Leading

1. What personality traits does Walmart look for in a job candidate? How might wrong perceptions lead managers to hire the wrong people?

Walmart is looking for job candidates who are extrovert. Individuals possessing this personality type are practical, appear affectionate, social and informal, are active and lively, and are good conversationalists. They prefer to choose the outdoor activities, tend to be essentially social-participating in various personal and social activities. Besides that, they also appear full of energy and tend to involve themselves in a variety of pursuits. They are generally good leaders of small and big groups. These individuals adapt easily to the learning towards post and are routine affected by the objects and events in the external world. What Walmart emphasizes is that they are not just selling their products but also their service. Thus, the job candidates must be ones who are extrovert and love to deal with customers. Another personality trait Walmart is looking for is being loyal to the company. Loyalty here means the job candidates must be dedicated in serving the company. They should have ability to deal with emergency cases in the interview test. Walmart also pays addition to applicant professional knowledge outside. However, Walmart still pay great attention to the development potential of the applicant because hehopesthe employees can with the high speed development of the company.

Hiring the wrong person can be devastating. For managers, hiring the right people is one of the most important things but still has managers mismanage the process. Managers often grab the first person who looks acceptable by swamped with the extra work a vacancy creates. In addition, managers who do the hiring can make important judgments based on very little information. Managers can make hiring decisions based on just a few minutes or an hour with an applicant. Besides, interviews might not provide opportunities for the applicant to demonstrate a sample of actual job performance. The work arena is a haven for wrong perceptions.

2. How would you characterize the leadership of Walmart founder Sam Walton?

Walmart embraces two types of leadership. The first one is known as participative leadership. Participative often called the democratic leadership style, participative leadership values the input of team members and peers, but the responsibility of making the final decision rests with the participative leader. Participative leadership can increases employee morale because employees make contributions to the decision-making process and it causes them to feel as if their suggestion matter. The participative leadership style can helps employees accept changes easily when the company needs to changes within the organization because they play a role in the process. It overcomes the challenges if the company needs to make a decision in a short period.According to the company’s “open door” policy. All associates are encouraged to share concerns, express ideas, and speak freely which help to improve daily operations. In return, they can expect managersto treat all discussions fairly with an open thinking. The policy is right out of Walton’s playbook. “Listen toyour associates,” Walton urged. “They’re the best idea generators.”

Walmart also embraces transformational leadership. The transformational leadership style depends on high levels of communication from management to achieve goals. Leaders enhance productivity and efficiency, and motivate employees through high visibility and communication. This leadership needs the involvement of management to achieve the goals. Leaders must focus on the big picture within an organization and delegate smaller tasks to the team to accomplish goals. For example, Walmart cheer is a powerful symbol of Walmart’s team spirit and business philosophy is rolled into one. The cheer comes from the ideas of Sam Wilton which get from watching workers perform a motivational cheer and group calisthenics at a Korean tennis ball factory. Sam Wilton knows his job as a leader to motivate their worker to be more efficient in their job to achieve the goal. He knows and understands the aim of his leadership which created that idea for his associate. To be a good manager, the pursuit of purpose with passion is important. The worker will not motivated and efficient in their work if the managers do not know their job. Leader must monitor the worker to do their job in a proper way and to make sure the worker achieve the goal.

3. What tools does Walmart use to motivate employees? How might a lack of motivation affect associates and how should managers respond?

The tools that Walmart use are “Give me a W! Give me an A! Give me an L! Give me a squiggly! Give me an M! Give an A! Give me an R! Give me a T! What’s that spell? Walmart! Whose Walmart is it? It’s my Walmart! Who’s number one? The customer! Always! The good times continue at Walmart, and so do hard work and achievement. For many employees, seeing peers rewarded for a job well done proves highly motivational. Executives at Walmart refer to the company as one big family. There are no grunts or gophers –no employee, no matter how new, is thought of as low person on the totem. According to the company’s “open door” policy, all associates are encouraged to speak freely, share concerns, and express ideas for improving daily operations. They practice grass-root ethic-people focused. They are respond directly and immediately to the needs and wishes of the people involved. “

An organization whose employees have low motivation is completely vulnerable to both internal and external challenges because its employees are not going the extra mile to maintain the stability of the organization. For an unstable organization, it ultimately underperforms. Lack of motivation equates to less work being accomplish. Productivity does not loss and it is usually transferred to aspects not related to the work of an organization. Things like internet surfing, personal conversations or taking longer lunches cost the organization money and time. A Reduced productivity can be destroy an organization’s performance and future success.Low employee motivation could be due to decreased success of the organization, negative effects from the economy or drastic changes or uncertainty within the organization. No matter what the cause, having the reputation of having an unpleasant work environment due to low employee motivation will ultimately impact how existing and potential clients or partners view working with the organization. A reputation will precede the organization and dictate its future in the industry.