Walmart Inc. (formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an example of effective large-scale human resource management, considering the business has millions of employees worldwide. The company is one of the biggest in the world in terms of organizational size, business value, and financial performance. The firm ensures that its human resources are supported in satisfying business needs and expectations. Walmart considers how its activities, such as internal organizational processes, support its human resources. For example, the company addresses its human resource planning and job design, and how these aspects contribute to high performance among employees. 

Human resource managers also consider how Walmart’s corporate culture and organizational structure, recruitment and selection, retention and training, performance management, compensation, and career development contribute to the productivity of the firm’s workers. Effectiveness in addressing HR needs affects the company’s performance and growth potential. Walmart’s strategies must support the continuing development of its workforce and related managerial practices. Walmart’s human resource managers optimize the business and its workforce, effectively addressing issues and criticisms. As the company faces challenges in the competitive landscape, human resource development can increase business resilience, especially in supporting growth against firms like Amazon. Factors like reduced turnover and high employee morale can boost Walmart’s performance amid changes in the retail industry environment. Walmart’s Human Resource Planning Human resource planning at Walmart is stratified in terms of the programs and solutions developed and applied. For example, HR planning takes place at the top management level of the corporate human resources department. However, the company is a large organization. Each store has its own personnel responsible for HR management. As a result, each store translates the general human resource plan from the corporate HR department. The stores have varying interpretations of the corporate human resource plan. Such variations indicate that actual human resource planning occurs at different levels of Walmart’s organization. In terms of forecasting, Walmart uses special software to automate the process of analyzing changes in the workforce. For example, the firm gets its employee or workforce data from its stores. The data is fed to the central database, and organized and processed to reveal trends in the company’s human resources and related operational needs. 

Through this forecasting system, Walmart forecasts possible future changes in the workforce, such as changes in HR demand per season or per region. This condition contributes to the company’s flexibility in the area of human resources. In relation, in addressing the surplus or shortage of employees, Walmart uses its information system to determine which areas or aspects of the organization will face increased demand in human resources and which areas will have a surplus. The company’s HR management applies corresponding plans that stabilize the workforce. 

The HR plans specify the number of employees needed and the recommended schedules for increased recruitment, along with adjustments in related areas of the retail business. In this way, Walmart ensures adequate human resource support despite fluctuations in retail market conditions and corresponding business operations. In balancing HR supply and HR demand, Walmart’s goal is to ensure adequate access to qualified workers. The company has a continuous process of hiring and training new employees. The continuity ensures that vacant positions are immediately filled. The nonstop recruitment activity helps Walmart access the labor market to maintain an adequate supply of human resources to match changes in demand for employees at its stores.

Questions

1. You have been offered two positions in HRM. One is a generalist position in a smaller business, and one is a recruiting position in a large corporation. Which of the two jobs do you believe will give you more involvement in a variety of HRM activities? Defend your answer.
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3. You should choose a job that you have some familiarity. What are the observable behaviors that a job holder must perform? After completing the needed behaviors to perform this job, outline what type of training would be beneficial to improve performance in this job. What training and evaluation methods seem to be best suited for this job?