OUR PEOPLE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
“Our People Make the Difference” was the theme for the 1979 Walmart Annual Meeting, what store managers now call the Year Beginning Meeting. “Our People Make the Difference” became an important slogan through the 1980s. It was featured prominently on the header for Walmart World early in that decade and was on a button popular with associates. In 1987, “Our People Make the Difference” was added to the associate name badge.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
Walmart’s first name badge in wide use included the Walmart logo, the associate’s name and title, and “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” Walmart associates make the difference, but the customer is #1.
THE HISTORY OF THE NAME BADGE
In 1987, “Our People Make the Difference” was added to associates’ badges. The popular red, white,and blue badge was used in some form until 2010, when it was replaced with a blue and white badge featuring the Walmart Spark.
THE NEW BADGE
After the February 2016 announcement about pay increases and training opportunities, Peter Abbott, a market manager in Phoenix, Arizona, wrote a letter suggesting that Walmart return “Our People Make the Difference” to the associates’ name badges. At the 2015 Shareholders meeting, Walmart U. S. Chief Operating Officer Judith McKenna announced that every U.S. associate would have a redesigned badge and those redesigned badges would indeed have “Our People Make the Difference” on them.
