Walmart Manager Assessment Preparation – 2024 - Practice4Me (2024)

What Is Walmart Manager Assessment?

If you are hoping to start a career with Walmart in a managerial position, there are management positions available, based on your level of experience. Market Manager will require the most experience since you would be in charge of a group of stores. Market Managers manage store budgets, consult Store Managers on cost control methods, and resolve budget issues. This is followed by the Store Manager. In the store manager position, you will be in charge of a single store, and all the departments and employees. You will be running a multi-million dollar store, and ensuring operations are moving smoothly.

The Walmart Store Lead fills the position of an assistant store manager or Store Manager In Training. The Store Lead subs for the manager when they are out, and handles other managerial duties in line with running a store. The Walmart Coach oversees several departments and oversees staffing and merchandising for their areas.

Specialty Area Managers oversee one area of the store, such as automotive, bakery, or pharmacy. The area managers help with staffing and merchandising in their areas, as well as directly overseeing employees.

Management positions are limited, and therefore highly competitive. Walmart also frequently promotes from within, which makes finding managerial positions more difficult if you are applying from outside the company. If a position does become available, be ready to undergo a rigorous hiring process to secure a position in management.

Walmart Manager Employment Assessment

The Walmart Manager Employment Assessment, also known as the MEA, is made up of 5 sections. Each section will not only test your skills but will also measure how well you embody the core Values of the Walmart corporation. The core values are:

• Service to the customer
• Respect for the individual
• Strive for excellence
• Act with integrity

The different sections on the MEA focus on skills that are important when running a large store.

Areas of Assessment:

• Work With Associates
• Run Your Business
• Manage Your Day
• Tell Us Your Story
• Describe Your Approach

Work With Associates- The questions on this section of the assessment are situational style. This section is based on challenges a manager may face while performing their job. You will be given a situation, followed by several solutions. You will need to pick the least effective, and the most effective.

Example Question

You find out that your department had an angry customer who had been to another Walmart that did not have an item that the website said they had in stock. The customer has come to your store hoping to find the item, but it was not on the shelves. One of your associates tracked down the item the customer was searching for and retrieved it for her. In response, the customer has called in a positive review praising the associate.

What are you most and least likely to do?

1. Thank your associate, and ask her to brainstorm with you to find ways to avoid these situations, and make sure the shelves are properly merchandised.
2. Thank your associate and tell them to keep it up.
3. Ask the associate to explain to the rest of the team how they handled the situation.
4. Thank your team for preventing a complaint, and tell them to keep up the good work.

Answer:

Most Effective, A.

Least Effective D.

A is most effective because it acknowledges your associate and engages them in helping ensure customer satisfaction.

D is least effective because it fails to acknowledge the associate who put in the effort and does nothing to reinforce customer-oriented behaviors.

Run Your Business- This is the section where you will need to demonstrate your management skills. You will be given tables and graphs containing information about the business, and you will need to use basic math to determine the correct course of action. The questions can involve scheduling staff, determining which business areas require the most focus when meeting with supervisors, and other questions that involve looking at data points to determine the best course of action.

Manage Your Day- This is another situational judgment area. You will have a list of tasks to be completed and situations that need to be handled. You will need to determine the order in which these should be prioritized. Keep in mind, these need to be answered according to the way Walmart would prioritize these tasks, and not necessarily the way you would do it on your own.

Example Question:

Rank the activities from the most urgent to the least urgent, with 1 being most urgent, and 4 being the least urgent.

1. You notice that one employee routinely calls in or is late on Wednesday shifts.
2. When you came into work, you noticed the employee break room was messy and cluttered.
3. You have been made aware of an associate who is routinely bullying newer team members into completing his tasks, while he does nothing.
4. You see a customer that needs help and no associates in that department.

Answer

1. D, helping the customer comes first.
2. The work is getting done, but one associate is not doing their share and creating a hostile environment, and this situation needs to be addressed. You will need to speak to each associate individually and determine the correct course of action.
3. This affects your staffing and the productivity of the team as a whole. You need to discuss with the employee why they are routinely late or absent on one particular day, and determine if this is a problem that requires disciplinary action.
4. This affects the workplace environment and sets a poor precedent. Address the team and discuss ways to help keep the employee area clean.

Tell Us Your Story- This section is where you will answer questions about your work experience. The purpose of these questions is to see if your work style and workplace personality are compatible with Walmart’s core values. Some questions may seem like they’re asking the same thing in a different way. They are. This is done to make sure your answers stay consistent so Walmart can get an accurate picture of how you will perform on a team.

Example Question

Choose a statement that best describes you and the one that least describes you.

1. I avoid workplace conflict
2. I often mediate workplace conflict
3. I am able to turn conflict into a productive discussion
4. I immediately put a stop to all conflict

Describe Your Approach- This is another personality test. This section will evaluate your managerial style and your approach to teamwork. This is another area where they will be looking for consistency in your answers and any hints that you may be overstating your abilities.

The questions will have 2 descriptions and you will need to pick the one that best describes you, and your approach to work.

Example Question

1. I expect my team to take direction and follow the guidelines I set.
2. I like to take a collaborative approach with my team and allow constructive feedback.

1. Most like A
2. Somewhat like A
3. Somewhat like B
4. Most like B

How to Prepare for the Walmart MEA?

The Walmart MEA is not like other assessments you may have taken. It is tailored specifically for Walmart management. Familiarize yourself with Walmart’s core values, since the way you have handled situations at your past jobs may not be in line with Walmart’s methods.

Find out the details of the management position you are hoping for. This will help you prepare for the situations you may encounter, and the expectations they set for management. The only way to prepare for the Walmart MEA is to learn the preferences Walmart has so you can predict the answers they will find most desirable.

Keep your answers consistent to generate a realistic profile of your management style. Any inconsistencies in your answers will be noticed and flagged. This may result in you failing to pass the assessment.