This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Robert Doyle, a Walmart store manager in Cibolo, Texas. The interview, which the company helped arrange at BI’s request, has been edited for length and clarity.
I started as an hourly associate in 1985 at Store 860 in DeLand, Florida. I was going to college there, and Walmart came to town. I needed some money, so I came to work for Walmart.
When you worked for Walmart back then, you kind of did multiple jobs. I worked in electronics, in consumables, and helped unload trucks.
A friend of mine who was an assistant manager told me, ‘Hey, the company’s really growing and they need some talent. Would you like to be an assistant manager?” So I started as an assistant manager trainee.
Since then, I’ve worked in Germany for three years, and in different stores across the country, from Florida, to Illinois, to North Carolina, to Pennsylvania, and now in Texas.
As a store manager, each day is a little different, but the process is the same.
An early start to the day
Normally, I’m at the store at 6 o’clock. We follow a Walmart management schedule, but I like to come in the store at 6 o’clock to get my own focus.
I take about 15 to 20 minutes to do a quick walk around the store, just to get a feel of how the business ran overnight.
Then at 7 o’clock, I’ll talk with my overnight team for about 30 to 45 minutes.
At about 8 o’clock I’ll start working with my morning management team, which includes a few coaches and some team leads.
I’ll start in the fresh grocery areas, which is a huge, huge business for us. We say “Fresh is King.”
Our customers in the morning, especially, come into the produce department, the meat department, the deli, and the dairy.
We’ll do a tour with the coach and the team leads that we call a “four by four tour” — we call it four by four because walking up and down the aisle, stopping at every four-foot section.
So if you think of a customer walking in the store, they go up and down aisles, I do the same thing with my team, and we look for things that we need to fix: Maybe signage is wrong, maybe there’s a label missing, maybe it needs to be zoned up.
Then every morning at 9 o’clock we have a store meeting. We might have it in produce one day, we might have it in electronics, we kind of move it around to where the associates are.
We’ll do that for about 15 minutes and we cover birthdays, anniversaries, what’s up and coming in the community, special events, things like that. Then we’ll plan the business out and what’s on our plate that day.
We then end with a cheer and disperse out.
Each day there’s a different tour for the departments like apparel, backroom, seasonal, hard lines, things like that. So depending on which day of the week it is, I’ll be in those areas, touring with the team lead and the coach for that area.
By that time, I’ve already walked the store, so I kind of got a feel for it. If there happens to be an area of the store that maybe needs a bit more focus, I’ll spend my time over there.
Certain days of the week also have different tasks. So, for instance, on Tuesday, we have to “scan our outs” to make sure inventory is available on shelves. Every out [i.e. out of stock item] in the store, in every department, gets scanned.
There’s also Rollback Wednesday, where we’re checking for discounts and we verify prices. So so every day is a little different.
At Walmart, the day really starts from the planning at 2 o’clock
After lunch, we hold a planning meeting for the trucks that come in at 2 o’clock. We discuss the information coming down for the trucks, like how much freight we have coming in, where is the heaviest part, how much apparel are we going to have to do, how many associates do we need to do this. We all plan that out.
At Walmart, the day really starts from the planning at 2 o’clock. If we unload trucks right and we stock trucks right, the next morning we’re ready to go.
When that’s done, we talk about HR matters, like hiring, reassignments, and promotions we want to announce. We’ve been very fortunate and have been promoting a lot of people here.
After that, I’ll follow up on emails and any tasks that have to be done, like price changes and or information I have to follow up on.
Then I’ll do another quick tour of the store to make sure it’s okay before we do the 4 o’clock meeting.
As we had a morning meeting, we do an afternoon/evening meeting so we’re touching base with every associate, so everyone understand what’s going on in the company, because they want to know.
Once or twice a month I’ll work with the overnight crew to make sure we’re showing that they’re part of the team.
Walmart is all about structure
Each day changes a bit with the environment, but it usually follows the same structure. That’s the whole thing about Walmart: structure.
Probably the biggest challenge is keeping the associates abreast of new technology coming down from Home Office. The technology is growing so fast and it changes day to day to day, and we’re working to stay on top of it.
Still, when it comes to taking care of the customers, that part to me is simple. That’s just core stuff.
On average I walk about 25,000 to 30,000 steps a day. When we get into the Christmas season, that goes up a little bit more.
I love to be with the customers. I’m out there making sure things are just right. I like to present my store as the best store in town — whatever competitor I have, I’ve got the best store.
And the only way to do that is to be out there with them.
If you are a Walmart worker who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out.
