WalMart Canada Reviews

Pros

My co-workers were really fantastic, which can make even a dull, mindless job okay sometimes. You also get experience working a cash register, and experience with customer service. Also, if you work enough hours throughout the fiscal year you will receive a bonus based on your store's profits.

Cons

Employees are over-worked and underpaid, and there really is not enough staff most of the time to deal with the customer load. This causes understandably upset customers to take out their frustrations on the employees, and I have witnessed a number of young people break down in tears because of angry customers. The management does not adequately recognize a job well done, and the words "thank you" are rarely heard.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop exploiting your employees, and adequately staff your stores. Profits are important, but increasing them at the expense of your employees creates a negative and tiring environment to work in.

Pros

Same as other big box retailers.. simple job, doesnt require much intelligence.. to be honest, its positively discouraged
Some very decent people there to work with, but not most

Cons

Very gossipy
Poor leadership and a lot of dishonesty
Frustrating lack of any willingness to improve
Horrible attitude and lack of respect from management towards employees
General atmosphere of distrust and an oppressive "watch what you say" feeling that is positively encouraged by the store manager

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees
Do what you promise, stop just paying lip service
Take "strive for excellence" and "respect for the indivudual" seriously, instead of using them as a reason to mistreat people

Pros

Higher wage than other chain stores. Overtime is 1.5x which is also good. Good place for students to start working.

Cons

Large company means that workers often just become a number. Chances of promotion are low and pay raise is also low.

Pros

- Made some great friends

Cons

- Worked there for almost 3 years, received 50 cents in raises
- Very gossipy
- Management not great

Advice to Senior Management

LISTEN to your associates!

Pros

pay on time and with some limited benefit..

Cons

more responsibility, more accountability, no respect, not very helpful and less percentage of wages increase.

Advice to Senior Management

less pick on associate in-order to satisfy one needed. Listen and trust your associates respect them as a valuable asset of the company.

Pros

The people that work with you are great and there some nice managers and higher level staff. They are flexible on when to take breaks for certain departments.

Cons

Managers tend to think little of the associates. Not enough respect between management and store staff. Chances of moving up the ladder are very minimal.

Advice to Senior Management

Learn to treat employees with respect and kindness.

Pros

Lots of locations so can work variety of places

Cons

Low pay. I feel they could offer a more competitive pay and better benefits to all of their employees they have

Advice to Senior Management

Take charge and succeed

Pros

Walmart is a very large organization so there is opportunity to move around the world (perhaps limited within Canada..read the cons). They have strong financial stability and were handing out bonuses during recession. They are in a position where they win regardless of economic pressures. The associates for the most part (Managers and below) were ok to work with although a good chunk are from the older gen so are more resisitent to change. There is nothing more I can really say that is good with the organization today.

Cons

I was with Walmart nearly five years in their head office. I have to say that my first few years were ok but it got progressively worse with the appointment of new management across the organization. Walmart is a large organization, however, promotions and movement across the organization was highly political and already determined in some cases before roles were posted. So the whole talk of "lot of opportunities"...really...its BS. There were such tight pressures put on the assocaites that they would rather see you take the brunt of the stress so the numbers were met. Headcount was on the rise then a series of people got let go with little reason as to why and everybody got to the grinder.

Walmart hinges on three basic beliefs: respect for the individual, strive for excellence and service to customers. Respect for the individual is just something written on the walls but went out the window in 2009. Its no longer about doing what's right for the customer but rather what's right for their pockets. A lot of customer centric initiatives got the hammer in an effort to meet numbers. Strive for excellence is on the decline with morale issues with the company.

The biggest complaint I had about the company was the lack of skilled leadership. Its best described as the blind leading the one's who can actually see. They change stragies and directions weekly and when things dont go right the person below gets the pink slip. Politics in that organization has gone from bad to worse. If you are considering a career with WMT Canada, in 2006 I would have recommended it, but today stay away. I voluntarily left the orgainzation for a better opportunity but I know a lot of close friends who were let go and we still dont know why. Dynamic has changed, its just not the place to be anymore..

Advice to Senior Management

Have clear direction for your assocaites, a defined strategy and something they are measured against rather than keeping it "open". People come to work to do a job, not be confused and left scratching their heads. Smarten up. Target will come in and take your employees and business one day and give you a kick in the pants.

Pros

Friendly veteran associates and most managers have personality! Most customers are nice and appreciate the help givin to them and are usualy patient. Overall, it's a good work environtment, with the exception for the Cons below. The associates are diverse and nondescriminant. We have young and elderly, asian, indocanadian, and aboriginal.

Cons

Power tripping front end manager that will push until broken. 'Scrooge' with hours per week, NO ONE CAN LIVE ON 12HOUR WEEKS! "Save money, live better." If you can't afford to buy the great deals even with discount, you're screwed!"

Advice to Senior Management

The managers with exceptoin to the front end manager, they're great, just spoiled grape.
  Boost hours per week from 12/hour weeks for those who live on the income earned.
  Have a workshop for management to reconize when an associate's going to explode and how to diffuse that 'bomb'.

Pros

The health benefits are amazing, besides this and the people I work with there are no pros. This company has gone downhill so much in the 15 years I have worked here.

Cons

Never enough cashiers, never have enough stock on the shelves, always have to go get our own upc as as there is never enough floor staff as well. I am not looking forward to spring because that is a whole big headache as well. Management sucks, when we have a good manager they get shipped out to a different store. Many of us have left many more are going to, Lowes and Target are looking better and better. What is bothersome is when people come in and start at a wage higher than what you are at and you have been there for years

Advice to Senior Management

If you are going to have grassroots meetings maybe listen to some of our ideas, because we have some good ones. Why have open door if it really isn't open door. This pushing of this credit card is wrong as well, I don't mind asking, but know we have to start pushing down peoples throats that is wrong on so many levels. I am also so sick of this constant fundraising, don't you think people are sick of us constantly asking for money???