Problem:
The scale of Walmart's Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative was hard to comprehend and their message wasn't being communicated in a way that people could grasp. The impact that they are having on women's lives around the globe is mind-blowing in scale but the story wasn't getting the positive attention their efforts deserved.
Solution:
In partnership with Zia Communication, we helped create an atmosphere inside the company that encourages all female associates to grow their careers at Walmart and for the retailer to become the best place for women to work at all levels of the organization. Externally, Walmart wanted to tell the story of what they are doing in their Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative.The strategic communications plan centers on four objectives: communicate opportunities for women associates to grow and thrive; collect and share the stories of women who have built a career at Walmart and who have benefited from the Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative; use the stories to build a culture of empowerment; and drive awareness of Walmart’s efforts to empower women globally.
Results:
Walmart's Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative has already received the Best Economic Empowerment Program Award given by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
To date over 700 associate stories have been collected on video, brands for their internal and external women’s programs were developed, a toolkit for leaders to use when telling the Walmart story was created, and a monthly e-newsletter for leadership and editors of internal communication channels was created to share news about progress for the programs.
Final results will be tabulated in 2016 but by today’s measurement we are confident saying the results are going to be mind boggling in scale.