The Customer
Everyone wants to use cutting edge technology and metrics to make learning and development more impactful. For Walmart Canada, that meant taking advantage of performance analytics to help their top 85 senior leaders and executives identify anxiety within the workplace and take action to improve workplace well-being and company culture.
The Situation
The pressure of COVID-19 really heightened the need to balance and prioritize Walmart’s ways of working in so many ways. The journey of well-being was already a central pillar in their associate strategy, and they had been working to understand what concerns needed attention. But the pandemic surfaced another layer of pressure the organization needed to address. There was more pressure on associates to serve the community under the challenges of COVID, leaders were trying to balance mental health and workplace well-being challenges at an accelerated rate.
“Supporting our associates is important at Walmart Canada and mental health is something we focus on; but COVID changed the game, and like everyone, our leaders were struggling and needed help.”
Stephanie MacNeil, Transformational Learning.
The Solution
Walmart Canada is transforming its leadership DNA. To do this, the Learning & Development team has assembled 85 of its most senior leaders and committed them to four journeys, including one which is committed to mental health and workplace challenges impacting well-being and company culture. To understand the potential impact on the broader organization, the team first examined the needs of its own
micro community.
To help identify and pinpoint the areas of greatest need, Walmart Canada partnered with The Culture Think Tank to pilot its Culture Five check-in poll and new Anxiety Rating metric developed based on the NY Times Best Selling Book, Anxiety at Work.
The Culture Five and the Anxiety Rating quantified the Culture Score and level of Anxiety the leadership team was facing and identified the actions and development areas to prioritize.
“The Culture Five and Anxiety Rating didn’t change the core of our learning and development practice, instead it helped us to manage how ready and willing learners were to engage with the content and with each other. It helped us focus our efforts and highlight areas where we could provide support and resources to the community or even flag emergent issues that threatened the psychological safety of the group. It also gave us the insights to track team progress with quantitative data over the year, allowing us to better adapt to the ever-changing environment.”
Candice McManus, Sr. Director, Enterprise Learning & Leadership.
Interested in learning more about how your enterprise company can make trackable gains in the culture, well-being and anxiety domains? Reach out to us today or book a demo. We’re here to help.