Wal-Mart Blows it Again (and Are You Surprised?)

Under fire from labor advocate groups, including a good portion of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million employees themselves, Wal-Mart announced its progressive plan to recapture some of its lost employee and consumer loyalty.

The strategy, which will surely halt all those talks of labor unions, consists of treating its employees better. One of the ways they plan to do this is to give faithful employees with 20 years of tenure a special polo shirt.

No, I'm not kidding.

Here's a bit of free advice, Wal-Mart: If you want to overcome the perception engendered from the numerous lawsuits brought against you and the bad word-of-mouth you've been getting from your own employees, you're going to have to do something remarkable. Giving an extra 10% off a tube of toothpaste and a polo shirt your employees have to work 20 years to get is too little, too late.

And I say this as a longtime admirer of Wal-Mart, who employs 1.3 million people at wages above what the minimum federal and state law requires, and whose cutting-edge inventory management system has led to the availability of low-cost, high-quality goods all across the nation.

Wal-Mart desperately needs to get its head out of the sand on its employee issues, though, or else the decision to treat them better will be made by the courts (who rarely, if ever, have sound business goals in mind when formulating judgments). Henry Ford was able to democratize the automobile while simultaneously paying his employees a higher wage than was standard at the time. Wal-Mart's current problems will not go away without a similar revolutionary approach.

Not to beat a dead horse, but duplicitous blogs aren't the answer, either. - Cam Beck

Comments

[Gavin Heaton]

It always amazes me that brands too easily overlook the potential of their employees as brand ambassadors. They not only represent your brand to the public ... they ARE the public -- which means that their word carries more weight.

The lessons (and challenges) that Wal-Mart face are not theirs alone ... let's hope they lead the way and put their considerable strategic intelligence to work to solve a REAL problem. Great post, Cam!

[someone fed up]

Polos? What a joke. As a long term employee of Wal-Mart they can keep their polo shirt. The extra 10% has ALWAYS been around. That's not a new benefit. How about paying a livable wage, hiring people who WANT to work and disciplining those wh DON'T work. Get with it Lee.