Being in human resources lets Nayyirah do what she loves: Help people grow!
Nayyirah Malik has made a big impact in her three years with Walmart as transportation human resources manager at Distribution Center 7838 in Fort Pierce, Florida.
“As soon as I walked through the doors at Walmart, I felt that phenomenal Walmart culture, family atmosphere and care for the individuals who work here,” Nayyirah says. “It felt like home.”
When Hurricane Ian devastated Florida in late September 2022, Nayyirah volunteered to help run the associate resource center for associates impacted by the disaster. “We helped people find resources and complete FEMA applications,” she says. “Most of the associates I helped had lost everything. It was a very humbling experience.”
Destined to Help People
In her previous jobs in economic development and finance, Nayyirah got a taste of human resources (HR). She enjoyed it so much that she went back to school to earn her master’s degree in HR.
“This field calls to me,” she shares. “I love to interact with and help people.” She also enjoys developing policies and procedures that bring structure to a role.
Nayyirah has contributed to many HR projects and initiatives, including the implementation of My Walmart Schedule.
She also worked with another HR manager on an onboarding tool for new Transportation HRMs. The tool outlines the training schedule for their first six weeks with the company. It includes videos of Doug McMillon and John Furner, information on Walmart’s culture, policies, procedures and guidelines—all on one platform.
“Because it’s all on one platform, people can find the resources easily if they need a refresher,” she explains.
“One thing I love about my job is that when you train someone, it teaches you things, too,” she says. “You may be the teacher, but you get to learn from your students.”
Growth and Development
Recently, William Mack, another regional HRM, introduced the Four Pillars of HR. He chose Nayyirah to lead a project on one of the four pillars: Growth and Development. She asked Michael Hinton from Smyrna, Delaware, to be her co-lead.
“It was a good opportunity to learn from someone within Transportation who had more Walmart experience than I did,” she says.
Nayyirah, Michael and their team developed two tools for operations managers, area managers and associates in Transportation:
- A “gaps grid” to assess how HR can further develop associates
- A development tree to provide insights that assist associates with career development
They also created a survey to help HRMs customize a career development plan for individual associates. Nayyirah presented the tools to GTMs and RTMs of Regions 4 and 6 during a Transportation Leaders Meeting. “They loved the content of the tools and how we’re working to train and develop transportation associates.”
The Role of Mentorship
Mentorship is another big part of career development. Mentors help associates who want to grow their careers to develop the skills they already have and identify new skills they may need in future roles.
Nayyirah appreciates the mentorship and guidance she has received from Holly Chadwick, Rob Lentz and William Mack. She is working to extend that benefit to others who want to grow their Walmart careers.
“If you put opportunities in front of people, it may spark a light in them,” Nayyirah says. “Our goal is to help associates get to the next level.”
