Many employees struggle to feel a sense of belonging within their company, particularly in large organizations such as Walmart. In 2024, Walmart's U.S. Operations To ensure top managers feel valued, CEO John Furner deployed significant incentives, offering them annual compensation exceeding $620,000.
TL;DR
- Success · Walmart Walmart's chief executive officer stated that compensating its top-tier managers in excess of $620,000 annually enabled them to 'feel like owners.' By Emma Burleigh By Emma Burleigh Reporter, Success Emma Burleigh Reporter, Success Fortune reporter Emma Burleigh focuses on success, careers, entrepreneurship, and personal finance.
- Prior to her role on the Success desk, she was a co-author of Fortune’s CHRO Daily newsletter, where she provided in-depth coverage of the workplace and the evolving landscape of employment.
- Emma's writing has also appeared in outlets such as the Observer and The China Project, where she's published in-depth articles covering culture, entertainment, and geopolitics.
- She holds a dual master's degree in Global Journalism and East Asian Studies from New York University.
“What we did last year was make managers feel like owners,” Furner said at a retail and consumer conference in April. “This includes shareholding, which has positively impacted their approach to the company’s profits and losses.”
To enhance morale and retention following fighting turnover and manager shortages during the pandemic, the retail giant, valued at $800 billion, significantly increased the pay for its highest-achieving regional store managers in January, resulting in a raise. Their total pay package is slated to fall within the range of $420,000 to $620,000.
Their average base salary increased from $130,000 to $160,000, with the remainder of their approximately half-a-million dollar compensation comprising substantial stock awards and yearly bonuses.
“This is the latest wage investment in our people,” Walmart spokesperson Anne Hatfield told Fortune earlier this year. “This has been a yearslong journey with increases in hourly pay that started in 2015.”
Across the U.S., there are over 4,000 store managers. The payout, affecting approximately 1.5 million employees when the policy was enacted, wasn't merely substantial; it represented a deliberate investment in the company's ethos.
This wager has proven successful up to this point. Walmart secured the premier position on the Fortune 500 in 2024, and it also appeared on the Fortune Best Companies to Work For list not only in the previous year but also in 2025. Over the last ten years, Walmart said it has seen a 10% increase in its retention rate for hourly employees. And a Harvard Business School study, set to publish this fall, will unveil the business’s success from raising manager and minimum-wage salaries.
Walmart, with its workforce of 1.5-million individuals, found that ensuring employee satisfaction wasn't simple, so they opted for a direct approach: providing substantial financial incentives.
To ensure employees remain content and committed to their jobs, salary increases are vital.
Bosses may sling around promises of “unlimited PTO” and swanky office amenities, but it’s more money that most workers really want.
A BambooHR 2024 report found that approximately 73% of employees would consider switching jobs for better compensation. While compensation is a significant factor, a substantial 40% of the workforce has gone without a salary increase over the last twelve months.
Staffers are increasingly frustrated by salary deflation and a slowdown in pay raises. With grocery costs climbing and the cost-of-living crisis ongoing, more people than ever would be tempted by additional funds.
“The cost of getting compensation wrong is easily realized in multiples later,” said Kelsey Tarp, director of HR business partners at BambooHR.
When companies seek new employees, they may discover that the offered salary ranges aren't sufficient to draw in the necessary candidates. This situation involves wage compression, which will ultimately prove more expensive in the long run. Proceed.
Companies boost culture with higher pay.
Some employers have already caught on. When Cameo wanted workers back at its Chicago headquarters, the company offered $10,000 bonuses for going into the office four days a week, rather than shoving a mandate in their face.
After Rolls-Royce pulled an extraordinary business turnaround in recent years, it handed out nearly $39 million in shares to employees. It wanted to pay its success forward, by rewarding the people who made it happen. Each staffer got 150 company shares each, worth a little over $900.
“We want to recognize your contribution to our future success and reward you for the role you will play in it,” CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç said in an internal memo to employees.
Even when companies are hitting a wall, they turn to pay hikes as a Hail Mary to try to turn things around. When thousands of Volkswagen employees in Germany were striking over pay cuts and factory closures, the car manufacturer offered its Tennessee plant workers a 14% pay raise over four years.
After Exxon Mobil employees faced a tough era of salary freezes, 401(k) match suspension, and intense layoffs, the oil giant changed its tune. On average workers received a pay hike of 9%, above inflationary levels—with some top performers who got promoted seeing raises between 15% and 25%.
“Our company performance reflects the hard work, commitment, and perseverance of our employees,” Exxon spokeswoman Amy Von Walter said. “We take great pride in the exceptional business results our teams delivered despite it being a time of uncertainty and significant change.”
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on April 4, 2025.