Company: Walmart
Innovation: Women In Retail
Date Introduced: 2010
Award Recognition: Award of Excellence
Women in Retail (WIR), initiated in Canada in 2010, provides female associates with tools and resources to develop their careers, including mentor/sponsorship programs, workshops, networking opportunities, and a champion in each business unit.
The primary innovation of the WIR program is based on the premise “Think Globally, Act Locally.” Walmart has more than 2.2 million associates in twenty-seven countries, with a majority of associates being female. The WIR umbrella branding now covers all women’s initiatives.
The global WIR Program is all about the development of women leaders who are high performers with high potential as leaders, persuasive and effective in developing talent and leading teams, and motivated to achieve success for themselves while strengthening the company.
Since 2010, there has been a 38.5 percent increase in the number of female store managers across Canada, up from 16.9 percent. In China, sixty-two participants have enrolled in the WIR program, and 47 percent of the one hundred Women in Leadership Program participants in Brazil have recently been promoted.
