Walmart Coachings: There is hope!

Walmart’s “Coaching” Policy

    If you are a Walmart employee, odds are you have come across Walmart’s coaching policy, or maybe you have been coached yourself. You might have questions about how the coaching policy actually works. Hopefully, this will help fill in the blanks.

Here are some questions that you need to be asking yourself:

1. What is a coaching?
2. How does it affect me as a Walmart employee?
3. Can I bounce back after a coaching?
4. How does Walmart’s disciplinary policy differ from other major retailers?

If you have further questions, please check out this link: http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Walmart-RVW153121.htm

Now, since this is a blog I am going to be moving on to my personal opinion. After your second coaching, the company freezes you in your current position for a year. This means you can't promote, you can't transfer stores, or switch your job in your current store (from my understanding you can switch jobs at this point, only if it is a pay grade below your current position). You aren't even aloud to get a copy of your own coaching, detailing why management issued your coaching in the first place; however, management does inform you what you are being coached for, you just don't have access to their comments and your own discipline records. If you do try to acknowledge your interest in another position of a higher pay grade on the Career Preference Dashboard, located on the Walmart Wire, (Even if you have already passed the leadership assessment) the in-store website will inform you that you have an active coaching and will not allow you to continue. This can be quite heartbreaking, especially if a member of management has already come to you personally, to ask if you were interested in the position in the first place.

A coaching can be a very aggravating event, especially after #2. Though you do have to stick it out for a whole year; once that year is over, you get a fresh start and those coachings are not held over your head for the rest of your career. I suppose that Corporate Walmart theorizes that if an employee can stick with it for a whole year, that employee should be motivated not to repeat his actions that got him coached in the first place. I do believe that coachings should last only 6 months. A year is unheard of with most other companies. I wonder if corporate employees are held to the same standards, or if they get a clean pass for knowing the right people. It's hard to say, but I have placed it upon myself to grow with this company and help others do the same. I love the challenge retail work provides; not many people can stick with it before moving to another company. I don't agree with everything Walmart does; however, if you come to work on time, do your best and learn the system, it's pretty easy to move up the ladder. If Walmart is reading this, I hope they consider moving the time employees are frozen from one year, to six months, or maybe find another way for an employee to break out of that coaching if that employee works for it. I enjoy and take pride in my work, but I also care for the people I work with. I want this blog to be helpful for all Walmart employees.

Take your first verbal coaching as a time to reflect on what you need to improve and fix it. Try not to dwell on if your manager was right or wrong. A good manager will never punish a good employee for doing his job the right way. Just do your best to be at work and be there on time. Give 110% and everything will be okay.

Thank you for reading!

Update:

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Let me know if you got anything out of it too. It's good for discussion.