Managing Talent: A Project on Walmart's Strategies and Practices

This project examines Walmart's talent management practices, aiming to identify strategies for retaining talented employees. It begins by outlining project aims and objectives, followed by a detailed project management plan covering time, quality, communication, risk, and resources. A work breakdown structure and Gantt chart are produced to provide timeframes. The project employs both primary and secondary research methods, including surveys, to gather data on the roles of leaders and line managers in employee management, development, and retention. Findings are presented using frequency distribution analysis and graphical tools. Recommendations are provided based on the data analysis, drawing conclusions about effective talent management strategies. The project also reflects on the value of the undertaking and own learning and performance.

MANAGING A
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario................................................3
P2 Produce a project management plan that covers, aim and deliverables, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources........................................................................................4
P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and stages
for completion........................................................................................................................5
P4 Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate for
meeting project aims and objectives.......................................................................................6
P5 Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques....................................9
P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of findings and data analysis to
draw valid and meaningful conclusions...............................................................................13
P7 Reflect on the value of undertaking the project to meet stated objectives and own learning
and performance...................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Employees in the organization are very important they have all the responsibilities to carry
out operations. They are known as manpower of company because their power in every
organization could not be matched with anything (Beltrán-Martín and Bou-Llusar, 2018). So,
they hold great place in the organization for this organizations have different that aims at
fulfilling needs and expectations of employees (Rayner and Morgan, 2018). It is essential for
companies to make their employees happy and fulfilled because if they fail to this then
employees leave the organization and it negatively impact the productivity of business. In the
current project Walmart is selected as organisation and the strategies used by this organization
are determined for retaining their talented workforce.
P1 Devise project aims and objectives for a chosen scenario.
Aim of the project: To identify the roles of line managers and leaders in management,
development and retention of talent. A study on Walmart
Objectives of the project:
 To determine the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an
organization
 To highlight the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and
retaining talent in the workplace within Walmart
 To understand about the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining
talented employees and enhancing business performance within Walmart
Questions of the project:
 What is the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an
organization?
 What are the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and
retaining talent in the workplace within Walmart
 What are the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining talented
employees and enhancing business performance within Walmart

P2 Produce a project management plan that covers, aim and deliverables, time, quality,
communication, risk and resources
Project management plan is one of the essential steps towards implementing and
executing the work of project. This plan helps researcher with resources that are required to
complete every activity in systematic and easy manner (de Place Hansen and Sørensen, 2020).
Some of the components of project management plan that assist in continuing the work of project
without any challenge and barrier are:
Time
Time is essential in doing every work so it also holds importance in the project. The main
aim of project management plan is to provide with right time for carrying out activities in respect
of achieving every activity, task and objective of project. The project manager has decided time
duration of 8 weeks.
Quality
The current project focuses on carrying out information that is present in the manner of
numbers.The data that is in form of statistical is more accurate, relevant and apt as per the topic
of project. This helps at every step, researcher aims at carrying out high-quality data to meet the
requirements of project (Lew, Yang and Harklau, 2018).
Resources
In order to conduct project investigator is always in need of variety of resources. So,
researcher takes help of sources like magazines, newspapers, articles, publications etc. with the
service of internet and transportation (Zaccaro and et. al., 2018).
Cost
Cost is defined as required money for carrying out every activity (Marshall, Coleman and
Reason, 2017). Project manager at the initial stages prepare budget in which required fund is
mentioned with activities to be taken out. In the current project, project manager requires £500
for taking out every resource towards completion of project.

P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt Chart to provide timeframes and
stages for completion
Work breakdown structure
Work breakdown structure is defined as one of the effective tools for taking out activities
and operations of the project (Nouban, Sadeghi and Abazid, 2017). Generally this is a technique
to determine activities and breaking down them into smaller activities. It separates similar type
of activities in one group and the remaining in another. It is the simplified way of dividing
activities with the aim of achieving objectives.
Gantt chart
Gantt chart is defined as time framework for conducting activities of project. This
particular chart is very useful because it is broadly classified into two sections in one section all
the activities are mentioned and in another time is mentioned to complete each activity (Nurre
and Weir, 2017). Generally this is graphical representation of all the activities required to be
undertaken in order to attain objectives.

P4 Carry out small-scale research applying primary and secondary methods appropriate
for meeting project aims and objectives.
Research methodology
Research methodologies help in selecting right method for collecting and analyzing entire
information in respect of meeting objectives and aim. Some of the methodologies used in the
project are:
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is defined as first layer of research onion. In this foundation of
study is described as it clearly highlights the set of believes on which the research is based upon .
It is broadly classified into two kinds that are positivism and interpretivism philosophy
(McManners, 2016). Positivism is chosen by project manager because it focuses on collecting
and evaluating new statistical data.
Research approach
It is one of the significant methodologies because it helps in supporting philosophy and
data analysis of the project. Inductive and deductive approaches are the two kinds of approaches.
In the present research deductive approach is chosen as it focuses on analyzing statistical data in
order to attain goals (Patiar and Wang, 2016).
Research strategy
Research strategies are the methods available to investigator for the process of collecting
apt information as per the topic of the study. The different types of strategies that are easily
available are grounded theory, archival research, experimental research, case study, survey etc.
Survey is chosen by project manager because it helps in gathering first-hand information by
selecting questionnaire as an instrument (Preser, 2016).
Research choice
Research choice is known as the fourth layer of Saunder’s research onion. It is significant
as well as useful because it assists in selecting kind of data to be gathered in respect of attaining
predefined goals of project. Quantitative and qualitative are the two methods but current research
is dependent upon quantitative research choice because it supports positivism philosophy,
deductive approach and survey strategy (Sanders, 2016). Quantitative method is useful for
collecting entire numerical information according to the topic.
Data collection

Data collection is the method of gathering information to meet each and every objective
of the project. It provides assistance to project manager for gathering information appropriate to
topic of the research. The two important kinds of data collection are secondary and primary data
collection. Primary data collection includes data that is carried out for the first time and it is
totally raw. For this researcher has selected questionnaire because it helps in getting primary data
from chosen representatives. Secondary data collection is used because it helps in answering
questions of the project (Schneider, Oliveira and de Souza, 2017). For this sources are used such
as business sites, books, articles, journals, publications etc. Hence, primary and secondary both
are important for the present project in order to achieve objectives.
Sampling
Sampling is defined as process to select respondents from large number of population.
Respondents are selected for gathering information required to meet goals and objectives of
project (Singh and Major, 2017). It has been classified into two types that are probability and
non-probability sampling. Probability sampling is selected by project manager because it allows
selecting respondents without any particular criteria. 40 managers are selected from Walmart as
they have clear knowledge about the strategies to retain employees in the organization.
Secondary Data
What is the significance of leaders and lines managers in the workplace of an organization?
According Bos-Nehles and Meijerink (2018), to every organization’s leaders and line
managers are very significant in the workplace because they are the people who are continuously
in contact with all the employees working in the organization. Leaders and managers make good
relationship with their employees so that they could get all the activities done by workforce.
They are the people in the organization who help in improving the productivity because
managers and leaders always support employees in their operations and work. Line managers
and leaders also provide different benefits to the employees for increasing their motivation level
towards work. The leaders are important because they provide support to employees in every
stage of their work and they are the people who have great knowledge about every operation. It
ultimately boosts up the morale of employees to work hard in attaining pre-defined goals of
company. Leaders and managers listen to their employees about their ideas and suggestions
while making decisions regarding different tasks and activities. This generates feeling among
employees that their suggestions are significant to managers and leaders for achieving goals.

This also leads to innovation in the workplace because employees use their creative mind to do
their work.
What are the roles performed leaders and managers in managing, developing and retaining talent
in the workplace within Walmart?
According to Pflügler and et. al., (2018), there are various rules that are performed by
leaders and line managers of Walmart in order to retain develop and manage talent in the
workplace:
Connects role of employees with team goals
Leaders and line managers play an important role to retain employees of Walmart. For
this they identify the role of employees so that it could be connected with the goals of team.
They focus on providing activities and tasks to employees according to their knowledge and
skills so employees do not get pressure of doing things they are not capable of. It motivates em-
ployees that their skills and knowledge are being used at right place and at right work.
Promoting Open communication
Leaders and line managers always stay in touch with every employee regarding their per-
formance or issues they are facing. This constant communication between employees and man-
agers helps in improving relationship among employees and organization. Employees could eas-
ily share their issues or any other matter they are facing in the organization. Leaders take feed-
back from employees regarding their work, environment of the organization, salary, benefits etc.
What are the strategies used by leaders and line managers for retaining talented employees and
enhancing business performance within Walmart?
According to Thomas, Uitzinger and Chrysler-Fox (2018), there are various strategies
used by leaders and line managers in retaining talented employees in the workplace within
Walmart because they are the source of completing every activity in the organization.
Offering appropriate benefits
Line managers and leaders of Walmart provide benefits to employees so that they could
be motivated and encouraged to stay in the company and work for the same. Managers provide
appropriate benefits as per the performance of employees so that each employee could improve
in their performance to gain higher benefits. They provide different types of benefits in which
they give leaves with pay, flexible timings, free lunch and snacks, day care services etc.

Providing opportunities of career advancement
Leaders and line managers of Walmart always focus on creating new opportunities for
employees so that they could develop in their professional career when employees are provided
with opportunity they enjoy their work because they know they would get high salary and remu-
neration with utilizing such opportunities.
P5 Present findings and data using appropriate tools and techniques.
Frequency distribution analysis table is used for analyzing statistical data and MS-
EXCEL is used to make graph and show data in tabular format.
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Do you think that you have proper knowledge regarding the talent
management and its strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 38
b) No 2
Q2) According to you what is the significance of line managers and
leaders in the workplace of an organization?
Frequency
a) Improving productivity 16
b) Boosting morale of employees 10
c) Supporting team objectives 12
d) Encouraging innovation 4
Q3) What are the roles performed by line managers and managers in
retaining, developing and managing talent in the workplace within
Walmart?
Frequency
a) Connecting roles of employees with team goals 10
b) Promoting open communication 12
c) Form policies and schemes of benefits and incentives 10
d) Supporting employees 9
Q4) What are the strategies used by line managers and leaders in
retaining talent employees in the workplace within Walmart?
Frequency
a) Offering right benefit 12

b) Providing opportunities for career advancement 10
c) Competitive benefits and salaries 9
d) Reducing pressure in employees 9
Q5) Do you think that these strategies used by leaders of Walmart are
helping in retaining and developing workforce in the workplace?
Frequency
a) Yes 32
b) No 8
Q6) Do you feel that there are chances of improvement in retaining
strategies of Walmart?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 25
Question 1: Proper knowledge regarding the talent management and its strategies
Q1) Do you think that you have proper knowledge regarding the talent
management and its strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 40
b) No 0

Interpretation: By the shown data it is interpreted that 40 respondents have said yes that they
have great knowledge about the talent management and its strategies because through employees
are being developed and retained in the organization.
Question 2: Significance of line managers and leaders in the workplace of an organization
Q2) According to you what is the significance of line managers and
leaders in the workplace of an organization?
Frequency
a) Improving productivity 16
b) Boosting morale of employees 10
c) Supporting team objectives 12
d) Encouraging innovation 4
Interpretation: From the above tabular data it is interpreted that 16 respondents have answered
they help in improving productivity, other 10 respondents said that they boost up the morale of
employees, other 12 respondents said that they support objectives of team and the remaining 4
said that they encourage innovation.
Question 3: Roles performed by line managers and managers in retaining, developing and
managing talent in the workplace within Walmart
Q3) What are the roles performed by line managers and managers in
retaining, developing and managing talent in the workplace within
Frequency