WMT Walmart Inc

By Sarah Nassauer 

Walmart Inc. is testing a new store employee structure, in some cases using fewer midlevel, in-store managers to oversee workers while boosting pay and responsibilities for those roles.

The shift comes as the country's largest employer works to control labor costs, keep workers longer and attract talent, while spending more to raise wages.

Around 100 Walmart stores -- mostly Walmart's Neighborhood Markets chain and smaller supercenters -- are testing several versions of a new employee structure dubbed "Great Workplace." Under it, Walmart is asking workers now called assistant store managers and department managers to apply for fewer, but higher-paying jobs structured around managing teams of workers. Current managers need to apply for the new roles, often called business leads, team leads and academy trainers.

Walmart executives say the genesis of the new worker structure wasn't cost savings, but rather adapting its workforce to shifting shopping habits and employee demands.

The changes include giving more decision-making power to people on the floor, while giving good managers elevated roles.

For example, test stores let workers help customers with requests such as returning items or changing a price without multiple authorizations -- and groups them into teams that communicate and complete tasks across shifts, said Drew Holler, senior vice president associate experience for Walmart U.S.

"That is probably the game changer in this, we are pushing decisions down," he said. The new team leaders manage multiple departments and a team. Previously a department manager was more focused on completing tasks in a single department, said Mr. Holler.

So far in many of the test stores, the number of salaried managers has fallen, while head counts overall have stayed steady or increased, he said. Frontline workers are more engaged, he said.

The new structure could change as Walmart learns what works best and won't necessarily be rolled out to all of Walmart's 4,600 U.S. stores, Mr. Holler said.

(More to come)

Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2019 11:14 ET (15:14 GMT)

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