Justin Dillon – Viera, FL

Associates in Academy Stores: Everyone Learns

Justin Dillon is the manager of a Walmart Academy store in Viera, Florida. He believes that Academy is an extraordinary opportunity not just for the associates who go through it – but for those who live it every day.

"Being an associate at an Academy store is a unique challenge," Justin said. "Because you have to be able to serve your community as you always do, but you also have to be committed to One Best Way every single day."

Rather than thinking of this as challenging though, associates at Store 3538 have risen to the occasion time and time again. Justin says part of their success has to do with how well the Academy and the store associates mesh.

"The store associates and the Academy facilitators coexist really well," Justin said. "They’ve learned to operate together, and not as two separate entities, and our store is so much better for it."

Because the Academy and the store adhere to One Best Way as a method of operating, it allows the store associates to learn from Academy facilitators, but it also allows Academy facilitators to hone teaching methods based on active feedback.

Taken in total, Justin’s store is an example of the incredible power of the Walmart Academy in using active learning techniques to make a real difference in the lives of associates, which they can pass on to peers and even consumers by maintaining a store that’s clean, well-run and always aimed at bettering the community it serves.