My Journey to Relocation and Global Mobility- Part 7- I'm off to Arkansas!

In my previous post, I shared the unexpected journey that led me to Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas—a job interview I never planned to take and a move I did not foresee. In this post, I will explore life in Northwest Arkansas, the unique culture of Walmart, and the surprises, challenges, and insights that shaped my experience.

Life in Northwest Arkansas: A Pleasant Surprise

Like many who have lived on the coasts, I did not fully appreciate what the middle of the country had to offer until I moved to Bentonville. The location is incredibly convenient—being central to almost every major U.S. city makes it ideal for travel, with anywhere in the country being less than three hours away. Northwest Arkansas itself is stunning, with abundant natural beauty and plenty of outdoor activities.

However, it was not without its challenges. The weather was a constant wildcard—unpredictable storms, sweltering heat, and frequent hurricane and tornado warnings. Additionally, while Walmart encouraged its vendors to set up shop in the area, many were on temporary domestic assignments and were not permanent residents. This transient nature made it difficult to form lasting connections outside of Walmart.

On the plus side, the region’s infrastructure far exceeded my expectations. The schools offered top-notch programs in arts, music, and sports—things that families like mine often pay extra for or miss entirely in Southern California. Sports fields, practice facilities, and Walmart’s investments in the community helped build a region I quickly came to admire.

Being near a college town like the University of Arkansas was a fun experience. I also started following the Kansas City Royals AA team, the Naturals and went to many games. Double-A baseball is the purest and most affordable way of watching professional baseball.

Walmart’s Culture: A World of Its Own

Working at Walmart required a cultural adjustment. There are many misconceptions about the company, but what I found was an organization deeply committed to doing things the right way—legally and ethically. From strict compliance with immigration processes to a cautious approach with vendor relationships, Walmart operated with a level of oversight that was eye-opening.

That said, the culture had its quirks. For example, there were no custodial services for your workspace—you took out your own trash. Business travel meant sharing rooms with colleagues. Vendor gifts, even something as minor as a box of cookies, were strictly forbidden. I needed permission to attend a party hosted by a friend of 20 years, but also a mobility supplier. I was allowed to go but was told I could not eat any food or have any drinks that I did not bring on my own.

If you went to lunch in Bentonville with five people, it was perfectly common for the server to hand out five separate checks without being asked.

While these policies stemmed from a commitment to integrity, they sometimes felt excessive. The “open-door policy,” for example, encouraged employees to raise issues freely, but it could sometimes create an atmosphere of micromanagement and mistrust. In layman’s terms, you were encouraged to snitch on fellow employees. It was a culture designed to keep everyone accountable, which, as a newcomer from a more traditional corporate environment, I never quite got used to.

Similar to other corporations, some executives were above the rules. I worked with one particularly nice executive who was on a 3–5-year assignment. He candidly told me that he wasn’t planning to return to his home country until his children were out of school, and one of his children hadn’t even started school yet.

The general rule for expats is not to buy homes in the work location, as they receive a generous rental allowance. However, this executive went ahead and bought a home. I mentioned it to my boss, and she confirmed she knew about it. A few weeks later, I realized we were still paying this excessive rental allowance, which was likely much higher than any mortgage payment would have been. I raised this with my boss again, and she responded, “Don’t tell me anything else.” I went back to my cube, facing the large sign on the wall about how Walmart saves money to help people live better, and just shook my head:)

The Role and a Shocking First Day

When I joined Walmart, I knew I would be leading a team focused on international relocation. I also understood that, despite Walmart’s size, its global mobility footprint was relatively small compared to other Fortune 500 companies. What I did not expect was how quickly I would be introduced to the nuances of internal politics.

On my very first day, in my very first 1:1 meeting, "someone" made an unforgettable statement. I was told me that, although not discussed during my interview, there was this new team formed named GTT- Global Talent Team. Now the statement- I was expected to collaborate with the new Global Talent Team (GTT) but also told specifically to "treat them as though they ceased to exist.” I was not sure how to pull that off!

The GTT, though, was a brilliant idea, but it was not part of global mobility and had different leadership. I quickly found myself caught in the middle of internal politics between the teams’ leaders. The GTT also posed a threat by pushing global mobility into a more transactional role—similar to how we were viewed at Disney. In a perfect world, the GTT would have been a part of the GMT—Global Mobility Team.

GTT was formed to address the long-standing question that Mobility has never been able to fully answer: Did the assignment or relocation actually make sense? GTT's purpose is to vet global relocations, ensuring the right candidates are selected. They make sure everyone understands the reasons for the move, review performance evaluations, and monitor the relocation process through to completion.

Working with the GTT, I realized that, like many companies, Walmart was often moving marginal talent. Performance evaluations were conducted, but they were not considered when deciding who should be relocated. Even if an employee had a perfect evaluation, they might not be the best fit for an assignment—due to personal factors like kids in school or aging parents.

My team, GMT, and GTT created a joint presentation to align everyone involved in the relocation process—the employee, HR, business line, host country, and home country managers. Our research revealed many instances where employees felt they were moving for training, while host country managers thought the employee was coming to train someone else. A simple thing like ensuring everyone knows why someone is being sent on assignment may seem like common sense, but in many cases, you get different answers.  

We also discovered that marginal talent was continually being moved, at great expense, without achieving the desired results. Moving an employee internationally costs 2-3 times their base salary, so the decision to move someone multiple times without a positive outcome can quickly become a costly mistake. This mistake was common, as we saw people moved 6-10 times. It was not unusual for a country to move on from an expat, saying they were not quite the right cultural fit and suggesting another country might be a better fit. Before you knew it, the employee had 5 assignments in 8 different countries, all with poor performance evaluations.

GTT was put in place to guard against the issues mentioned above. Additionally, anyone taking an international assignment had to go through GTT. This requirement proved somewhat disastrous, as I was personally told by an executive, "If I tap someone on the shoulder and recommend they go on an assignment, then I don’t need another department telling me if that’s acceptable".

Despite the differences between teams and the issues that predated my arrival, I chose to partner with GTT because I believed their involvement was essential and would help position my team as more strategic.

The Domestic Relocation Team: A Different Challenge

As if things were not complicated enough, we also had the domestic relocation team, with a separate leadership structure in a completely different building. I would walk over to their location and see 20 people working in global mobility, many of whom were contractors from Sirva and Cap Relocation. Even though most international employees were moving to or from the U.S., my team never utilized the domestic team, which was confusing given their expertise in the domestic supplier network

This also helped explain the lukewarm response I received from the domestic team as we did not treat them as a partner. Honestly, I could not blame them for being skeptical of me.

Though it was never confirmed, it was obvious that many leaders wanted global mobility and domestic relocation reporting to them. In an effort to appease these leaders, I assume they decided to split international and domestic relocation. Then, when a new talent leader arrived and believed both should report to them, they created the Global Talent Team. As a result, three separate departments that should have worked as one larger unit were instead divided into three distinct teams, each reporting to a different leader and sitting in three separate locations.

A colleague specifically told me that my reporting structure was set because of the need for more direct reports.

One of the first things I did was invite Medina McDade , Head of Domestic Relocation, to any meetings I had. Over time, we became good partners despite the underlying tensions between our teams from those above us.

Though I will highlight my team and others in subsequent articles, I want to give a special shout-out to Ian Hanson , Director of Tax, who was on my team. His knowledge of compliance was invaluable, and even more so, his friendship made all the difference. Ian and his wife, Donna, welcomed me into their home many times when I was missing my own family. Their kindness is something I will never forget.

To Be Continued:

In my next post, I will dive deeper into the dynamics of my role, the challenges of managing a team within such a massive organization, and the lessons I took away from my time at Walmart.