Sam Walton has been called a motivational genius for his drive to get the sales associate more involved within the corporation. He did this by offering the hourly employee profit sharing, incentive bonuses, and stock options, in an effort to share the wealth. Considering the fact that Walmart's labor practices are under severe questioning, I don't think there is much, if any, profit sharing going on these days. When I shop at my local Walmart store, which is very seldom, the employees there don't look too motivated if you ask me. So it seems that Sam's legacy as a motivational genius wasn't carried onward after his death. .
The "Walmart Way"" was Sam's vision of the way the Walmart culture needed to be in order to succeed. He stated that the customer should feel at home when shopping at Walmart. The cultural responsibilities of Walmart under Sam were to "exceed customer expectations" and "help people make a difference." Sam was also a big advocate of the ten-foot rule, meaning every time a customer came within ten feet of an associate, the associate would greet the customer and ask if they needed help. I feel as though none of that has an impact on the associates and the community. I'm sure the Walmart Way is written in the employee handbook, which is a required reading of all new associates. .
Even though these new employees read about the Walmart Way and hear about, I think it is completely disregarded because I see no effort to exceed customer expectations or to help people make a difference. Having shopped at Walmart before, I can say from experience that in no way does the store and its employees exceed my expectations. The store is always a mess and it is extremely difficult to track down an associate when I need help finding something. As for the community, I think that it really says something about your business model when certain towns, such as Steamboat Springs, don't want you to construct a new store in their town.
