Human Resources Function and SWOT Analysis for Walmart Company - Report Example

Table of contents

Introduction3

SWOT analysis for Walmart Company4

Strengths4

Opportunities5

Weaknesses5

Threats6

HR function: Training and/or Development6

How Walmart uses need analysis in training its workers and developing skills6

Work analysis mode of training program in Walmart7

Types of training programs offered at Walmart Company9

Mi Futuro training program9

Leadership Program for First-Year, First-Generation Students9

leadership-development program10

Recommendations10

Conclusion11

• Introduction

Walmart came into existence through the thoughts of one businessperson named Sam Walton in the year 1945. He had a thought of increasing the number of sales of his products irrespective of the profit margins that he could register at that time. Thus, he dwelled much on the low profits margins while his primary focus was to sell his products at low prices to register higher volume of sale in the end. These, thoughts culminated into a success though with several setbacks such that at the end of first year of operation his sales had an increase of 45% generating higher revenue (Wal-Mart Stores, 2016). Therefore, the current success that we can see in the company emanated from simple business thought in the early 19th century.

In the recent past, most newly emerging forms of businesses have been wondering what changes to put in place to increase revenue as well as number customers as in Walmart. Thus, the question high of revenue in Walmart has made the current businesses to acquire skills from them. The enterprise is a multinational retail corporation that operates that has a chain of hypermarkets as well as stores. Currently, the company owns about 11,545 stores in 28 countries in the entire world (Wal-Mart Stores, 2016). This proves that the company is making more revenue yearly as compared to other corporation that operates in retail ownership. Besides, the number of years that the business has been operating is factor to consider when talking about the number of customers it serves. Walmart Company serves 250 million customers weakly making it the largest world’s retailer with largest retail shops in US and Canada (Wal-Mart Stores, 2016) .The Company sells general merchandise to its clients at low prices giving the reason behind his high number of loyal customers. Besides, this company is the largest grocery retailer in US and Canada making it the world’s most valuable companies regarding the market value. For instance, in this current year, Walmart Company registers a sale of 63.2% of the total sales in US, which amounts to $478.614 billion (Wal-Mart Stores, 2015). The reason behind this high sales is that it suppliers products that are on high demand among children, adults as well as the aged in the society. Besides, Walmart Company has a Walmart foundation that contributes to counter various calamities in US. For instance, in June 29th 2016, Walmart company dominated $250,000 to different nonprofit organizations that helped in buying the relief food for people who were affected by floods in West Virginia (Wal-Mart Stores, 2016).

The high number of customers in Walmart dictates why it has higher number of employees that any other retail companies in the world. It has a population of 2.3 million employees in the entire world (Wal-Mart Stores, 2015). This is a high number that even three nations combined cannot offer such a job opportunity in the government. Thus, being a family private business it offers an extensive opportunity to people both the adults as well as the young adults.

• SWOT analysis for Walmart Company
• Strengths
• As the largest retail, shop globally, its incomparable scales of operation as well as a string market are way over those of the competitors as well as suppliers. Walmart’s global organizational size makes it have deep pockets and as such, it is capable of funding growth as well as expansion (Smithson, 2015).
• The company entails a competent information system that helps it in serving all its customers within the shortest time.
• It offers wide range of products capturing high number of customers, which in turn caters for different people with divergent preferences.
• It has a cost leadership strategy that gives it a competitive advantage. This means that Wal-Mart is able to operate at rather low economic costs compared to others. This is possible through its big size and thus it is able to reap more profits not from the high prices imposed on its products but rather from the economies as to scale (Smithson, 2015).

• Opportunities
• There exists a growth in retail market regarding the current emerging markets. This eminent growth is a viable customer base for Wal-Mart.
• Increment of the customer acceptance of owns label goods and thus the local people entail the number one consumers when it comes to its products (Smithson, 2015).
• Inclines towards healthy eating which is the current trend in most developed nations, and is thus yet another opportunity for Walmart to satisfy.
• There entails development of online shopping to serve extensive customers, which enable it reach wide masses.
• Weaknesses
• High worker turn over, since they grow employees who then leave for various reasons and this entails a blow to Walmart.
• Negative picture of the company also poses yet another blow.
• Labor related inconsistencies that end in courts. Walmart has in the past and continues to be in various litigations mostly owing to employee dissatisfaction (Smithson, 2015).
• Threats
• Increasing competition from other companies makes the company wary and on its toes to match or provide better the services. Canadian tire cooperation and Costco wholesale in Canada are the most threatening competitors to Walmart in Canada (Smithson, 2015)
• Worsening rate of customer loyalty, whereby most of them turn away from purchasing most commodities from them, which may lead to reduced profits (Smithson, 2015)
• HR function: Training and/or Development

Since Walmart stands as the world’s rather largest retailer, it possesses the ability to offer a positive influence the worldwide supply chain. Essentially, training opportunities in Walmart are to influence continuous and sustainable improvement in the organization (Alfes, Shantz, Truss, & Soane, 2013). Walmart Company ventures much on the theoretical approach of need analysis in training its employees. There exist different approaches used in the training of the Walmart workers.

• How Walmart uses need analysis in training its workers and developing skills

Referring to the current emerging trends of work environment of employees in Walmart, workers have the task of undergoing training that regards performing complex tasks in a very efficient, safe as well as cost-effective manner that tends to register a success in the errands of the company. Thus, to counter the performance of the employees, training using the need analysis approach, referred, as “an improvement tool” is a requirement for Walmart Company (Bargiela-Chiappini, Nickerson & Planken, 2013). According to the arguments of Gustafson (2014), he contends that the situation whereby employees are underperforming tends to put Walmart Company into jeopardy and most of time such it registers a fail in the company. Thus, he comments that heightening the standards of employees in the firm is one sure way of making the business to thrive as it equips the workers with the skills that is required of them. The disparity that exists between the actual level of work performance and the expected level of work performance in Walmart dictates whether training is necessary or not. However, according to the statements of Doug McMillon, the CEO of the company, he states that a successful training analysis is one of the plans that Walmart is using to improve their services to customers. Due to this effect, Walmart Company spent around $ 2.7 billion in the last two years in training of the employees. Besides, the identification of training needs is one of the initial stages of the efficient instructional design that the company is currently enjoying. Therefore, several types of need analysis are been found to be in the forefront concerning the training as well as the development need that the business entity requires. These include,

• • Work analysis mode of training program in Walmart

According to the arguments of Fleisher and Bensoussan, (2015), understanding job as a series of tasks that concerns the designed action meant to give a specific outcome that accomplishes a set objectives is important. Walmart Company applies this principle of work analysis in measuring component of duties that are in a specific job. However, each job title in Walmart tends to vary in the sense that the task required has other complimenting tasks not stated in the job description (Bloom & Van Reenen, 2011). A good work analysis has been leading Walmart Company in the following benefits;

• Workforce planning: Walmart Company has been able to identify the duties as well as the responsibilities of a job title. This has been hastening the realization of company objectives that actually determines a success of a company.
• Succession planning. The work analysis aids the HR professionals to fill major roles within the organization that when ignored can cause failure of a company
• Training: by basing argument on methods of work analysis, a business entity is able to identify the gaps that exist between the current workforce and the new recruits in the firm.
• Employee development: through intensive analysis of work, the HR professionals identify the gaps on individual level of employees that assist in career development (Movahedi, B., Miri-Lavassani & Kumar, 2016).
• Performance appraisals: from work analysis, an organization can develop an employee in terms of specific needs of a job title. This grooms employees that causes successive promotions I the company hence an advantage to the employee (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2015).

Walmart Company uses this kind of need analysis that provides one of the reasons why the company always has competent workers. Besides, work analysis is applicable in heightening understanding of specific skills, knowledge and abilities different jobs offered by the company. In the case of Walmart Company, work analysis aids in identifying specific task requirements in training sales personnel and supervisors (Wal-Mart Stores, 2015). Therefore, the company has been able to launch different training pragmas to its new recruits as well as existing workers to increases the performance of the company in the countries that it operates.

• Types of training programs offered at Walmart Company
  • Mi Futuro training program

This program was mainly to motivate the eighth graders from Northwest Arkansas to make the fit for the future tasks of the company. In 2009, the Walmart Hispanic-Latino Associate Resource group started the program with the aim of mentoring the young graduates in the sense that the students could have a taste of what the business field requires them to have concerning their theoretical education gotten from then class (Gilker, 2016). The company further paid the schools that participated in the program such that the total expenditure for Springdale, Rodgers and Bentonville schools were totaling to $23,000. This program is not only for students who are within Arkansas but also for students in other nations. For instance, over the past seven years the program has spread to about 29 nations whereby about 8,000 students have undergone through the program. Thus, out of the 8,000 students who have undergone the training about 70% of them are working with the company currently (Gilker, 2016). This is in line with the objectives of the program, which is to hasten the understanding of the students on the importance of hardworking towards achieving the dreams. Besides, Carol Moralez, a worker in the program attest that the program by the company makes student understand how high grades in education will later land them to work in the company, which has been the dream of most people in the world (Gilker, 2016).

• • Leadership Program for First-Year, First-Generation Students

Walmart foundation launched the leadership scholar program in the current year that was mainly to develop high quality concerning leadership skills for specifically first years in Spelman as well as the first-generation students (Spelman College, n.d). The initiative targets around 550 first-years, who are actually the first-generation college students. This distinctive program emphasizes on the effective matriculation of selected first-year students. Jane Smith contends that through this leadership training and peer-mentoring program, the students have the opportunities to develop their skills. In addition, this program will provide participants with essential professional as well as personal skill sets that are perquisites in the fro workers in Walmart company (Spelman College, n.d).

• • leadership-development program

This program was from a thought from the CEO of Walmart company called Bill Simon. He had a helping hand from veterans such as Damian McKinney, who was a formerly working as a Royal marine as well as veteran in the Iraq war (Donlon, 2013). These people behind Walmart leadership academy best describe how Walmart ought to be training its leaders. Through the leadership academy for leaders in Walmart, the company has been developing talented leaders, managers as well as associates around the world. This culminates to overall success of the company as the growing numbers of customers of the company get high quality of services that tends to heighten the sales as it attracts many customers. Besides, Celia Swanson, who is a senior most vice-president when it comes to talent development for Walmart within the U.S, argues that this program provides immense training as well as broader development of Walmart leaders (Donlon, 2013).

• Recommendations

According to the above analysis of the training programs and development in Walmart Company, it somehow fits the needs of training program as a human resource function. Despite the use of need analysis in governing the training and development, the company ought to identify other theoretical ways of training in the company. As the company continues to maintain one theoretical application in training, some of the challenges that the theory has still affects the sales of the company. Thus, diversification of methods of training is a factor that will increase the sales of the company since the company will have high chances of forgoing the demerits of the analysis. Since Walmart is the largest retail company in the world, it should increase the salaries of the existing workers so that the workers can feel the sense of motivation that will increase the performance of the workers. This strategy will encourage employees to be more self-motivated, and the company will gain many new competitive stores and build an even better global image (Walmart, 2016).

• Conclusion

Walmart company is a typical case that depicts the most effective mode of training as well as development that any set of a business entity ought to adopt. This is evident through the various theories of training and development that the company applies in its mode of operation. Despite, the challenges that the company face of losing the competent workers, it still takes a lot of importance in the training as well as developing the new recruits in the company. The overall success company emanates from the time the company sets to heighten the competence of its workers. This is evident through the efficient need analysis that HR professionals have on the new as well as the existing employees. Thus, the benefits of the intensive work analysis have depiction from the high levels of performance that the company registers in every country that it operates. Besides, the company understands that knowledge of the cost-benefit analysis among all the workers is a general befit to the company. This is because all the departments in the company adopt the policy of minimizing cost while maximizing the profit. This prompts the business not only enjoy the simplicity benefit but also makes it a goal oriented business entity. In addition, performance analysis is another development theory that Walmart Company uses. This is through the mode of making decision and monitoring the performance of all the workers with respect to the objectives of the company. Hence, this provides the reason behind the high number of customers that the company tends to gain every single day of its operation. Besides, performance analysis aids in solving problems as well as orienting workers to their tasks. This develops the competency of the workers, which is a benefit to the company. In essence, training offered by a company leads to success of a company as seen in the scenario of Walmart Company.