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A day in the life of a Walmart manager

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Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#151

Post by mickael-kerjean »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #93
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in software engineering it’s “easier” to be higher level (staff, principal) because your output is more fluid, you delegate more, and command more respect. Yet the vast majority of engineers are incapable of reaching those levels because they don’t seem to have the mindset for it. So I’m not sure I agree with this, it seems to just be selection bias.

They are incapable of reaching those levels because they are never given the chance to develop those skills, or to even exhibit them. There just arent that many opportunities

not sure why you are getting downvoted, this is exactly my experience as well. In 5 years working on my own gig, I have developed more skills not only in sales, marketing and engineering than 12 years as a pure software engineer in the industry

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#152

Post by geraldwhen »

Tostino wrote: post #15
dewey wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of a very interesting interview I've listened to a while ago (It was posted on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38924101 ): https://inpractise.com/articles/aldi-culture-and-operations-... There they talk about the Aldi culture and how "walking into management" isn't possible there, as everyone goes through the ranks of a store. That means of course that hiring someone from outside is almost no…

I honestly respect companies with that attitude way more than your standard American company culture.

I wish more operated this way. No matter how well you do, or what you accomplish, you will never be as successful ($$$$) as someone who joined a women’s leadership club right after their MBA and never worked a real job in their life.

Promoting from within forces you to actual reward value and understand the business.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#153

Post by throwaway2037 »

bee_rider wrote: post #106
wmoser wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would think so. I was working on an oil rig and they made a big deal about ‘management by walking about.’ So the heads of each of the departments were supposed to go and check ONE job their charges were working on that day. They were supposed to write a short report about what they observed. This was too much for them so they quickly got in trouble from shore-based management for not filling out their reports. So…

That’s sort of different stakes, right? In your case your direct managers decided to prioritize not doing their jobs over some pretty important stuff—your personal safety and the damage the oil rig could do to the environment if something went wrong. In the case of walking the floor in a store it is just aesthetics mostly.

    > In the case of walking the floor in a store it is just aesthetics mostly.
To be clear, when you wrote "aesthetics" do you mean (a) presenteeism (seeing the boss) or (b) cleanliness/tidiness of a retail store?

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#154

Post by throwaway2037 »

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #81
icedchai wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would be like asking the average corporate "software development manager" to actually look at the code/product developed by his reports. Except for early stage startups where the person is truly in a player/coach role, it rarely happens.

That's exactly what they should be doing though. Toyota calls it a "gemba walk" -- managers and even executives need to walk the factory floor and see problems with their own eyes, not through hearing reports. With software, the codebase is the gemba, not the office. Managers don't need to be writing code, but they should be reading it. Otherwise it's like a production manager who has never seen the inside of their o…

Would you compare "walking the floor" to doing some PRs or improving test coverage? Neither of these specifically delivery features, but they keep a close eye on the software.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#155

Post by noodlesUK »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #154
mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what they should be doing though. Toyota calls it a "gemba walk" -- managers and even executives need to walk the factory floor and see problems with their own eyes, not through hearing reports. With software, the codebase is the gemba, not the office. Managers don't need to be writing code, but they should be reading it. Otherwise it's like a production manager who has never seen the inside of their o…

Would you compare "walking the floor" to doing some PRs or improving test coverage? Neither of these specifically delivery features, but they keep a close eye on the software.

I would say getting a development environment up and running and running the test suite would usually be a great start. You’ll see pain points almost immediately if you just do those things.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#156

Post by throwaway2037 »

bee_rider wrote: post #83
havaloc wrote: post #10

"Walking every aisle is a new practice for store bosses in her area, implemented by their regional manager. It helps managers “see what your customers see,” says Hart, and pay attention to details. It also keeps her employees on their toes." I can't believe this wasn't policy already. Seems like good practice.

I don’t really understand what this looks like. I mean, when I worked in retail, I was at a place smaller than Walmart, so, maybe Walmart managers tend to be more hands off and need to make a show of actually knowing what’s going on in the store. But I’d typically get some instructions and then be left to clean up or stock things. Tidying up isn’t that complicated or high stakes. Normal people know what messy and cle…

    > My favorite managers were aware of what the store looked like and could say “tidy up the pillows” or whatever if something needed particular attention. But the manager that came by with attention to detail and an intention to keep me on my toes? Nah, that’s annoying.
I'm confused. What is the difference? It sounds like "eye of the beholder" kind of stuff, like micro-management vs high touch.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#157

Post by nexus2045 »

BLanen wrote: post #94
mvkel wrote: post #67

Credit to Walmart for creating an environment where a person can still love their job after years of service. That stuff can't be faked, even with a high salary. Before you say, "it's easy to say when you're getting paid $240K a year." Nah. A person needs challenge; a purpose. Lots of FANG ICs making $500K+ who hate their job. Why? No challenge or palpable purpose. To create a scaled corp structure where a person can…

> That stuff can't be faked, even with a high salary. Before you say, "it's easy to say when you're getting paid $240K a year." Nah. A person needs challenge; a purpose. Lots of FANG ICs making $500K+ who hate their job. Why? No challenge or palpable purpose. Something only someone with a high income would say. Contrary to all data and research and evidence.

Making 500-700k at a FAANG right now.

Money certainly makes me worry less, not complaining.

I still feel like a cog in a machine.

If anything, it further isolated all the problems in my life that money could never really solve.

Meaningful friendships, dating, self-control and discipline, self-esteem.

Before, I could go by telling myself the story that "if only I had X amount of income, I'd be happy".

Now, I don't have that excuse any more.

I stare at the mirror, still see the same person, and realize that no amount of money will help.

A nice problem to have I guess, but problems that have plagued me my entire life.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#158

Post by throwaway2037 »

mvkel wrote: post #134
vunderba wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Walmart have a disproportionately high number of employees taking advantage of food stamps due to suppressed wages? https://www.jwj.org/walmarts-food-stamp-scam-explained-in-on...

That article is from 2014. The average Walmart employee rate today is $17.06. And a non-zero amount of those employees can someday make a lot more. How many other companies of that size can say the same? I'm not saying it's not a problem, and not saying we shouldn't be trying so solve it. But are we talking about wage reform, or Walmart uniquely being a shithead? I read the article you linked and it feels like it's g…

    > How many other companies of that size can say the same?
This is a bit of a strawman argument. How many other companies exist on planet Earth of this size? Very few. And are you insinuating that Walmart is paying well because they want to? I doubt it. They are tried-and-tested mega corp that responds to labour market pressures. I don't attribute anything else to this level of pay. Finally, average isn't a good metric to use; median is more useful.

If we leave size aside, I would say that Starbucks and Whole Foods are very good employers and large.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#159

Post by throwaway2037 »

applied_heat wrote: post #54
karaterobot wrote: post #25

> “I love my job,” says Hart, but “it doesn’t turn off. That is one of the hard things about it.” I'm lucky that in my industry I can make a good living as an individual contributor, because having to actually think about my job when I'm not at my job sounds like a living nightmare.

There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off. Other jobs won’t call you off shift but if you just had to deal with something traumatic like a car wreck it’s hard to leave that at work as well.

    > There are a lot of jobs that are 24/7/365 without proper coverage from coworkers so people are always available and can’t turn off.
This comment is oddly specific. It reads like you are writing from personal experience. Besides emergency medicine, what else qualifies?

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#160

Post by riffic »

havaloc wrote: post #10

"Walking every aisle is a new practice for store bosses in her area, implemented by their regional manager. It helps managers “see what your customers see,” says Hart, and pay attention to details. It also keeps her employees on their toes." I can't believe this wasn't policy already. Seems like good practice.

walking the gemba
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