HR World: Disbeliebers
How Justin wound up Walmart staff, and other global tidbits
US Walmart promises staff: no more Canadian crooners
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has come up with an unusual strategy for retaining staff – by promising to put an end to the relentless loop of Celine Dion and Justin Bieber tunes on its in-store PA systems.
The commitment was one of several made at a meeting between top executives from the company and 3,000 store workers in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last month. But according to a report by Fortune, it was the one that received the most enthusiastic response from the crowd – who funnily enough hadn’t been finding the easy listening singers very easy to listen to day-in, day-out for weeks on end.
Instead of torturing staff with music from the same few CDs pumped into stores from headquarters, the retail chain is reintroducing Radio Walmart, cancelled nine years ago, which will employ a real DJ to keep the soundtrack varied and up to date.
Other moves announced by the company included giving individual stores control over their thermostats (instead of temperature settings being dictated by headquarters), relaxing the dress code to allow store workers to wear black or khaki denim, and new cash incentives.
The initiatives are intended to show employees that senior management takes their concerns seriously, and are part of a wider bid by Walmart to retain staff longer-term and improve customer service. Earlier this year, the company demonstrated its commitment to these goals by announcing higher starting wages for workers, costing an extra $1bn a year.
Indian employers forced to settle for second best
Nearly six in 10 employers in India admit to hiring employees who don’t meet all their requirements, due to a lack of qualified applicants.
According to a survey carried out by independent research agency IMRB International on behalf of computer-based testing company Pearson VUE, 58 per cent of hiring managers from a wide range of industries said they had compromised when taking on new talent, while more than 50 per cent said there was a shortage of qualified people applying for jobs.
Divyalok Sharma, director of client development at Pearson VUE, said: “Our survey is revealing in terms of the underlying and ongoing challenges for India’s employers in finding and retaining skilled, qualified talent and the impact of hiring compromises.”
Want a promotion Stateside? Go easy on the aftershave
For US employees looking to climb the ranks within their company, job performance and leadership skills may be important – but so is being well acquainted with an iron and a toothbrush, according to a recent survey by Careerbuilder.
The survey of 2,175 hiring managers and HR professionals, conducted by Harris Poll, found that there are a number of factors relating to personal appearance that could negatively impact on an employee’s prospects of promotion.
These include clothing that is too provocative (44 per cent) wrinkled (43 per cent) or casual (27 per cent). Other no-nos are body piercings (32 per cent), visible tattoos (27 per cent), ostentatious haircuts (25 per cent), bad breath (23 per cent), too much perfume or aftershave (21 per cent) and too much make-up (15 per cent).
Arguably more reasonably, the employers also identified several types of behaviour that could scupper someone’s chances of career advancement. These include a negative attitude or regularly being late (both 62 per cent), using vulgar language (51 per cent), regularly leaving early or taking too many sick days (both 49 per cent) and gossiping (44 per cent).
Asian staff are richly rewarded with trips Down Under
Spending linked to Asian employees on company-funded ‘incentive’ trips to Australia is nearly six times of that of the average holidaymaker.
According to HRMAsia, Asian tourists on breaks paid for by their bosses – as an incentive or reward versus regular business travel – generate an average of $974 a day of spending within the country, including $583 spent by organisers and $391 spent by the traveller.
In contrast, a traveller attending a business event accounts for spending of $694 a day on average, while a self-funded holidaymaker spends just $151 a day.
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