High-tech training, Wal-Mart style: Coleman Peterson leads employee training at the nation's No. 1 retailer

Black Enterprise, July, 1996 by Tonia L. Shakespeare

More than anyone, Coleman Peterson knows that proper training makes good leaders. As one of only two recipients to receive an ROTC military scholarship to Loyola University in 1966, Peterson went on to become a lieutenant colonel in the ROTC brigade and commander of Loyola's drill team.

Today, Peterson uses those same leadership skills as senior vice president of human resources at Wal-Mart Stores. Ranked No. 4 on the Fortune 500 list in 1995, Wal-Mart's earnings were a whopping $82.5 billion last year. It has an employee population to match: Peterson oversees a workforce of 635,000 domestically and 40,000 internationally (Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Far East Asia).

In Bentonville, Arkansas, just a few miles from where President Clinton taught law, Peterson, 48, uses a novel approach to train employees in what is commonly referred to at Wal-Mart as the People Division. Although Peterson's position entails various duties - recruitment, compensation and benefits, organization development processes and labor and associates relations - the most important is training. As Peterson states, "Wal-Mart is in the business of keeping and growing talent."

With four operating units Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Sam's Clubs and Bud's discount stores) in an industry known for its unusually high employee turnover, retention and development of talent is one of the primary challenges Peterson faces. To bring together this decentralized organization, with more than 2,000 locations worldwide, a program called Computer Based Learning (CBL) was installed in all Wal-Mart affiliates using multimedia devices (audio, video, text and graphics), a series of training modules impress upon employees their job responsibilities as well as Wal-Mart's company values.

Peterson says utilizing CBL enables Wal-Mart to deliver the same content and message to everyone and decreases the level of frustration on the job. Because employees can pace themselves for training, they're more motivated to learn once training is completed, the test results of the training sessions are then kept in a database to evaluate employee performance.

No stranger to retail, Peterson honed his human resources skills at such companies as Venture Stores, Osco Drugs and Jewel Companies. As a result' he does not debunk all traditional approaches. He still incorporates classroom instruction and on-the-job training but combines them with CBL to avert turnover and develop management skills.

Teaching employees through innovative technology reinforces Wal-Mart's cultural values. A satellite network comprised of Wal-Mart Network Television (WMTV) is a daily show that airs in every store. Topics range from a store buyer talking about shoes to executives espousing the commpany's culture. Another strategy developed by Peterson's division is Wal-Mart Radio, where a disc jockey talks about merchandising, culture, contests and employees.

Wal-Mart's system of training exemplifies the power of technology. "If companies are going to be successful in a competitive, global environment, then the capacity to communicate messages is going to be critical," states Peterson. The starting point for Wal-Mart's training is embedding in the employee's mind the culture of the company." our starting point is culture first, then job content," he says.

Peterson, believes that by listening to employees and showing that the company appreciates them, employees, in turn, will listen and take care of the customers.