Just off the Top of My Head

Normally I put more than a few moments thought into something that I write. At least I try to, no matter what the end result may be. But today, I purposefully sat down with almost no thought given to what I was going to write. The reason? I wanted to have an impromptu grassroots meeting so to speak. That is to say, I wanted to see how many ideas I could come up with that would help The Mom&Pop Store Killer that is Walmart. First of all, they could do away with their crappy insurance and the people who work in that division could be added to other areas. I have said this before, take your pool of potential clients and shop for bids from the local area insurance salespeople. A win win situation of associates with decent insurance and local responsiveness would result. Second, when the store must cut hours, do it by percentages so that everyone feels the same pain. Third, have some sort of accountability. For everyone. Too many managers are able to slide around the fraternization rules, with no consequences. Many people seem to think that a labor union would be able to come in and wave its magic wand and fix everything. I don't necessarily believe that that would happen, but Walmart needs to have someone or something overseeing the situation, because whatever they have now, isn't cutting it. Fourth, when it comes to promotions and the inside track, I don't think that stores are able to effectively evaluate their own personnel. Too many brown -nosers and incompetent managers have been shined on to thinking that they know what they are doing. I don't think that could be further from the truth. Perhaps they could start an evaluation team that came in and assessed the potential hires without the bias that some Walmarts are famous for. Lastly, and keep in mind that I have only been considering this post for about ten minutes, I think that the best idea that Walmart could introduce is the shifting of managers every three years. Even if it's only to a different store in the same district, the revamping and "new blood" would do wonders for removing any appearance of favoritism in a particular store, and it would expose the managers to many other situations, thereby increasing their knowledge of the company. How could they lose? I'll let you know if I hear of any of these being implemented, and you can thank me later.