Sunday, February 9, 2014

"Lee Scott [WM CEO from 2000-2009] instituted a [culture] where you could not question the company's direction or offer critical feedback to the leadership. Years ago on our company intranet site, he had something I believe was called 'Ask Lee.' It was basically a place you could ask him a question and he would respond. I remember a Store Manager asked Lee Scott why Walmart didn't offer its store associates a pension program so they could have the ability to retire. Lee Scott blasted this store manager for asking this question and I was quite surprised that he even allowed this example to be posted. None the less 'Ask Lee' was eliminated and I wouldn't be surprised if so was the store manager. This mentality extends all the way down to the lowest level of the company. I could never send an honest feedback such as this email to anyone of authority at Walmart without being retaliated. I've seen it many times. We even had a 50 year celebration last year and each district was to send salary managers to a open forum discussion. Guess what the direction was, 'Select managers that are positive' and it was understood you were not to 'complain' about anything. Your market manager and store manager were present for these meetings."

learning point

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