Cedric Clark’s Post

Gratitude Post! Decades ago, A company was founded by Mr. Sam Walton with a vision to save people money so they can live better. This vision not only changed the lives of millions, but also created a culture that values its associates. I cherished my time with Walmart the most in my professional career and miss it the most too. Walmart's exceptional values have a lasting impact on its associates, making them better human beings. The four core values that Walmart stands for are respect, service, excellence, and integrity. These values are timeless and aligning our behaviors with them builds trust, creates the right environment for our teams, and generates success. #Respectforindividual is one value that makes you treat people with dignity and listen to each other. Embracing the differences in people, ideas, and experiences. These values are shown in the leadership very well and they lead by example. Would always be thankful to what I learned and gained their as an individual. #Walmart #CoreValues #Respect #Service #Excellence #Integrity #Success #Teamwork #gratitude

In my early career, I achieved something truly remarkable at the company I worked for. How remarkable? It was an extremely significant accomplishment, and everyone benefited from it—both inside and outside the company. One day, I was chatting with an executive at the company, and he was surprised to find out I was behind this achievement. "Did you know everyone's taking credit for this, and your name hasn't come up?" he said. It was frustrating, like getting sucker-punched. It’s great to share credit, as sometimes multiple people work on something simultaneously, but it made me realize that some might take advantage of that. It's important to celebrate your successes out loud. In some places, you might need to over-communicate your accomplishments. Managers: remember to give your employees the credit they deserve. It will reflect even better on you than the achievement itself. At PepsiCo we celebrate success by giving ‘smiles awards’, but also take the time to recognize our team achievements on an ongoing basis. Tag someone you are really proud off and let them know.

Last week, Walmart and Sam’s Club associates from all over the world gathered here in Bentonville, AR for Associate’s Week. The spirit and energy that this annual event breathes into our collective hearts as Walmart and Sam’s Club associates cannot be overstated. It is invigorating to have so many people here in our relatively small city at the heart of Walmart, USA. It’s a richly diverse gathering, not just in terms of cultures and countries represented, but also in diversity of career journeys, life experience, educational backgrounds, and so much more. This was the first year I was able to attend the Associate Celebration that wraps up the week. I saw incredible entertainment (Lizzo, anyone??). I also heard from Paris Hilton and Robert Downy, Jr. about their products available at Walmart. I enjoyed the lighthearted antics of host Peyton Manning, hearing leaders from different parts of the company talk about our future, and seeing the unique things happening at various stores around the world. What was most impactful to me though, was the message from CEO Doug McMillon as he recognized three amazing associates for their dedication and the difference they make every day. He spoke about the impact of consistent effort towards achieving goals, the importance of celebrating wins and success, and the inspiration to be found in moving targets. I really needed that message. I’m personally coming out of the most difficult year of my professional life to date. That idea of “moving targets”, for whatever reason, really clicked and resonated with me. We have been experiencing a lot of change recently in Walmart Global Tech, some of it unprecedented for many of us. It’s been a challenge to stay optimistic and seek out success in times of uncertainty. It’s so easy to lose sight of positivity when things are happening around us that we can’t control. But there are always things we can control, even in the midst of the unknown. Through that lens, moving targets are a really positive thing - an opportunity for a different way of working, a chance to discover a spark of creativity, a moment to foster new ideas. Change can stifle us with fear, or motivate us towards evolution. The rest of this year, I will be working on the latter. Here’s to an incredible remainder of FY25 at Walmart. I look forward to what the future holds! #WMT2024

"Kindness costs nothing, yet it is a most precious gift." This week at Starbucks is #weekofkindness and I've been reflecting on how leaders that I've worked for have demonstrated kindness through their ability to genuinely care about my career aspirations. Sure, they're #leaders and they're supposed to do that....but it's really how they did it and the advice they offered, that made the impact. So for the week of kindness, I need to thank Kathryn Daly (Katie) for saying three little words, "just say yes"! Those words gave me the confidence to take on a role that was incredibly ambiguous and taught me so much. I've shared those same words with so many others that were considering new challenges. Then, when you're not expecting a career enhancing conversation, you walk into a quarterly connect with Lara Braislin (Modisette), like I did today and experience kindness in action. In a matter of minutes, Lara listened to me, heard me and challenged me to think differently on the value I can add as well as the impact I want to make in my role. Pretty Cool! Kindness really does cost nothing and these two leaders (don't get me wrong, there have been many others in my career, but it is the week of kindness at Starbucks after all 😏) have provided me an incredibly precious gift - career support. #leadersmakeadifference #kindnessmatters #joy #belonging #proudtobeapartner Andrew Wilkins Arielle Parkos SHRM-CP Anastasia Tedeschi Angela Vize Alexa Ramsey Bridgett Tanner Justin Burkhart, MBA Kelly Sobol Monica Kramer Sarah Do

Are you building real a #EmployeeExperience? Do you know your employee journey well enough to identify where to focus your resources and priorities? If you are in that quest, we can help. It is easier than you think.

Small, but meaningful detail of a special #EmployeeExperience... thank you Walmart! 🙏 Today, my personal inbox 📥 was hit by the email below... yep, came from Walmart with the subject: "It's time to celebrate, Ramon! 🎉 "... reminding me about what would have been my 18th anniversary with the company (I'm good with numbers so 3/29 was a special day I would have remembered though 🗓 ). I want to think that this was on purpose, as part of Walmart's Associate Experience Strategy... and not just a glitch or a spam. Perhaps for other former associates, this reminder may have come across as inappropriate or insensitive (like if you were laid off as part of a big reorg, or you left the company due to a poor manager/leadership experience); it was not the case for me, and for that, I really appreciate the note. When companies are purpose-driven ❤️ and realize the importance of the holistic #HumanExperience, that is, working maniacally to improve both, customers and employee experiences, you realize that in the case of employees, you have to understand the total journey, from recruiting to post-job, and create experiences for them not only when they are employees, but before or even after they left the organization. Today I may walk into my Walmart neighborhood market feeling a little bit special, and appreciated. HumanX Insights #HX #EX #CX

WALMART! So impressive to see this 3 minute video about the kind of organizational culture they have co-created with their "employees", and their concept of LEADERSHIP. https://lnkd.in/gKuqktxM

That's quite inspirational. It takes strong planning, focus and sticking to timelines when you aim to stick to 10 to 6 work schedule. It not just serves you but also creates a good ripple effect in your team and spreads across their families also, as home is meant to make Love, peace and memories. Practice it, you will get their eventually. #FocusTime

The death knell of DEI program? 🤔 Walmart, world’s biggest retailer and the US’s largest employer is rolling back its DEI efforts, joining the ranks of a growing list of MNCs that have done the same. This is probably the most fatal blow to DEI as Walmart has been see as a leader and benchmark that’s been lighting the way for many corporate DEI initiatives. There seems to be a trend of MNCs disinvesting in DEI after realizing it’s a waste of time and resources. Instead of promoting diversity and equity, the program oftens exacerbates social division. I reckon it is counterproductive when the starting points of many business decisions are race and color, and it certainly doesn’t help when we are reminded daily by these DEI programs of our differences instead of our similarities and common humanity. Are you or your company still investing in DEI program? What do you make of the DEI situation now? #DEI #Walmart #Diversity #Equity #Singapore #Recruitment