Associate Experience Design

Here is what I do.

People often ask me, “So, which team are you on?”

I respond by telling them that I am on the Associate Experience Design team.

They typically seem confused before asking me, “Where is that, exactly?”

The Associate Experience Design team was formerly known as the Talent Development and Organizational Effectiveness team. It is a division of HR under the U.S. People division at Walmart Global Headquarters.

My team does very important work; we improve the experience of 2.2 million U.S. employees with our programs. We do this by changing, enhancing, and transforming the employment experience for each individual associate at Walmart. We are with them from their first day to their exit interview so they can live happier and more fulfilling lives, both professionally and personally. Each and every employee can count on us to look out for their well-being.

Within AES; I am on the Learning Content Design and Development team, one of many teams within the U.S. People division’s HR department. My team covers the Walmart Academy as well as the Walmart Home Office Academy. While I do not facilitate any educational programs, I design and plan learning and development initiatives that help employees perform better, grow professionally, and ultimately get to where they want to be within the Walmart organizations.

I lead the development of all the eLearning programs in numerous fields, some being Merchandising, U.S. Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Logistics, Health and Wellness, Central Operations, Finance, Realty Service Channel, Security, Global Investigations, Ethics, Compliance, and Labor Relations.

While I could not possibly name them all here, some of the other amazing, talented, and innovative groups we have in the U.S. People division’s HR Department include the Strategy, Products, Implementation and Delivery teams. They have transformed Walmart and its workplace environment and continue to do so each and every day for the benefit of all Walmart employees.

Additionally, great HR campaigns—such as #ThisIsThatPlace, #GreatWorkplace, #TrueTransparency, and #WalmartAmbassador—have been developed under the U.S. People division, bringing us to an entirely new level of excellence.

In order for me to effectively perform my duties, since I obviously cannot be an expert on every relevant educational field, I partner with SMEs, instructional designers, business partners, and content designers to find solutions to training gaps. We work together using the Agile methods to ensure that hundreds of thousands of modules are developed, finalized, and launched on time.

We also work closely with Walmart’s legal department on compliance matters when designing our training sessions. Furthermore, we work with our media team when we need images or videos for certain subjects. Training instructions can often be disseminated more effectively through visual rather than verbal means.

On the Associate Experience Design team, there is no room for Error. We develop large-scale initiatives without failing to ensure that every chapter, module, page, paragraph, and line is of the highest quality before the courses are finalized.

Now here are the rewards and the difficulties of my position:

The Rewards:

My work is incredibly rewarding, both personally and professionally; I am able to see thousands of people grow and advance in the workplace. It is not uncommon for us to receive letters of thanks and positive feedback after individuals graduate from advanced courses at the academy.

One great aspect of this job is that innovation is not only encouraged, but necessary; we get to build and test new approaches. Essentially, I am working in a lab in which failure only makes our creative successes more satisfying. We work hard, often long hours, on each pilot program, but the job’s rewarding nature makes it all worthwhile.

The Difficulties:

The pressure can sometimes be extreme—launching a program for 2.2 million people requires the utmost diligence. This pressure can be even more daunting when our reliance on technology causes problems. Despite using the latest technologies, we still face considerable problems that can adversely affect job training. On some occasions, I have had urgent calls regarding modules that are scheduled to be launched on a Monday morning—to thousands of people. The urgent calls I receive following errors of that kind can certainly be stressful.

In some instances, modules I developed never ended up launching because the company’s business model changed, which can feel quite upsetting. Despite these issues, however, I truly love what I do. Working through the problems is rewarded with passion and a sense of accomplishment.

Overall,

My point is this: I have the best job. It is both enjoyable and rewarding; getting to see people succeed makes me truly happy at heart. Making changes in people’s lives has been possible through teamwork and cooperation with some of the best people in retail.

I hope this answered your question; this is what I do as an eLearning manager and I love every minute of it!

I encourage all business leaders to invest in and foster the development of their organizations, teams, and employees.

To all Walmartians: be sure to regularly check out all of the available education benefits on the WIRE system. There are copious courses, programs, and degrees available to you at no cost. Feel free to reach out to your supervisors to seek guidance on these matters.

If you are interested in being part of what we do at Walmart, please take a look at our career site. We generally have positions available: https://careers.walmart.com/. Alternatively, set up your LinkedIn account to alert you when there are openings available at Walmart.

- Lily