Hardworking Walmart store manager reveals the enormous salary he can make each year after retail giant offered giant raises to try and stop senior staff leaving
A dedicated store manager at a Dallas-area Walmart has revealed the staggering amount of money he takes home each year.
Greg Harden, who has worked as a store manager at Walmart for more than a decade, said he could make as much as $530,000 this year.
“I almost fainted when I found out,” he said Bloomberg.
After high employee turnover, Walmart has overhauled its compensation plan in a desperate bid to retain high-level employees.
Under the new payment system, managers can supplement their base salaries with stock grants and bonuses.
Their salaries were increased from $117,000 per year to $128,000 per year. And managers will be entitled to stock grants worth as much as $20,000.
Walmart store manager Greg Harden (second from right, bottom row) and his team pose for a photo. The Dallas-area store generates more than $100 million in annual sales
Cedric Clark (pictured) Walmart’s executive vice president of store operations. In an effort to boost retention, the retailer has beefed up pay and stock incentives for its store managers, whose individual locations employ hundreds of people and can reach annual sales of more than $100 million.
Walmart also adjusted its calculation for determining a manager’s bonus. Under the new system, the bonus payment largely depends on the store’s performance.
“If you meet all targets, your bonus could be up to 200% of your base salary,” said Cedric Clark, Walmart’s executive vice president of store operations, in a note seen by Bloomberg.
So far, the new compensation package appears to be working for Walmart. According to Clark, job retention has improved and employee turnover has decreased.
He also noted that engagement scores, which measure managers’ attitudes toward work, have increased.
Data from Revelio Labs Inc., an HR analytics company, corroborates Clark’s claim to some extent.
Annual employee turnover at Walmart has fallen by about two percentage points over the past year to about 21 percent, according to Revelio.
Managers claim they can see a difference in the quality of the work environment.
“It’s been like night and day,” Harden said.
Walmart decided to revamp its corporate culture after it became clear that its competitors had a significant advantage in retaining highly skilled managers.
Walmart executive Greg Harden gestures to a sign during a meeting at his Dallas store, where he oversees about $100 million in annual sales
Former Walmart store manager John Mincey is promoted to store manager of a Walmart in Tifton, Georgia – Walmart store managers, by the time they are promoted, have amassed a vast amount of institutional knowledge
Walmart Inc. President and CEO Doug McMillon delivers a keynote speech at CES 2024. Since the start of the pandemic, Walmart’s sales have grown 30 percent
Store manager Greg Harden could earn up to $530,000 annually, thanks to company’s restructured salary plan designed to retain top talent
Just a few years ago, Walmart’s executive exodus was nearly double that of other major retailers like Home Depot and Target.
In the late 2010s, Walmart trimmed the number of managers and burdened those who remained with heavier workloads and longer hours.
Concerned about the conditions of their hourly wages, the retail giant invested billions in raising their wages, but failed to pay much attention to management.
Outdated technology created even more headaches for managers, who were often frustrated by the bugs they encountered when attempting to use their technology.
Oscar Romero, a manager at a Walmart in Calexico, California, where he oversees a staff of 550 people, said his day started with 40 minutes of paperwork.
“I had to go through reports to see my sales. If I want to look at the inventory, I have to go to another report.”
In addition to improved management systems, managers will also receive better benefits, including telehealth and doula services.
Walmart managers are being asked to do a big job, according to Bloomberg.
The retailer’s Supercenters average about 178,000 square feet, tens of thousands of square feet larger than Costco and Target stores. And they offer more services that managers oversee.
Auto body shops and pharmacies fall under the umbrella of what some managers are responsible for, and many stores have mini-warehouses in the back where hundreds of pallets of products are moved every day.
Bloomberg reported that one manager estimates he sells a full truckload of dog food every day of the week.
Walmart President and CEO John Furner. Since 2021, Walmart managers have gone out of their way to listen to the concerns of store managers
As inflation levels decimate the financial security of middle-class families across the country, Walmart’s low prices and frequent deals have become extremely attractive to consumers, creating opportunities for executives to step up their game.
Store manager Vanessa Bennett is pictured in her store in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of Americans live within 15 minutes of a Walmart
Harden oversees approximately 400 employees and sales of more than $100 million annually at one of the largest Walmarts in the Dallas area.
He arrives at work at 7am to get feedback from the night team and checks the groceries.
Over the course of an average day, Harden walks as many as six miles around his store to make sure the shelves are stocked, the price tags are visible and deliveries are running smoothly.
He says he might speak to 200 people in the course of his day.
Before the recent top-down changes, he said he arrived at work at 5 a.m. and worked six days a week.
Since 2021, Walmart executives have been listening carefully to complaints from store managers. “If we make it the best place to work, they in turn will take care of the customer,” said Cedric Clark, the company’s head of retail operations.
Making employees’ lives better will ultimately boost store sales, which is what Clark and his colleagues believe and see happening in real time.
Unlike some of its competitors, Walmart has seen sustained sales growth since the pandemic began four years ago.
As inflation decimates the financial security of middle-class families across the country, Walmart’s low prices and frequent deals have become extremely attractive. The company has plans to open more Supercenters, each of which will need a new manager.