Know Your People As Well As Your Numbers
Episode 4: Walmart - Know Your People Like You Know Your Business with Kelly Jensen
Kelly Jensen of Walmart on knowing your people to the same standard you know your P&L, and what changes when you do.
How well should I know the people who work for me?
Also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
What this episode covers
High employee turnover often stems from unmet career growth and development needs, not just salary issues. In this episode, Kelly Jensen, Senior Director of Enterprise Succession and Talent Planning at Walmart, shares how the retail giant manages to retain its 3 million employees by deeply understanding their career ambitions and aligning them with company goals. Kelly explains the challenges large organisations face in talent planning and offers practical advice for leaders looking to reduce disengagement and build loyalty. This episode is essential listening for those responsible for managing teams and improving workforce stability.
Who this is for: General managers and senior operators seeking effective methods to improve employee retention and engagement within large or growing teams.
Key takeaways
- Understanding employees’ career goals is crucial to retaining talent beyond financial incentives.
- Large organisations like Walmart face unique challenges in talent succession and require tailored planning strategies.
- Regular communication with employees about their development helps align individual and company success.
- Managers play a key role in addressing employee disengagement and should be supported by leadership.
- Learning from Walmart’s approach offers practical insights for improving employee retention in any organisation.
Are you wondering why employees keep resigning from your company? We all know employees have needs to be met aside from their financial responsibilities. That’s why some of them leave their jobs even with bigger salaries. If your employees are not happy with their career growth and development, they will slowly be disengaged and will most likely resign. That's why it is essential to know your people like you know your business.
In the latest episode of our Ways of Working Podcast, we invited Kelly Jensen, Senior Director of Enterprise Succession and Talent Planning at Walmart, to discuss the measures that Walmart has taken to retain its 3 million employees. Kelly Jensen has been with the company since 2012 and now works hard for the welfare of the 3 million employees of Walmart.
Kelly highlights how Walmart has started listening to the career goals of its employees and aligning them with the success of the company. This approach has helped Walmart retain its employees and build a loyal workforce.
Kelly also shares her insights on what other organisations can do to learn from Walmart’s success story based on lessons learned through experience. Her expertise in the field makes her an excellent resource for all business owners and HR professionals looking to improve their company’s employee retention rate.
Episode Highlights
- What is Talent Succession Planning
- Why talent planning is such a struggle for a big organization
- A glimpse of Kelly Jensen’s career background
- What is Walmart doing differently
- What other organizations find challenging about talent planning
- The points that organizations should be looking at when talent planning
Links Mentioned
You may reach out to Kelly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-kraker-jensen-b3107b4b
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Questions managers ask about this episode
How well should I know the people who work for me?
You should know your employees’ career goals and motivations as well as you know your business operations. This understanding helps tailor development opportunities that keep them engaged and committed.
What challenges do large organisations face in talent succession planning?
Large organisations struggle with scale and complexity when planning talent succession, making it difficult to align individual career paths with organisational needs without a structured approach.
How can managers help reduce employee turnover?
Managers need to actively listen to their teams’ career aspirations and challenges, providing support and development aligned with those goals to prevent disengagement and resignations.
What practical steps can organisations take to improve employee retention?
Organisations should implement regular career discussions, align employee development with business objectives, and ensure leadership supports managers in addressing employee needs effectively.