John Furner, Walmart’s incoming CEO, started at the mega-retailer as an hourly employee stocking shelves. Now, America’s largest company by revenue is counting on him to guide it through the next chapter.
CEO Doug McMillon on Friday announced his retirement after a decade as leader of the world’s No. 1 company Fortune 500. His last day will be January 31.
Forner, 51, began his journey with Walmart at a garden center in the company’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, but now, starting in February, he will take on the task of leading the company’s 2.1 million employees and its operations as soon as possible. 11,000 shops Across 19 countries.
After studying marketing management at the University of Arkansas, Forner rose through the ranks at Walmart from store manager to district manager and buyer, then on the corporate side as division general manager and vice president of global sourcing. He even spent two years in Shenzhen with Walmart China in merchandising and marketing management.
He most recently held high-level positions as president and CEO of first Sam’s Club and then Walmart US
“John understands every dimension of our business — from sales to global strategy. He has proven his ability to deliver results while adhering to our values,” Walmart Chairman Greg Penner said in a statement. statement.
On his way out the door, McMillon also gave credit to Forner, whom he said he has worked closely with for 20 years.
“He loves this company and his colleagues, deeply understands our business well, and has the right characteristics to lead us into the future. He is a trader, operator, innovator and builder,” McMillon said Friday in a statement. mail He is linkedin.
Furner’s investment in employees
Due in part to his humble beginnings as a store assistant, Forner during his tenure helped oversee a massive reworking of how Walmart pays its store managers. In an effort to boost morale and employee retention, Walmart offered top-performing managers packages worth between $420,000 and $620,000 annually.
The workers’ base salary was raised to between $130,000 and $160,000, more than double the base salary. Average annual salary of an American worker. The rest consists of large stock grants and annual bonuses, which Forner said are intended to “make managers feel like owners.”
The company also brought back a rewards program for store employees. Some eligible employees could potentially earn up to $1,000 per year from the program based on their years of service, According to the company.
Even as artificial intelligence threatens workers’ jobs across industries, Forner said his headcount over the next five years will remain flat even if workers become more productive. He added that the jobs that disappear will be replaced by new jobs within the company.
“We’re expanding people’s careers and these jobs pay better,” Forner said during the Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, in September. “The attrition rates are really low.”
Partly because of these changes, the company landed in the top 10 on Fortune’s list The best large workplaces In retail for 2024.
Why did Walmart choose John Furner as CEO?
Woerner’s management philosophy may have been partly influenced by his family and early experiences. While working on the farm with his grandfather as a child, Forner learned the value of hard work.
He said: “I learned with him that animals do not take Sunday, Saturday and Wednesday off.” Fox News. “They’re always up. You get up early in the morning. You go and drive the fence line to make sure the cow doesn’t break through.”
His grandfather’s practical approach also applies to problem solving. When he needed something, Forner’s grandfather, who he said was a product of the Great Depression, would rather assemble the solution by hand than buy something.
“In business, there are a lot of unique situations thrown at you for which there may not be a clear answer, but between your team and your resources and American ingenuity and ingenuity — there may be a way to solve it,” he said.
Furner’s penchant for hard work and creative problem solving came in handy during his most recent high-profile roles as president and CEO of Sam’s Club and then Walmart US. During his tenure as Sam’s Club leader, Forner oversaw 11 consecutive quarters of positive growth and beat rival Costco in part by making the company leaner and closing stores.
Then, when the company faced the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, Forner helped the company strengthen its supply chain and fulfillment centers to meet the moment.
As Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, told it in 2020, Walmart has reshaped its business, deprioritizing its auto and optical care centers while investing in its grocery business to meet demand from what he called the “inventory phase,” where customers rush to build their supplies of everything from toilet paper to consumables.
Subsequently, the company invested heavily in fulfillment centers as well as pickup and delivery services to adapt to the era of “work from home” and increased online purchases.
As a result, net sales increased in 2020 and 2021, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic. In 2021 alone, Walmart’s U.S. business’s net sales rose by a staggering $29 billion, significantly outpacing the previous year’s sales growth, while its e-commerce operations grew by 79%.
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