Walmart has so far built a global brand and has become the world’s largest retailer as well as a private employer. The company has created a highly profitable business which is focused on a low-cost strategy for its consumers. This low-cost strategy requires efficiencies on matters of logistics to the point of creating a competitive advantage for the company. Walmart as has stores all over the United States and other fourteen countries around the world. It has become a successful multinational corporation because of aspects of the business such as cost advantage, pricing strategies, and aggressive corporate strategies. The company has managed to outline aspects of diversity which in one way or the other has contributed to its success in the global arena. Diversity in the workplace should not be understood as just a tool aimed at impressing by having prospective minority hires. Generally, companies which have a wider range of employees tend to have a broader set of experiences, skill sets, and points of view. All these aspects if combined and coupled with better human resource management culminates into the company having a competitive advantage over its competitors. However, many employers have not yet unraveled the mystery behind the benefits of diversity in the workforce. Walmart does not fall under this category since it has been critical n assuming a diversified workforce.
Companies should understand that employing a diverse workforce is not only the right thing but is best for business. In a way, good intentions are one thing but hiring and promoting men and women with varied ethnic, racial, sexual orientation and religious backgrounds is another thing altogether. To achieve this, companies need to show diverse faces (Kampf, 2007). Having different faces say, African American, Hispanic, and Asian all in the workforce gives a positive impression to the customers and furthers the global agenda of the company. Additionally, organizations need to make diversity part of their strategic plans. In this manner, the management should assume direct responsibility for implementing these strategies so as to be successful.
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Diversity means the presence of people with different genders, cultures, races, religion, affinity orientations, and nationality among others in a company. Walmart, in its 2013 Global Responsibility Report, mentions that diversity is one of its key aspirations and quite essential for its success. The company strives so much to have a diversified workforce so as to cater to its global visions and missions. This is evident from the 2003 to 2013 report whereby it is reported that since 2003, the company has increased in its diversity headcount in the United States alone. Statistics indicate that women have increased to approximately 50% of the workforce. There has been an increase of Asians by 286%, Hispanics by 192%, and African Americans by 163%. Additionally, the company has increased its United States associates by plus 48% Asians, plus 46% African Americans and plus 45% Hispanics. Further, the company has had over five thousand associates being promoted to the positions of store managers and among this number, 29% are women and another 24% are people of color. In addition, reports show that in the year 2013, Walmart had seventy percent new hires which comprised primarily of millennials.
Based on the above statistics it is clear that Walmart has made significant efforts towards diversification of the workforce more than ever. A critical point to be noted is that the company has not only focused on diversity in terms of race, gender, culture or race but has also taken into keen consideration diversity in terms of age. Basically, there has been an increased diversity with regard to the company’s associates and officers. The promotions which have also been outlined by the company have increased diversity in the context of having more people of color as well as women in higher positions. The new hires as well which are primarily comprised of the younger generation have created more diversity in terms of age. In this manner, Walmart ranks among the top companies to achieve greater levels of diversity both in local and global perspectives.
At Walmart, diversity has become the foundation for a sustainable and all-inclusive business which in many ways embraces, develops and respects associates, customers, and partners. In this manner, the company focuses on partnering with communities which a primary focus on building an all-inclusive supplier base. Walmart has so far been able to achieve these objectives by having effective human resources to manage its operations. Another aspect to note with regard to the success of Walmart is that the workforce is not unionized and as such it is the responsibility of the company to takes all measures of employee benefits and again provide them with necessary training on issues related. In addition, the company outlines a number of initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. Such efforts include recruiting from universities and colleges which have considerable multicultural populations.
Reference
Kampf, C. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: WalMart, Maersk and the cultural bounds of representation in corporate websites. Corporate Communications: An International Journal , 12 (1), 41-57.
