Summit Interview with Lana Bryon

Lana Bryon

1. Give us a short description of your job, scope and team:  I lead field recruitment for the Canadian market, which includes all operations management and professional services; as well as programs for hourly recruitment.  I have a team of 5 Talent Acquisition Specialists and 2 coordinators.

2. Tell us about you (home town, residence, family, education, etc.): I grew up in a smaller town, Newmarket, and have recently returned to a small town, Georgetown – I am a country girl at heart, and would love to own an acreage and farm some day. I am very close with my family, including my amazing nieces. I completed a BA at Western University in Political Science, and not knowing what I wanted to do, drove out West to Calgary to do an MA in Political – which confirmed for certainty I did not want a career in politics.

3. How did you get into Recruiting?  It was definitely not a planned career; like most agency recruiters - I went to an agency to look for a new job, and they hired me as a recruiter.  I never thought I’d end up in HR, but joining a corporate HR team was definitely the best career choice I’ve made.

  Lana in Ait-Ben-haddou, Morocco

4. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I’m an open book – so I don’t think much would surprise anyone. Perhaps that I wanted to be Prime Minister most of my childhood, which is a bit of an odd ambition for a child!

5. What are your top 3 goals you hope you and your team accomplish in the next year? 1) Replicate our national Co-Manager Assessment at the Assistant Manager level, for a more objective and consistent approach to hiring. 2) Launch and expanded College Recruitment program; 3) Improve technology, branding and ease of hire for hourly recruitment in our stores.

Canada's Talent Acquisition Team at Mid Year Off-Site

6. What do you like most about your current job? What do you dislike?  My team, hands down – I am grateful for the high performing talent I have on my team, and working with them makes me smile even on the most challenging days. The think I dislike, is sometimes not being able to execute innovations into actions fast enough.

7. Do you have a work pet peeve in yourself or others? My biggest pet peeve personally, or at work is when there is a lack of communication – if you don’t share your frustrations or actively pursue solutions, then you are a part of the problem!

8. What is the best thing for you about working for Walmart? That we are encouraged to always be innovating and evolving the business.

9. When does the day start for you? It all depends on when the first meeting is!

10. When you are off work how you do relax? In my world relaxing = Oil painting, kickboxing, any outdoor activities, travel, and sometimes a good movie.

11. Can you give us a few unchecked items on your Life’s Bucket List: 1) Skydiving; 2) Machu Picchu; 3) ½ marathon on the Great Wall of China

12. If you could have dinner with some notable person dead or alive – who would it be and why?  Salvador Dali.  He was a genius and I think probably one of the most interesting individuals in history. 

13. If you had a Magic Genie and one wish; what one project on your plate would you ask for help on? I’m never afraid to reach out for help on projects, it’s all about collaboration and cross functional input to achieve any project – I think instead, I’d wish for the Magic Genie to make it easier for my team to continue finding great talent.

14. Fill in the blank: “I’ve been fortunate to _____: have an incredibly supportive and loving family”

15. Where do I spend most of my disposable income:  Travel and adventure.

16. What 1 book would you recommend colleagues read? Atlas Shrugged, as it was the most impactful book I ever read.

17. What is your biggest productivity challenge?  Not getting too distracted by the new too much to finish executing the old.

18. Do you have one internet tool / smart-phone app that you cannot do without? Google Maps – I’m navigationally challenged.

19. One word to sum me up: Happy.

Global Walmart Recruiting Summit Quarterly eNewsletter June 2014

Summit Interview with Flora Chen

1. Give us a short description of your job, scope and team:

My current role is Sr. Director of Talent Acquisition for Walmart China Retail. My team's responsibility is to acquire talent to build up the capability of the organization from internal and external channels.

2. Tell us about you  (your home town, residence, family, education, etc):

I was born in Guangdong, one of the biggest provinces of Southern China. I immigrated from my hometown to Shenzhen with my parents when I was a little girl. Shenzhen was a small fishing village 30 years ago and it has now is become a large metropolitan city and one of the most wealthy cities in China. I am married with 1 son.

3. How did you get into recruiting?

I was the Business Partner for the COO of Walmart China before I became the Sr Director of TA for Walmart China in February of 2014. There are many challenges recruiting talent in China and it involves meeting many different people and requires us to be at our best all the time.

4. How many years have you been in recruiting? I am new to Talent Acquisition and recruitment; just joined 3 months ago.

5. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?  I am an avid sporting fan. I have played a number of sports and am pretty good at badminton, soccer, baseball! I am confident we could win the 'Badminton Championship' for the Global Walmart Recruiting Team - if we had a team!

6. What are your top 3 goals you hope you and your team accomplish in the next year? My top 3 goals for my team are to optimize the recruitment channels, improve productivity, and strengthen personal capability.

7. What do you like most about your current job? What do you dislike? I like communicating and interacting with different people. Dislike? Nothing is too ugly that I don't like.

8. Do you have a work pet peeve? My pet peeve is a candidate turning down an offer.    

9. What is the best thing for you about working for Walmart?  Culture, platform and new knowledge

10. When does the day start for you? My day starts at 7 a.m. with the alarm clock of my son.

11. When you are off work how you do relax? My favorite way to relax is being with my son and doing whatever we like.

12. Can you give us a few unchecked items on your Life’s Bucket List: Study overseas and having twins.

13. If you could have dinner with some notable person dead or alive – who would it be and why? Audrey Hepburn.

14. What was your top take-a-way from the 2014 Global Walmart Recruiting Summit? A lot. The most impressive take-a-way is the need understand recruitment trends and the need to build a network of colleagues in different country and across multiple business.

15. If you had a Magic Genie and one wish; what one project on your plate would you ask for help on? Campus recruitment

16. Where do I spend most of my disposable income: My son’s education and traveling

17. What 1 book would you recommend colleagues read? “Lean in” from Sheryl Sandberg

18. What is your biggest productivity challenge? A to-do list that is too long will lead to low productivity.

19. Do you have a favorite quote? It is a Chinese quote: Be yourself, take it easy on what is going on around you.  宠辱不惊看庭前花开花落，去留无疑看天上云卷云舒。

20. Do you have one internet tool / smart-phone app that you cannot do without? The app called “Wechat”

21. One word to sum me up: Interesting.

Summit Interview with Arpan Khurana

1. Give us a short description of your job, scope and team: We are a team of recruiters based in Hong Kong and China serving Retail, sourcing and leverage organizations in Asia.

2. Tell us about you (your home town, residence, family, education, etc): I grew up in an Indian family in Canada. I have spent majority of my life in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto and about 5 minutes from Walmart Canada HO). I had graduated as a Pharmacist but realized soon that it wasn’t my passion (fortunately for the patients) and then decided to write GMAT and qualified for MBA. I am married and have 2 kids (Tanya and Aryan).

3. How did you get into recruiting? By accident…I met a recruiter on a train journey from Toronto to Ottawa who was living the charming life of a snow bird (We use this term in Canada for people who live In Canada only during summer and spend winters in Florida etc). She was very passionate about her profession and got me hooked into knowing more. I later on went to work for her out of her basement office, recruiting for US automotive sector and then moved onto RPO sector that led to Corporate recruiting.

4. How many years have you been in recruiting? 14 years plus

5. What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I grew up wanting to be a Fighter jet pilot.

6. What are your top 3 goals you hope you and your team accomplish in the next year? Work together towards one goal, bring more high quality diverse talent to the organization and help the region simplify talent acquisition

7. What do you like most about your current job? What do you dislike? Teaching and building talent acquisition skillets in Asia region. Dislike- I wish we were a little less complex.

8. Do you have a work pet peeve in yourself or others? Wish I had more patience

9. What is the best thing for you about working for Walmart? Great brand and even better people.

10. When does the day start for you? 6:30 am to get the kids ready for school

11. When you are off work how you do relax? Watch and play sports (basketball, tennis, badminton, squash, and baseball etc)

12. Can you give us a few unchecked items on your Life’s Bucket List: Fly a Fighter jet, Watch baseball at Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. Watching a live March Madness event. Watching cricket at SCG and Lords.

13. What was your top take-a-way from the 2014 Global Walmart Recruiting Summit? There is so much talent within all the regions. We need to do a better job in creating opportunities for our talent to move across the world.

14. If you had a Magic Genie and one wish; what one project on your plate would you ask for help on? Did Tom ask you to slip this one in???

15. Fill in the blank: “I’ve been fortunate to___________” have an opportunity to live and work in different parts of the world.

16. Where do I spend most of my disposable income: Tech Gadgets and Travel

17. What 1 book would you recommend colleagues read? Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer (I enjoy fiction)

18. What is your biggest productivity challenge? I wish my clients were based in the same office so we could reduce complexity created by the trail of emails.

19. Do you have a favorite quote? Smile a Lot….It costs nothing!

20. Do you have one internet tool / smart-phone app that you cannot do without? Flipboard

21. One word to sum me up: Realist

Doug McMillon: Our Future: Now. New. Always.

Below are excerpts from Doug McMillon's keynote speech at the 2014 Shareholder's Meeting:

            The foundation of our company is strong. We have dedicated, talented, and creative people, and we have the resources to become even stronger.

Our Future
            So, where do we go from here? First, we will be a customer-driven company. We've always said the customer is our boss ...and we'll make decisions based on how we can serve them better. Second, we will invest in our people. As we change and grow, it will be our associates who will make the difference. Finally, we need to be at the forefront of innovation and technology. We will lead with urgency to get ahead of change.

Running Better Stores Now
            Every single one of us has a role to play in getting better right here, right now, today. It's pretty straightforward – we need stores that customers want to shop... with merchandise they want to buy. Price leadership. Strong in stock. Friendly customer service. Compelling merchandise. Items that surprise and delight. Merchandise that is presented aggressively. When we're at our best, the features in our stores anticipate what our customers want and need. They don't need a shopping list. They come in for basics, but they leave with new cushions for their patio set or a great new pair of shorts for summer. And they love doing it. It's fun! We must be stronger merchants, and we will work together to make it happen.

Developing New Capabilities
 

           We will also develop new capabilities to serve customers in new ways. It is important that we all understand the shift that has happened in technology and retail, what it means for us, and what we're doing to win. For years, our data has helped us run our stores around the world. Now, it is helping us personalize the shopping experience in ways that let us serve customers even better. The opportunity is enormous. It feels like it's only limited by our imaginations.  To do all of this, we need to move – fast. That's why we're piloting so many ideas around the world. And to bring all of this to life, we're investing in our people. I'm proud of the jobs and opportunities we offer, and we can do an even better job of creating opportunities to learn and grow. We'll prepare our associates to serve customers better, while building the careers you want at Walmart.   

Walmart, Always
            Finally, let's talk about always – the things that are constant.  I'll start with our purpose. We save people money so they can live better. This is a noble pursuit.  It's real. We help parents afford new clothes for school, put healthier meals on the table, and save for their child's education or a rainy day.

Our values won't change. Integrity, Service, Respect and Excellence. These are our guiding beliefs, and our behaviors will support those beliefs. Our culture is what makes us special. It's what makes us different. We must nurture it and reward those who live it. We believe in Walmart's responsibility to lead on big issues, in big ways. It's one of the reasons many of us love being part of Walmart. There are so many ways that Walmart can make a difference around the world. We're committed to doing just that. We will strengthen the trust we've established with customers and the communities we serve.

Closing
            I want to close by speaking directly and personally to every Walmart associate. To every associate in this room. To every associate on the sales floor, the back room or in a DC. To every associate writing code or hauling freight. I want you to feel the same excitement that I feel. I want you to see the same possibilities that I see. I want you to know in your heart, like I do, that our future is bright. We have the foundation and the people, and we know how we're going to win.  I know it's easy to look at everything that's going on and wonder what Sam would think about things like mobile apps, grocery delivery, or 3D printing.

            So I'll leave you with a few words from Sam himself. He said:

"I've made it my own personal mission to ensure that constant change is a vital part of the Walmart culture itself. I've forced change sometimes for change's sake alone at every turn in our company's development. In fact, I think one of the greatest strengths of Walmart's ingrained culture is the ability to drop everything and turn on a dime."

           Turn on a dime!

            So what would Sam say about our opportunity? He'd say: go! He might even say: hurry up!

We won't let him down. Thank you.