Responses were not compulsory but were stimulated through anonymity.
4.3. Findings
The customer survey conducted during the one week retrieved the following conclusions:
The customers are shopping at Wal-Mart due to the price value of the commodities
The customers find that the Wal-Mart employees are impolite and unhelpful
The interaction with the employees is the unpleasant part in shopping at Wal-Mart.
At the level of the employee survey, this revealed the following:
The employees were dissatisfied with the low salaries they received
The employees were dissatisfied with the long hours they had to work
The employees were dissatisfied with the rigidity of the positions
The employees were dissatisfied with their limited promotional opportunities
The employees had the sensation of doing a mechanic work, for minimum wage and with no future prospects for improvement.
5. Proposal
5.1. The recommendations
In light of the survey findings, it is recommended that the company developed and implemented a series of strategies aimed at increasing employee motivation and on the job satisfaction, which would subsequently materialize in superior service quality and superior customer satisfaction. Still, in the development of a human resource program, emphasis is placed on the dual satisfaction of the two imperative needs -- the reshaping of staff motivation and the preservation of low costs. With this objective in mind, the following agenda is proposed:
The preservation of the current salary levels in order to prevent major shifts in personnel expenditures
The offering of promotional opportunities. At this level, the company should commit to not hiring middle managers from outside the company, but to promoting from inside those employees which had revealed high skills and performances. This promotional opportunity would enhance morale and performances and foster a healthy sense of competition among the staff members (White, 2010).
The creation of flexible working schedules. This feature would allow the employees to better balance their professional responsibilities with those of their personal lives, leading ultimately to better employee morale (Schermerhorn, 2010)
The offering of training and development programs and opportunities. This fosters a sense of achievement...
This would address the issues of salary dissatisfactions, but would also allow the company to cap its personnel expenditures.
5.2. The schedule
The proposed schedule for the implementation of the HR program is as follows:
November 5 -- Adjustments and final approval of the program
November 6 -- Announcement of the program agenda to the employees
November 10 -- Development of the flexible schedule
November 15 -- The offering of training programs on sales consultancy
November 20 -- The observation of the employees to identify those with high skills and abilities
December 20 -- The analysis of the program results at the level of both employee morale as well as customer satisfaction; the offering of bonuses and promotional opportunities based on the observations made.
6. Advantages
The proposed plan has two major advantages. On the one hand, it addresses the problem of customer satisfactions in a deep manner, by accessing its roots and solving the grievances of the staff members. On the other hand, it attains this objective by engaging limited financial resources and not impacting the business model of Wal-Mart.
7. Conclusions
Wal-Mart is the number one retail destination across the United States. The current success of the firm is represented by the link between their business model and the price sensitivity of customers. Within the long-term however, this model might not still be applicable and the company would have to rely on other points of difference. One advantage could be offered by customer and employee satisfaction and the current proposal has designed a plan in this sense.
