Introduction
Walmart is a global corporation from America that comprises of a huge chain of warehouses and discount department stores. During 2010, the firm serves as the biggest public corporation worldwide in terms of revenue. Sam Walton founded the company in 1962. The headquarters of the firm are situated in Bentonville, Arkansas while it serves as the biggest grocery retainer and employer within the U.S. (Glassdoor Team, 2013) . During 2009, the company realized profits amounting to 51 percent of its $258 billion within the U.S. from its grocery enterprise. Additionally, the corporation owns as well as operates Sam’s Club. Walmart also has stores in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, United Kingdom, and India (Caraway, 2016) . However, the organization has faced numerous lawsuits and issues pertaining to its employees. The issues revolve around poor conditions of working low wages, insufficient healthcare, and stringent anti-union policies (Logan, 2014) . As such, the firm experiences high rates of employee turnover since the workforce is unhappy with its policies. For the paper, therefore, it discusses how Walmart manages its labor/employee relations.
Walmart Management of Employee Relations
The management of labor/employee relations at Walmart is poor. For instance, numerous ethical issues have prevailed owing to the refusal by the company to promote women to positions of management. The high rate of employee turnover at the corporation results from declined employee morale and the ever-rising workload. Beyond the company, Walmart faces negative perceptions forcing it to rely on advertising and the media in an effort to rebuild it (Collins, 2015) . The firm has also faced numerous lawsuits for many years while spending millions of dollars trying to address them. The failure of the management to follow the policies by the company in dealing with the workforce has led to further alienation of the workforce since they do not feel appreciated or respected (The Washington Post, 2018) . The employees usually focus on doing their own things, which ends affecting productivity.
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A major issue surrounding employee relations at Walmart is one of miscommunication. Lack of communication or miscommunication in identifying the problems that the employees face has affected the operations of the company negatively. Since Walmart does not support unions, the employees lack a means of having their problems resolved (Garrick, 2014) . In this case, a need prevails for the management and employees of the company to come together to discuss the problems meaningfully and address the issues. However, the major question in this case revolves around ideal ways of bringing the two conflicting parties together to resolve problems and the recommendations that need implementing (The Atlantic, 2019) . This is because Walmart deploys a mechanistic structure that follows stringent rules and policies.
Management View on Employee/Labor Relations
In the viewpoint of the managers of the organization, it is crucial to have a means of ensuring that employee/labor relations keep going within the company. For instance, Walmart might consider improving the manner in which it handles its engagement with officials and communities with increased flexibility while laying major emphasis on local concerns (Fine, 2015) . For instance, it might focus on revising its wage plan, institute flexibility in the design of its stores, and communicate in a timely manner with the society in which it operates. It also needs to ensure that it establishes workable partnerships and strategic alliances with the local community and enterprises (Li & Liu, 2018) . The experiences by Walmart in communities that welcome it would contribute to growth of positive interactions between them in the future.
Walmart managers stipulate that associating with a broader societal system would facilitate dynamicity and interactivity. The planners at the organization should comprehend the change process within the organization as well as in the broader society (Lichtenstein, 2014) . They should also have increased understanding of the initial principle of the firm in line with how it as evolved over time (Loomis, 2018) . Furthermore, they should comprehend the manner in which changes have emerged within the marketplace, the society, and the industry in which the company operates (Hocquelet & Schoch, 2014) . Presently and in the coming years, the senior corporate executives should remain at the forefront in leading through taking initiative to boost relationship that would emerge beneficial to its diverse stakeholders.
Realizing the action would not be possible in the event that the management remains preoccupied by manipulating and controlling the groups. Leading using conventional industrial approaches of attaining more power and practicing brute force would not boost relationships. In this sense, such kinds of behaviors need reconsidering irrespective of the prevailing notion that is regarded legal and characterized by forces and premises of pure competition and free economy. In this perspective, Walmart should lay considerable emphasis in taking care of the needs of its workforce (Gillem, 2018) . It should lay emphasis in inspiring, motivating, and taking care of the workforce, which would translate to efficient and effective customer service.
During certain times, in the diverse areas of organizational operations, particularly in huge enterprises, such as Walmart, this form of emphasis towards individuals is not considered. The organization should not forget that collaborating with the employees served as among the principles of the company’s founder. Walmart has managed to promote its principle of opening stores to communities successfully by availing low prices for all individuals and hundreds of employees (Fine, 2015) . Nonetheless, people presently understand that not all jobs are created equal while Walmart is a clear illustration of hobs that do not assist individuals in maintaining their families. As such, the management of the organization should focus on attending to the issue in an effective manner. It should ensure that it avails jobs that challenge and inspire its employees while at the same time providing them with openings for exercising innovativeness (Glassdoor Team, 2013) . This way, they would be happy and show increased enthusiasm for the duties assigned to them while increasing the motivation for boosting performance.
Employees View on Treatment by Organization
At Walmart, employees express various opinions regarding the ways they feel the company treats them. For instance, the work that they handle usually varies on a daily or seasonal basis. The firm avails distinct jobs with individuals having the opportunity of shifting between them easily. The corporation has a system that allows individuals to pursue jobs based on their preferences meaning that the employees can be considered for a position once it becomes open. The employees also need to deal with many distinct managers while the managers at the store usually express fears for the people at the top positions (Mitchell, 2015) . Certain employees feel that the system works for them regarding it as a good thing.
Understaffing is an issue at Walmart. In this sense, some employees feel that their team lack sufficient assistance or equipment for pursuing the jobs accorded to them. The lack of adequate staff serves as a major reason as to why various cash registers remain unmanned during busy periods. The available workforce deals with numerous customers, which is a companywide. The issue of understaffing from the front end to the sales floor has influenced the store tremendously (Cain, 2019) . However, the understaffing problem also brings certain benefits in that certain employees are able to work more hours to generate additional income.
In the event of Walmart, nonetheless, it does not support the idea of employees unionizing. As such, the employees have been forced to follow the guidelines of the company, which have undermined the efforts of the employees in various ways, such as through extra work hours, reduced pay, and incidences of discrimination in the workplace among other issues. Due to these issues, the employees of the company should consider establishing a body that can represent their grievances within the organization. This way, they would be able to raise complaints and ensure that their issues are addressed. These would translate to improved performance among the workforces and positive customer experience at the company.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Walmart serves as a global organization that has realized tremendous growth in different parts of the world. However, when it comes to employee relations, the organization has lagged behind, particularly when it comes to matters related to low wages, insufficient healthcare, and stringent anti-union policies. To ensure that the company continues being productive, it should ensure to lay emphasis on the interests of its employees, which would translate to better customer service and improved performance of the company. Walmart should make sure to institute policies that cater for the welfare of its employees, including adequate pay and opportunities for listening to the grievances of the workforce. In this manner, it would be possible to have happy employees who would contribute toward the success of the firm.
References
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