Walmart

I came to Walmart in 2021 because I wanted to make a difference. I knew I was joining a company with a culture of innovation that could make an impact simply due to its size and presence across the globe. Since then, I’ve seen firsthand that true change doesn’t happen because of the company’s size – at Walmart or elsewhere – but because of its commitment to putting people first and constantly improving.

For our team, that means designing benefits to support associates’ comprehensive well-being – emotional, physical and financial. When one of these is out of balance, it can affect the other areas – it's all interconnected.

Emotional Well-Being

Although the national average of adults who struggle with mental health has climbed to more than 20 percent, we don’t talk about this aspect of well-being as often as physical health. We’re working to change that by setting the standard for how employers can address mental health in the workplace, fostering conversation and working to strip away the stigma surrounding mental health challenges. Here are a few examples:

• We’ve increased the number of free therapy and mental health coaching sessions for our associates from 10 to 20 sessions per person, per year.

• Since April, about 25,000 associates have attended our Workplace Mental Health workshop.  They have learned how to identify common signs of someone experiencing a mental health challenge, how to support in the moment, and how to appropriately connect associates to the right resources. 

• We introduced a new My Mental Health Resources program that provides associates with free confidential emotional support, including digital tools and resources.

“True change doesn’t happen because of the company’s size – at Walmart or elsewhere – but because of its commitment to putting people first and constantly improving.”

Belonging

The culture of belonging that we’re relentlessly trying to foster at Walmart is priceless to our associates’ well-being and sense of value. As part of that effort, we recently started an LGBTQ+ Officer Caucus of senior leaders who share a deep passion for supporting our LGBTQ+ associates. These caucus members have been chosen to lead within our organization so others can be comfortable and confident doing the same. I’m proud to be a member of this caucus and to be part of a company that values all of me, and I’m committed to helping every associate feel the same way.

Physical Well-Being

Physical well-being is a crucial part of life, and we’re working to take care of our associates’ well-being in several ways. For example, we offer a suite of family-building benefits to support associates’ many paths to parenthood – including fertility care, adoption, surrogacy and more. I’m excited that we recently expanded our covered benefits to include fertility services like IVF, IUI and egg cryopreservation. Our support also includes:

• The addition of a Center of Excellence focused on fertility, giving our associates access to some of the best care facilities in the country.

• Expanded doula pregnancy support services.

• Surrogacy support.

• Increased our financial support for adoptions.

We’re also serving our associates’ physical well-being through innovative, digital partnerships, like:

• Partnership with Health at Scale, an artificial intelligence company that gives patients personalized provider recommendations based on the patient’s individual health characteristics.

• A new healthcare-navigation platform tailored for the LGBTQ+ community that connects, empowers and advocates for its LGBTQ+ members.

• Walmart Healthcare Research Institute (WHRI), which increases community access to healthcare research to traditionally underrepresented populations, to help provide higher quality and more equitable healthcare.

Financial Well-Being

I’ve heard from so many people who came to Walmart “just for a job” and ended up finding a career. We have a culture of promoting from within, and 75 percent of our store managers started as hourly associates. We’re constantly making investments in our associates’ pay and career development so they can build not just great jobs, but great careers. Here are a few highlights:

• Investing in wages, with our average U.S. hourly wage being over $17.50.

• Adding new educational opportunities through our no-cost college tuition program, Live Better U, with over 104,000 associate graduates.

• Expanding our Associate-to-Driver program, which trains associates to become Walmart truck drivers and earn as much as $110K their first year.

• Offering free financial literacy courses for our associates, customers and communities.

I’m also very passionate about our work around pay equity. As the largest employer of women in the U.S., Walmart has a big role to play in making equal pay a reality. The good news: our latest pay equity analysis in the U.S. confirms that we pay equitably regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.

Everything we do at Walmart is through the lens of respect, service, excellence and integrity. I am incredibly grateful for this company that genuinely strives to make our world a better place and the work my team does to make huge impact on the lives of our more than 2.2 million associates across the globe.