This article talks about how Walmart hasn’t updated their management style to keep up with today’s customers.  I would suggest that it’s not just Walmart, but the majority of retailers who don’t get it either.  As the writer says, customers are focused on convenience and good service, and cutting hours (both store hours and labor hours) push things in the absolute opposite direction.

I’ll give Walmart credit for improving employee wages, although in many cases the employees who were given raises had their hours cut so they really didn’t come out ahead.   My company does the hours cut thing without even giving the raise, so it could be worse.  Unless these big companies wake up and realize that their most important asset is their employees who actually work with the customers, they are doomed to fail to online sales and companies that do.

  For decades, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) enjoyed a reputation for many things. Large stores. Everyday low prices. Superb logistics. And hard bargaining tactics with small manufacturers.

That’s how Walmart turned into the world’s largest retailer, with sales that account for close to 3 percent of the US economy – and made many early investors rich, including founder Sam Walton and his heirs.

But in recent years, Walmart’s business model has been challenged on several fronts. Its large stores, which worked nicely in rural areas, do not fit well in big cities. Especially overseas, where regulations limit retail store size.

And its everyday low price pledge has been challenged by online retailers like Amazon.

Then there’s the poor quality of customer service, some commentators brought up in a vibrant dialogue about Walmart’s business model that started a couple weeks ago here.
One source of Walmart’s service problem appears to be lack of employee training. That’s why we suggested that Walmart shut down for 24 hours to hold training sessions for its employees.

But there appears to be another challenge, more fundamental, for Walmart — management’s failure to connect with customer:

 

“ ‘Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely’,” writes one commentator. “There are many managers, in addition to the Manager. Problem perhaps is the management at middle level, who wield their absolute power, and cannot see the importance of simple matters such as customer service.”

“Most workers learn by guessing,” writes another commentator. “In case none of you noticed try to get a manager paged in a Walmart. You could be there all day. This leaves the workers holding the bag and yes they are held accountable. So what you say is lack of intelligence is actually a worker trying to make an effort to assist you in something that they know nothing about. But they know no one else will show up to answer your question. It is ungrateful people like you that they should have just ignored, Moron.”

That’s why closing the stores for a number of hours won’t fix Walmart’s problem.

“No, closing for 24 hours and trying to fix shop wouldn’t do much for this shell of a corporation,” writes a third commentator. “They should probably fire the entire board and CEO, close till they can come up with a realistic business strategy, completely change their name and logo, and hire someone that knows about aesthetics and decor to clean up their disgusting stores, and move every location. That would take some time, but who forget the damage brought on by this nasty, rotting company? “

I wouldn’t go that far. But I will agree with another commentator, who argues that Walmart failed to keep up with changes in the retail environment. “ I think the core of what killed Wal-Mart was their slow reaction to change. They forgot that buyers’ behavior has changed. The business landscape has also changed rapidly. What worked this year may not work next year. We now have zero tolerance for inconvenience of any sort. Competition is high everywhere you turn. Lately, organizational change, management and transformation have become permanent features of the business landscape. Vast new markets and labor pools have opened up, they are lean, mean and ever ready to swallow the big players. Innovative technologies have put once-powerful business models on the public chopping block, and capital flows and investor demand have become less predictable. To meet these challenges, big organizations need to become more sophisticated in the best practices for organizational change management.”

Apparently, the managerial revolution that has swept the American enterprise world missed Walmart.

That’s why someone must talk to Walmart about modern management.

 

Source:  Forbes.com