Donna Morris oversees over 2 million employees, so she knows a strong candidate when she sees one.
Walmart’s chief people officer identified three green flags that make her lean in during a job interview — regardless of the role they’re applying for. First, she told Business Insider that she looks for a genuine alignment with the company’s purpose and values.
Second, she wants to see an ability to take on multiple responsibilities and make things work.
“They demonstrate a track record of grit,” Morris said, defining those individuals as people who have overcome adversity.
In an ideal world, she said that means they’ve worked on the frontline, since so many of Walmart employees have customer-facing roles. She said the company looks for candidates with a focus on service.
Morris, who started working at 13 at a dry cleaner’s and then worked at a drugstore for eight years, said that if a candidate has never experienced what it’s like to be a frontline hourly worker, it may be challenging for them to lead. Morris said those jobs gave her purpose, and she found it hard to resign.
Now, when she interviews candidates, Morris said her go-to question is “If I was to ask people who’ve worked for you before, what will they tell me?” She said the open-ended question generates a genuine response and helps her gauge whether the person is focused on servant leadership, which is a “big green flag.”
Asking this question allows her to hear more about a candidate’s first job or a work experience. She said that while graduating from an Ivy League school is valuable, she’s more focused on hearing about what they’ve learned from work experience.
“What was the grit they had to persevere through?” Morris asked.
The chief people officer, who worked at Adobe for more than 17 years before joining Walmart, said that her third green flag is candidates who are passionate about making a difference.
“That, to us, would be really, really key,” Morris said.
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