How can anyone work in a company that has started a culture of forcefully asking their managers to give min of 10% or 20% of their teams a ‘Development needed’ in performance evaluations? What kind of leadership is this?
This itself should be a wake up call to employees to know to under what kind of leadership they are working. Doesn’t it make you nervous that next may be you, even if you miss this year. Isn’t it you live in a constant fear? Do you guys agree?.
I agree. Ever since the new ranking I am reluctant to share progress I make in new skills. I'd love to give lessons and go faster with everyone at comparable skill levels but I want to look better so I get a higher ranking and the rewards that go with it.
Getting rid of the bottom 10% creates a bad working environment. It doesn't create a working environment of sharing knowledge or working as a team. If I was top of my team why would i spend any time helping out someone else ? Those in favor of it probably are in management. Maybe we could eliminate some more layers of managers. Speaking of 10% , could we have spent 10% less on acquiring Jet.com or the other high priced exes. Could ML have got by on less than 250 Million last year ? I can certainly understand getting rid of someone who doesn't give any value to a team at all. What about the case if everyone on a team is doing well but they still have to find that one person for the bone head curve
Walmart will unfortunately never be like Amazon because they lack a cash cow like AWS. Walmart will run profits into the ground in pursuit of Amazon. Welcome to the long, slow decline. Things will only get worse. It's a company for mercenaries since the future is so shaky.
owx If you want to work for a company the practices Rank and Yank try Amazon. That seems like the direction Walmart is headed. We do not want to beat Amazon, we seem to want to be like them.
“It's more like the last shattered pieces of Mr. Sam's Wal-Mart Culture have finally died after years of infection by the corrupting forces of greed and indifference”
Well said.
I am sure Mr. Sam Walton will be having Very sad look from top seeing how these guys are burning down the WALMART culture that he put with so many ideals and years of hard working.
"It's almost like the economic reality of today has finally made its way to the quaint, conservative, stuck-in-the-past backwoods of NWA."
It's more like the last shattered pieces of Mr. Sam's Wal-Mart Culture have finally died after years of infection by the corrupting forces of greed and indifference.
I'm not a fan of Walmart but I have to agree that quite a few people could/should be let go. Some have just gotten way too comfortable or are, hate to say this, in the wrong industry.
This needs to happen for Walmart to be in shape for the biggest fight of its life. Some people aren't "in shape" enough to contribute to that fight. It's almost like the economic reality of today has finally made its way to the quaint, conservative, stuck-in-the-past backwoods of NWA.
Are the “fat” being trimmed or the unpopular, unconnected? Forced ranking only works if it’s truly merit based. Culture of isd is not merit based that’s why they want to get rid of Bentonville it.
We could easily trim 10% of the low performers over the next three years and would be a better company for it. The complacency and lack of work ethic of many around this corporate office is appalling. I want to work in an environment based on merit, not tenure.
To cut under performers you don’t need to follow un-ethical practices of a must quota of 20% from Each manager, that is where it gets nasty and foster politics and fear among employees. Which is not a healthy environment to live in your daily life.
Walmart is a very LARGE technology company that sells retail. Period. Hence why when I was there there were ~4k people in ISD. And in any large company (technology or not), you have under performers. The forced bell curve that Walmart is currently using does wonders for trimming "the fat" the first 2-3 years, and then you start getting into the meat. Welcome to the real world.
Last time I checked, Walmart was the worlds biggest Retailer. WM is not a BIG technology company and should not be run like one.
I agree.... My wife has worked there many years and has been through several of these. A master-servant relationship is not healthy in a career nor is constantly being worried about your job. If she makes it through this round, I imagine she will be looking elsewhere, right after that bonus. However, I believe that Walmart corporate also counts on attrition after these layoffs. They are an evil company that doesn’t give a sh-- about their employees and they deserve the a-- kicking that Amazon is serving them on a daily basis.
Work for the government where they don’t outsource to India!
I'm updating my resume this weekend and I didn't even get laid off. The environment is toxic.
So this is nothing new. It's been around since I've been here 2011. What's sad is the manager not standing up for his team. My manager always stood up for our team, we didn't have poor performers on our team so there was no bottom 10%. It's YOUR MANAGER who is throwing you to the wolves!
So, because large technology companies do it that makes it a valid measure of employee performance.... doubtful.
How can you work for a company like that? It's pretty easy. All large technology companies do something similar. Sorry you live in the former bubble known as Northwest Arkansas. But if you work for large technology companies, they are all like that.
Totally agree. Any company that forces 10% into development needed regardless of performance is skeezy. It shows a lack or moral character, which I know is a lot to ask in business. But I feel that the old Walmart wouldn’t have imagined doing this to its people. I’m thinking about leaving even if I make it through this round. I don’t want to sit next to my team mates every day feeling like I’m in competition. People will start hoarding knowledge and throwing others under the bus to save themselves. I don’t want any part of it.