and former associate with over 10 years of service.  This shareholder has no plans to purchase or sell any shares of Walmart Stores Inc., and has not done so in the last 90 days.