Training and development at Walmart
Walmart is a multinational company operating in the retail sector. The fact that the firm deals with the delivery of services to numerous individuals across the globe call for the adoption of effective HR approaches. The organization is significantly big regarding its business value and organizational size. There is, however, the need for ensuring that its HR are satisfied to facilitate the organizational and client needs and expectations. The consideration of how the training contributes to the productivity of the staff of the organization is of significance. The paper, therefore, aims at discussing how the HRM of Walmart ensures equipping of its employees with the vital knowledge and skills.
The company’s employee training and development management play a critical role in the determination of the organization’s capacity to support the global expansion. The expansion of the company closely relates to its needs for the development of specific knowledge, abilities, and skills through the provision of training and development services to its employees. Additionally, the training programs organized by the company are customized to ensure its effectiveness in the management or the daily tasks in addition to equipping the staff with the capacity to adjust effectively in accordance with the emerging conditions in the industry. The principal objectives of the firm about the HRM entail maximizing the employee productivity through the adoption of the cost-effective, high-performance training. The performance management and training programs organized by the company play a critical role in addressing some of the issues that affect the company concerning human resource management.
- .
Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
GET CUSTOM PAPER
Staff training at Walmart
The initial step in the provision of training services entails the analysis of the various needs of the staff. The company employs different needs analysis approaches. The relevance of each approach is dependent on the HRM objectives of the firm. The main criteria adopted by Walmart in the analysis of the needs of their clients include the task, cost-benefit, and organizational reviews. The work analysis is essential in facilitating comprehension of the skills, capabilities and specific knowledge that is vital for the fulfillment of the various tasks. The organization, therefore, applies the technique for analysis of the training requirements for the majority of the positions. For instance, the task analysis approach has proven essential in the assessment of the needs of the specific job requirements for the supervisors and sales personnel.
Additionally, the cost-benefit analysis is critical in the optimization of the training and HRM costs. The cost-benefit analysis assists in the identification of the kind of training program that is vital in the production of the best results while at the same time minimizing the costs. The cost-benefit analysis technique plays an essential role in addressing the firm’s objective of minimization of costs hence ensuring improvement in the performance of the company. The organizational analysis assists in the identification of the new or emerging HRM concerns that requires integration in the training programs offered by the corporation. The concerns include the emerging requirements of the HR regarding new stores, variations in the warehouse layout and new products.
Preceding the needs analysis is the program design phase. The company employs two primary approaches in the design of its training program. Every strategy plays a critical role in addressing the various qualities prioritized in the different job positions in the firm. The standard methods adopted by Walmart include the results and process-oriented program designs. The results oriented training program design is essential in the development of the training programs to ensure satisfaction of the necessary knowledge, capabilities, and skills for every job. The approach is appropriate for the sales positions of the firm and the tasks involving the warehouses of the enterprise. The process-oriented training program, however, is essential in addressing the HRM objectives of maintaining the proper performance of standard procedures. The approach is useful in the standardized processes. Furthermore, Walmart adopts the process-oriented approach for the development of the training programs to serve the staff assigned the tasks of managing the supply chain and the inventory.
Besides the design phase, the delivery step is an essential process in the overall training process. There is the need for acknowledging that the provision of the training programs is dependent on the tasks involved and the job positions. In the delivery of the training programs, Walmart adopts the approaches that include discussions, on the job training and coaching. The commonly applied approach at Walmart is the discussions. In the debates, the objective of the HRM is to ensure delivery of the core knowledge to its employees. For instance, the training coordinators and their trainees discuss the details regarding new strategies of the company and products as well. The on the job training is adequate for equipping the regular sales employees, supervisors, and other managerial positions. The HRM of Walmart’s aim in the adoption of this approach is ensuring effectiveness in the delivery of the firsthand experience in the execution of the tasks associated with specific job positions. Additionally, the company adopts the coaching approach for both the supervisory and managerial positions. The method entails the senior managers of Walmart coaching the newly promoted supervisors or managers to provide orientation to the new job positions. The objective of the HRM in the adoption of the coaching approach is ensuring success in passing the personal knowledge and insights from the assigned coaches to their trainees.
The last phase of the training entails evaluation. There is the necessity for evaluating the training programs to assess their effectiveness in the achievement of the organizational objectives (citation). Walmart ensures evaluation of its training programs to facilitate the determination of their effectiveness, which is essential in the provision of guidance to the HRM in the improvement of the training programs. The purpose of the evaluation applies to all the training programs of the company despite the emphasis on the personnel in the sales and supply chain management.
The HRM of Walmart tends to focus more on the attainment of the organizational objectives hence result oriented. Consequently, the company employs the Kirkpatrick Hierarchical Model in the evaluation of its training programs. The model facilitates the capabilities of the organization to collect information that include the trainee’s learning, reactions, and notable changes in their behaviors. The firm then ensures evaluation of the results of the training program that entail the new knowledge, skills, and the rate of learning of the trainees. Additionally, in the assessment of the effectiveness of the training programs Walmart uses the sales performance as the tool for evaluation. The feedback from both the supervisors and employees on the sales performance play a critical role in the assessment. The feedback obtained from the customers as well essential in facilitating the evaluation of the success of the employee training programs organized by the firm.
Significance of the training process to Walmart
The training program presents a perfect opportunity for the organization to ensure the expansion of the knowledge base of its employees. Despite the characterization of the training program with numerous challenges that include its costly nature both financially and in terms of time, the program adds some benefits to the organization. The training programs ensure there is an improvement in the employee performance. The employees entitled to proper training can perform their tasks efficiently. The training equips the employees with the skills essential to ensuring a better understanding of their responsibilities hence building their confidence. The trust of the employees plays significant role in enhancing the overall performance of the organization hence creating a positive impact on the firm.
Additionally, the training programs play a critical role in improving the morale and employee satisfaction. The organizations’ capability to invest in the training program boosts the morale of the employees, as they feel valued. The training is essential for the creation of supportive workplace. Invoking the feeling of challenge and appreciation on the workers through the provision of the training opportunities ensures they feel satisfied towards their tasks.
The training program is essential in addressing the weaknesses of the employees in their workplace. The training program plays a critical role in strengthening the skills necessary for the attainment of improvement in the status of the employees. The training programs bring the employees at the same level through their equipment with similar skills and knowledge
