Case Studies

Case: Everyday High-Performance at Walmart

Thomas Craig Williams, Ph.D., joined Walmart in 2008 as vice president, global organizational effectiveness for Walmart’s Global People Division. He recently shared with GDSI some thoughts about the retail giant’s past successes and future challenges.

Walmart is the number-one retailer in the world. Why on earth does it need to improve its effectiveness?

When I joined Walmart last year, there were a number of different corporate HR teams throughout the company focused on various aspects of organizational effectiveness. By integrating these into a single function, Walmart aimed to achieve greater coherence and synergy. It is our intention to learn and continuously improve our business.

What is Walmart’s biggest challenge?

Being able to move at the speed of retail. Think about the size and scale of Wal-Mart. We have over two million associates globally, and we’re continuing to grow.  There are a large number of initiatives and opportunities on the table. The challenge is to set the right priorities and move quickly. In the organizational effectiveness (OE) area, we’re pressed to keep up with—and ahead—of the business.

What’s your thumbnail definition of OE?

It focuses on bringing together three factors: work processes, structure, and talent. Think of them as a three-legged stool, which serves as the foundation for associate engagement and business results. We have a laser-like focus on bringing these three elements together to synergistically create the most efficient, effective organization for delivering business results.

Is any one element of the three elements more important than others?

They are all critically important, but with good organizational design form does follow function. When leaders get together to restructure their organization, they often start with boxes and lines and then move them around. They miss the key question: Here are the critical processes; now how can we best structure the organization to align people and process to drive results? 

Does OE as you define it exist in a broader context at Walmart?

Absolutely. What drives Walmart is its purpose: Helping people save money so they can live better. That overall purpose drives business strategy and everything we do.  And, speaking of values, Sam Walton built his company around three basic beliefs that remain the cornerstone of Walmart: respect for the individual; service to our customers—understanding and meeting their needs; and striving for excellence—experimentation, learning, rapid innovation and execution.

How do Walmart’s purpose and basic beliefs tie back to OE?

We move from purpose and beliefs to business strategy: What’s our competitive advantage now, and what will it likely be going forward?  What does this say about products, markets, capabilities, and growth and return expectations? Then we address the question: How do we ensure that the three legs of the OE stool deliver results.

What drives Walmart’s strategy?

Growth through knowing our customers and delivering what they need. The challenge for us is to translate Walmart’s purpose into significant expansion both in current and new markets. We are currently active in 15 markets outside the United States. Our aim is to remain on the path to developing and growing as a truly global retail organization.

What’s your approach for developing high-performing leaders and teams across Walmart’s global platform?

The process of building and aligning horizontal, high-performance teams is not a stand-alone intervention. It is integrated into the OE and design processes. Our aim is to create a high-performance environment, which includes everything from having the right operating model, processes, and structures in place, to having the right people sitting in the right chairs, to making sure that teams are aligned and have protocols in place to guide behavior and decision making.

What’s Walmart’s secret to success?

Several things come to mind. Walmart is adept at identifying opportunities that competitors overlook. We are fiercely experimental. Sam Walton termed it “swimming upstream.” We’ve proven to be quick and effective swimmers! We execute with discipline and precision. And Walmart is a learning organization, which means we never sit back and rest on our laurels. 

For example?

At the end of any given business quarter, you’ll find the top team meeting on a Saturday to discuss results. Even when the quarter has been exceptionally strong, we spend significant time talking about what we can learn from our efforts and the opportunities we have to improve.

After a year at Walmart, what’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

I’m riding on the shoulders of giants— including the strong culture and powerful values articulated clearly, simply, and continually by Sam Walton. I’ve learned to appreciate what built Walmart and made it successful. My job is to work within that framework, leverage the values, and continue to ensure that people who shop at Walmart save money and live better.