Black employees say they feel left out of Walmart’s self-proclaimed “culture of inclusion”
Walmart says one of its top priorities is fostering a “culture of inclusion” in its workforce. The language comes directly from its newly released report about its progress on various environmental and social goals, among them creating a diverse workplace where employees feel empowered and have opportunities to grow in their careers. It details efforts such as making sure it includes minority candidates in its pool of potential directors, and holding training sessions on racial equity.
But the picture Walmart offers in its report stands in sharp contrast with the feelings of some of the Black managers at the company, revealed in a recent internal survey reviewed by Bloomberg News. It gauged the experiences of 56 Black supervisors, senior managers, and directors. Many felt they lacked opportunities to advance their careers, and a number would not recommend working at Walmart to friends and family.
Among the reported complaints from employees were inadequate support due to a lack of diversity in the leadership, feelings of having to perform at an exceptional level compared to others, and unequal access to opportunities for career growth. Asked to numerically rank the likelihood they would recommend Walmart as a place to work, the hourly supervisors, who are managers within stores, generally responded with scores indicating they would suggest working at Walmart. But directors, who are just below vice presidents in Walmart’s ranks, and the senior managers reporting to them returned overwhelmingly negative scores.
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