Mary Raddant

Investing in Walmart’s People Partner talent is one of the most rewarding parts of my role! Today, nearly 400 store, market, and regional People Partners across the Southwest BU spent time collaborating on our quarterly #InvestInTheBest program focused on strengthening talent management capabilities! Tied to SHRM’s Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge (BASK), it was tremendous to hear how Market People Partners Noe Cantu, T.C. Wilson, SHRM-CP, and Anthony Agnew are attracting and cultivating talent within their stores and markets! And, when you have amazing People Leads engaged and sharing best practices like today, we know it is helping others find solutions for their situations! #SamWalton said it best: “If you want the people in the stores to take care of the customers, you have to make sure you’re taking care of the people in the stores.” Focusing on attracting and cultivating talent helps us make sure we are taking care of our store associates! I am so proud to see the number of SWBU People Partners earning a credentialed skill that will stay with them forever! Next up is Q3’s focus on Digital Intelligence! Let’s go! #TeamWalmart #OurPeopleMakeTheDifference #BestPlaceToWork #YouBelong #apathforeveeyone #StriveForExcellence

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Walmart has removed degree requirements from most of our jobs, with over 75% of our U.S. roles now not requiring a degree.    We are collaborating with The Burning Glass Institute and other leading companies in the Skills-First Workforce Initiative, such as Bank of America, Blackstone, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, PepsiCo and Verizon. Our skills-first approach aims to open up career opportunities, meet employer talent needs and strengthen the economy. The framework will be open source and available to all U.S. employers by September 2025.    Our initial focus is on the nine most prevalent job roles across various sectors, which collectively account for over 11 million American jobs. By creating a shared language, or taxonomy, for assessing and valuing skills, we can promote the widespread adoption of this hiring approach.    Read more here: 

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This is a great article that can also translate to employee loyalty and the importance of companies understanding what drives their workforce. #Retention "Consistency, authenticity and accountability are non-negotiables in earning and maintaining true loyalty. Brands that demonstrate integrity in their actions and communicate transparently with consumers will set themselves up for success."

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A really insightful read, a wonderful capture of why great leadership matters. https://lnkd.in/gmBu3Xum

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Leadership is at the core….clearly articulated impacts, and quick read.

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Implementing personal accountability transforms leadership. Learn practical steps from The Oz Principle and QBQ! to foster a proactive and accountable culture in your team. Learn to ask empowering questions that drive better results. You, too, can begin building your own personal accountability system. #Leadership #PersonalAccountability #RetailManagement #EffectiveLeadership #TeamCulture #ProfessionalDevelopment

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Great Bloomberg op-ed on why investing in retail store leaders is good for business. I love Andrea’s callout that big investments can raise eyebrows with analysts – like increasing our average Walmart store manager salary to $128,000/year with a new bonus program that gives store managers the potential to earn up to 200% of their base salary. But in the long run, she shows how these types of investments support retention, career growth, better run stores, strong stock value, and our ability to attract a broader range of customers.   Here are a couple of studies that stood out to me in Andrea’s piece: 💠 A 2012 study by Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at the London Business School (then at Wharton School), found that firms on Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work for in America,” which have superior employee satisfaction scores on factors including pay and benefits, outperformed peers by 2.3-3.8% per year from 1984 through 2011. 💠 A follow-up study by Hamid Boustanifar, associate professor at the EDHEC Business School, and Young Dae Kang of the Bank of Korea found that the relationship still held: companies on the publication’s list earned an excess return of 2-2.7% per year through 2020, with particular outperformance during tough times.   At the end of the day, these investments also support the ability to build a pipeline of strong talent that stays and grows with a company. We want Walmart to be seen as an employer of choice and pay plays a big part in how we attract and retain talented people. #Compensation #TeamWalmart https://lnkd.in/gPVdAYG4

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We should reconsider the assertive march to “productivity gains” when arguing for faster and broader implementation of AI. U.S. productivity has risen robustly over the past year, reflecting a short-term gain — but there’s just not enough evidence the gain is due to anything related to AI. To me productivity is not where both the short-term and long-term gains are with AI. Instead, I’ve been linking AI transformation to how it makes work better for humans. When linking AI to helping craft better human outcomes such as career opportunity, equity and belonging, purpose and meaning, joyful work, skills development, and psychological safety you don’t need to worry about productivity. You will gain in customer satisfaction, growth and profit, innovation, efficiency, speed, and quality, etc. Let’s stop conflating AI with just productivity. AI promises much more for the future of work.

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Grocery Outlet recorded $1.04 billion in net sales during its first quarter of fiscal year 2024, a 7.4% year-over-year increase, the discounter reported Tuesday. The company’s comparable store sales increased 3.9% during the period compared with the same quarter last year. #retailtech #groceryretail #retailtransformation

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🎙 Just listened to this episode today. Check out Leadr new podcast. Here are some takeaways for leaders: 💎 "Your job is to pick the four or five things that really need to move in your organization and move those things deliberately and consciously over time." 💎 "You prioritize your schedule as a leader. Prioritize not the firefighting. You ought to have a team on whom you rely for firefighting 🔥 activities but you should be prioritizing making sure your understanding of what is happening in your organization, what's moving your organization whether it is going in the direction you want." 💎 "Find out what is actually happening with your customers, venders and frontline workers. People at headquarters are just going to tell you what you want to hear not what is actually going on. 😯 What do you think? Comment below. 👇

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This segment will continue to grow, it’s just a matter of convenience. The challenge is filling orders properly and substituting where applicable, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used this service and the person filling the order just really didn’t care. Retailers need to pick the right technology and train the shoppers and then train the shoppers again and again. How do you provide great customer service in e-commerce, by making it personal for the customer.

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When change happens, and your team asks for more training, it might not be the solution. Clarify expectations and explore ways to support their development. Create practice sessions, observe and coach, and encourage storytelling to reinforce new standards and inspire growth. Empower your team to succeed by understanding their real needs. #Leadership #Retail #TeamDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement #ContinuousImprovement

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Building a winning retail team is all about the fundamentals: hiring right, training effectively, and treating your team with genuine care. Lee Cockerell, retired EVP of Walt Disney World has also listed these as keys to his success. In today’s fast-paced environment, these steps make all the difference between thriving and simply surviving. #leadership #hiring #staffing #development #training #team #RetailLeadership #TeamBuilding #EffectiveLeadership”

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Target reported a rather soft first quarter, with declines in sales and revenue that reflect overall shopping habits. Although the retailer didn’t open the year with a bang, it is setting up for growth later in the year through new initiatives and, hopefully, in a more conducive selling environment. #retailsales #target

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Executive Leaders across Retail have two types of customer that they must consider when it comes to building their brand’s revenue generating and cost-saving strategies and roadmaps. Their external customers - their brand’s consumers. And, their internal customers - their internal people. It’s easy to be swayed toward investing far more heavily in customer-facing technologies. Because these generate revenue through enticing and encouraging consumers to purchase your product(s) - and customer experience and the customer journey is key in making this happen. But investing in non customer-facing technologies, and fostering a strong learning and development environment, is essential in enabling your internal customers to carry out their jobs in the most efficient, effective and enjoyable ways - and also in ensuring that the service offered to the external customer is seamless and positive. Top-line and bottom-line growth, and improved customer and employee experience, will come from focussing and strategically investing in both sets of customers. #retail #transformation

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