Below is a letter I wrote CEO Greg Wasson, detailing how all the changes Walgreens has made has not been beneficial to the business. The letter basically states the negative consequences of Walgreens business decisions, which has led to lawsuits, loss of valuable team members, and health issues that affect both customers and patients and team members alike. If these issues are not addressed, Walgreens as a company, I believe, will ultimately fail. This is something I want to prevent. I still believe that Walgreens can do a lot of good for its team, because that good is also passed down to our customers, patients, associate, partners and the legacy the company has. Please assist me in getting the word out and stand up for what is right: fair play, fair pay, and fair treatment. Thank you for your support.

Thank you,

Carlo Tamarit

 

To: Greg Wasson

President and CEO of Walgreens

Walgreens Company

200 Wilmot Road

Deerfield, IL 60015

 

From: Carlo Tamarit

ASM for Walgreens 3795

6996 HWY 19 North

Pinellas Park, FL 33781

 

Subject: Addressing and Resolving Concerns Arising from Field Transformation

 

Dear Greg Wasson,

My name is Carlo Tamarit, current Assistant Store Manager at Walgreens 3795 in Pinellas Park, Florida. As a team member involved in the company's profit sharing plan, I had received the invitation to attend this year's Annual Shareholder's meeting. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to events at the store, primarily reconstruction. Walgreens has set high standards for execution and I hope my efforts contributed to the success of not only my store, but my team and the company as a whole. I write to you because had I been able to attend, I would raised the following concerns, of which I will soon address.

 

Per Open Door Policy, I expect that you and your senior leadership team will hear me out without fear of reprisal, in that my position with the company remains secure. My goal is to communicate to you what my concerns are and work in a collaborative effort to permanently resolve them for the benefit of all team members, our business partners, and our valued customers and patients. Nothing more, certainly nothing less.

 

Since I was not able to attend, I had the opportunity to listen to the online podcast of the meeting. The company's future seems to be secure through all the transformation. However, one point during the meeting Diane Hartman spoke up about her experiences working at Walgreens and her experiences after her separation. I have had the good fortune to speak with her on occasion and learn more about her situation. While her situation might seem unique, it tragically is not. The concern of her being bullied at her store is very disconcerting. I had also been targeted, or bullied, at my previous stores before. You might remember that around September 2012 I wrote a 19 page e-mail to the entire company. While my DM (formally of D100 and now in New York) and LP (also formally of D100) spoke to me about my e-mail and followed up with only for 4 phone calls afterward, no conclusive result was ever achieved. I understand that too much time had passed to properly resolve the issues I raised. This is not the only concern I have.

 

Since that letter and subsequent meeting with the DM and LP, my store manager at the time began to target me more frequently. These issues I also raised with Employee Relations and they have started the process to investigate (currently LP has the information I gathered and is expected to follow up with me on Monday 1/27). Update: no follow up yet as of Saturday, 2/8/14.

 

However, I do not write to solely discuss my situation or that of Diane Hartman. Our situations are not unique and through research I have learned that they are widespread. One would think the entire field transformation would address issues such as these, but they have not.

 

We are Walgreens, sir. We are not our competitors nor should we be our competitors. We are the Pharmacy America has trusted for over a 113 years. Our field transformation is having a negative impact on the stores that will result in an endless cycle of lawsuits and hurt the brand and the reputation of Walgreens.

 

You are a business professional and you have years of experience working not only retail in the Drug Chain industry but also Walgreens. You know that our company continues to be the best in many categories and we have the results to prove it. A clear cut example is the stock doubling its value within the past several months. However, I believe the focus of field transformation should be on developing, retaining, and promoting talent, not expelling them or intimidating them or exhausting them, which is what is happening now. The negative impact of field transformation has a negative impact now and will result in a more damaging negative impact.

Taking into account all the positives of Walgreens, the reality is that the actions undertaken by Walgreens has and will produce more unnecessary challenges that could have been easily avoided, and not just with field transformation. Take into account the Well Experience format, which has people concerned about security breaches and HIPAA violations with the Pharmacist on duty out of the pharmacy (have you responded to the letter by Senator Markey of Massachusetts? If so, what was your response?) Or the price gouging issue in the news in the state of Missouri? Or the lawsuit by the investors against you personally and others for authorizing a settlement of $80 million for the Scheduled II controlled substances abuse? These issues could have been avoided.

 

I'm sure when making these decisions, the pros and cons of each initiative were debated, but the consequences may not have been carefully considered. Had they been properly considered, I'm confidant we would not be discussing these issues right now. But these issues remain to be fully resolved and it is costing the Walgreens Family of Companies too much money, which could be reinvested into the company in terms of people, stock, and future acquisitions and market expansion, even better technology. The more severe damage is to the reputation Walgreens has worked very hard to build over its history. That reputation is being threatened and it is bad for publicity. Walgreens is a household brand name, not a celebrity, sir. Celebrities can afford bad publicity because no matter what that celebrity does, the common population will continue to invest their trust and money into that celebrity. While this a broad generalization, it has merit. Walgreens does not have this luxury as there is only one Walgreens.

 

Take into account CVS. Nearly ten years ago their brand reputation, and their stock value, was hurt when their computer systems were hacked. Sure CVS has improved and their stock is high now, but their reputation is forever stained. Their customers and patients don't trust the brand, placing that trust with us and our brand. We have more locations than CVS and we are embarking upon transforming into a global platform. Probably the first in the history of Drug Chain Retail. That's an achievement to be proud of and will have a lasting impact not just for our American clientele, but our soon to be global clientele. As a business professional, it's important to have a perspective that accounts for all these variables.

 

Now, back to the negative business impact of field transformation. Within the past five years Walgreens has undergone many changes that have benefitted the business but not the very people who make this company successful. Take into account Rewire: many Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians were separated from Walgreens only for the company to rehire 90% of them back into the fold. It's understandable that change is necessary and sometimes a business such as ours has to experiment with an initiative to find the right outcome. But this particular program disrupted the livelihood of many qualified and capable individuals, causing needless stress and potentially affecting the health of not only our business but our fellow teammates. While the 90% was a quick reversal, that was a situation that could have had legal reprocussions. Thankfully that hasn't happened that I am aware of, but the damage was done. An initiative such as this did not pass the Four Way Test and flies smack in the face of being at the corner of Happy and Healthy.

 

Next came the MGT elimination process. First, the cut of hours to 40 when many relied on the 44 to take care of themselves and their loved ones. And now the MGT severance process. Walgreens stands to lose many qualified and valued team members in this category because of this process. I understand the reason behind it and yes, many knew it would happen. However, Walgreens is replacing qualified individuals who have earned their rate of pay through dedication and experience only to be replaced by SFLs, many of whom are not properly trained to deal with not just the workload, but the demands of the position itself. There will be many store managers out there who will take advantage of the SFLs and operate them as MGTs, except with no real support or training.

 

So, with this we go to the EXAs, a temp position in line for promotion, who became ASMs, now a career position. ASMs, alongside store managers, are the two key salary positions in the store, a necessary partnership to ensure store level success and proper execution of company initiatives. ASMs will find themselves doing the same type of work they did before as EXAs, but now with more responsibility at a capped and reduced rate of pay and reduced bonuses. Even store managers see their bonuses reduced because of the transformation. To me, this initiative slaps the faces of these vital team members, ASMs and SMs alike, by ignoring their wealth of experience and dedication they bring to Walgreens every day. We're in this business to help our customers and patients get and stay well, but we're also in this business to make money and support our own families. To take away such incentives will increase the turnover rate, which in the long term hurts the financial stability of Walgreens and the reputation it has. This turnover rate also applies to the MGTs and SFLs: many SFLs will not appreciate doing the same work at reduced pay. With an increased turnover rate, money is lost due to experienced leaders separating from the company; money is also lost investing in a poorly trained workforce, since many will not or can not perform to expectation for so little compensation.

 

What I said above applies to our veteran personnel. Brand newly hired SFLs, ASM-Ts, and ASMs brought on board who have not worked under the old pay structure will realize that they are not properly compensated for the demands of their respective positions. Already, there are new ASMs who are not happy with what Walgreens is doing. This will lead to legal problems in the future. There are already legal problems now in regards to this very issue.

 

I've just discussed the leadership transformation at the store level. What about the rest of our team members at the store level? The fact that their jobs have changed to include more responsibility but once again, with no proper compensation, is eventually going to have negative reprocussions against Walgreens. Combine this reality with a fluctuating and often times slashed or inadequate budget, and the teams will feel overworked and stressed. This reduces productivity and increases the odds of employee theft, but also reduces morale. There is nothing really going for the common employee, except promotion, but even there lies the very possibility of abuses in the system: favoritism and discrimination. There will be employees who deserve to be promoted and will not get it if they're not favored.

 

In all honesty, I could go on and on. The fact remains, however, your very words at the Shareholder's meeting. The very same words used in the PowerPoint presentation to the audience. You said it yourself, sir: "People are the Heart and Soul of Walgreens."

Allow me to elaborate on the execution of this transformation process and what it has actually looked like in reality: in situations of favoritism, discrimination, bullying, and retaliation compounded with the stress of working long and challenging hours, all under the pressure of reduced budgets, many aspects of our business suffer, such as solid income (money), customer delight, morale of the teams, dedication from the teams, and loss of good people. Especially store leadership that abuses their position and assumed power to force their team mates into a very stressful and health-damaging work/life balance where work is the priority above all else. There's the constant fear that managers will terminate anyone for whatever reason, and it is these managers who are playing a big part in terms of the negative aspect of transformation. A negative aspect that you seem to support. I'd like to think I'm wrong on this, sir, but as long as the stock price is up, I think I'm right.

 

Mr. Greg Wasson, I have been a loyal and dedicated team player for Walgreens for a decade. Up until transformation, I felt valued and respected. I felt I had a chance to earn my promotion. Even when I worked for managers who tried to force me out, who retaliated against me for whatever reason they had, or just plain acted out, I stayed committed and loyal. For you to say, now, after five years of the process of transformation, that people are the heart and soul of Walgreens, I have only one thing to say:

 

I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU AT ALL.

 

First and foremost, you are a respected business professional. I understand your business decisions, but you are not genuine. It would be better if you just actually told the truth and acknowledge that the process you started is flawed and is opening Walgreens up to a neverending cycle of legal actions that will cost the company more money than it would cost Walgreens to actually treat all of its people fairly.

 

Second, you received a raise while the rest of us at the store level did not. Do you realize that we are the very people who helped prop you up to your position? Yes, you worked hard and smart and you certainly earned your pay and title, but you were never alone. The teams at store level deserve a lot more than simple Focused Recognition cards.

 

At the shareholder's meeting you had an opportunity to actually Be Bold and Own It when Diane Hartman addressed you about bullying and retaliation. Yes, you made your statement that Walgreens doesn't tolerate it and then you referred Diane to Kathleen Wilson-Thompson. Your effort there, if I were evaluate your performance in a review, was operating at below expectations. Why? You had the opportunity, a golden one, to not only address it, but to take it where it needed to go and proclaim that you, as our CEO and Leader, would take active steps to not only address future concerns but to completely stop it. Even in your Wasson's weekly you never mentioned the subject, preferring to avoid discussing a difficult but real issue that is damaging our great company.

 

I'm sorry, sir, but such hypocrisy of that magnitude would never be accepted by someone like me in my position, why should there be a double standard for you? Why should the rest of us accept that from you?

 

Just as a store manager sets the tone and pace of his/her store, you do so for the entire company. So what you are saying is that publicly, which looks great for publicity, Walgreens doesn't engage in these double standards of retaliation, low pay, overworked team members, but in actual execution, when there is no one from the public watching, it's actually how Walgreens operates and this is accepted. Just to be clear, that is what you're saying.

Sir, you and I both know this is not right. Not only is this way of conducting our business an insult to the Four Way Test (we still operate by that code, correct?), but it also undermines our efforts in truly living the culture as defined by our Seven Cultural Beliefs. Think about it for a moment. And then ask yourself: is this the way to really build and retain top quality, highly motivated, high performance talent? Knowing this reality as you and I both do, I think we would both agree on the following answer: the negative impact of transformation, transformation itself, violates the principles upon which this company was founded.

 

Transformation is a short answer to a rather complicated and long term problem. The answer to the long term and complicated problem is people. Always has been and always will be. If you treat people right, if you compensate them justly, and sufficiently train and empower people truly, they will be a powerful force and will do anything to help you succeed because you did all these things. I would look to Howard Schultz at how he treated his team mates: the healthcare issue for example. He publicly stated, on the record, that he would not cut benefits when the Affordable Care Act was implemented. He acknowledged that his company, Starbucks, would suffer an increase of about $3 billion (maybe more, maybe less) in costs, but he would not allow his co-workers, all of whom he acknowledged were the key to his professional success,  to suffer any gaps in healthcare coverage.

 

Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks, a global presence in the coffee and bean industry. He was speaking about the Affordable Care Act live on CNN months ago. His presence on such an important issue and his passion for his team really illustrated him OWNING IT, BEING REAL, and BEING BOLD. Again, I apologize Mr. Wasson, but where were you? That moment should have gone to YOU. You are, after all, the CEO of Walgreens, the Pharmacy America Trusts. I should have seen you there, either owning that interview or at least sitting side by side next to Howard Schultz.

 

As a customer who's educated, allow me to say: seeing an example of team mate loyalty, of putting people above money and the bottom line, every chance I get, no matter how much it costs me or how much it might inconvenience me, I will get my coffee from Starbucks (full disclosure: I am a Starbucks addict with a craving for Iced White Mocha, decaf, venti, and with Soy milk). As a potential customer for my pharmacy needs, I guess I'll go to whoever is closer to my house, and it's not Walgreens.

 

Do you understand the example I just laid out for you? Yes, I'm drilling into you because I am banking on the fact you see this entire letter as one big Focused Feedback: therefore you know what I'm saying and more importantly, why I'm saying it.

 

All my concerns, the concerns of all our team members nationwide, and eventually globally, are valid concerns. They need to be addressed and they need to be addressed in such a way that benefits everyone. All of these issues have one thing in common, despite their surface differences, and as a business professional, you already know what the answer is, but allow me to say it anyway:

 

This is all about money, plain and simple. These factual and real issues hurt Walgreens' ability to make MORE money. Example: why just $130 in revenue by 2016? If Walgreens had dealt with these issues fairly and consistently and early, we would laugh at $130 billion and say that it's a lowball goal. We would have set the goal to $160 Billion by 2016. Instead we're all stuck at $130 Billion because of the constant lawsuits, the bad press (mostly online) and the ever damaging word of mouth. What hurts our company the most? That our CEO has been absent at crucial moments and dropped the ball on important issues.

 

Sir, if I performed as you have thus far, I would have not received the raise or praise you have received. I would been handed a pink slip, not a golden parachute. Right now, the only thing that justifies the whole transformation, regardless of the negative impact, is the growth of Walgreens stock. Eventually, that stock will falter. Remember Jeff Rein? I recall his tenure being extremely short because the market crashed and so too did our stock price, a situation he wasn't in total control of. Please be careful with your career, sir, you're dealing with a catch 22, a very sharp double edged blade: the stock falls in value, you're out. Regular every day folks like me and the rest of the team in our stores and in corporate (just because I haven't mentioned our team players in corporate doesn't mean they're not important), if we get mistreated and not paid correctly, there could be legal reprocussions. You may not see it now, but you are trapped between an immovable object and an unstoppable force.

Sir, I could mention other negative aspects of transformation, but I think we covered the majors: bullying, discrimination, retaliation, favoritism. Those were issues dealing with management interactions with people. There are also business operations issues: cuts in operating hours, cuts in pay and benefits, more work and higher, yet mostly unrealistic expectations to perform. On the one hand, there is the point of view that should one be faced with challenges such as these and not agree with transformation, one should leave and seek opportunity elsewhere. Okay, that makes sense. However, not many have that opportunity, so they may be stuck. They may have to change their attitude and just accept their role with Walgreens, but inside that person who stays, but is not happy, eventually becomes a liability to Walgreens and damages the company and themselves. Not fair to all around.

 

There are those, I hope like me, who stay for one reason and one reason only: loyalty. To the brand. To the mission. To what the company ultimately stands for, regardless of any test or formal definition of a culture: fairness and equality at all levels. Where hard, dedicated, smart and creative work is not only rewarded and celebrated, but ripples out to affect people in a positive manner. Let's not confuse Walgreens outreach efforts, all of which are great, with how the company is treating its team members. There clearly is a disconnect with the image that Walgreens projects and the reality.

 

Sir, I didn't write all this to complain. Far from it. From business professional to business professional, Walgreens needs serious help, and not from outside advisors. Far be it from me to raise an issue or concern without a plan or a solution to address it. This is the second major point of my correspondence to you: to not only raise concerns, but to solve them.

 

I'm sure whenever members of your leadership team, such as Mark Wagner (I met him way back in Philadelphia in April 2004 when he was a Regional Vice President) and Kermit Crawford (met him in September 2011 when he visited our Tampa district; my introduction was made after I e-mailed him and his staff with a suggestion on how to handle issues with the Express Scripts situation at the store level), meet with you about any pressing concerns, they already have a solution or two to solve such concerns. I wouldn't write to you unless I had a solution to this issue: the negative impact of field transformation.

 

There is no way to stop field transformation and the damaging loss of key personnel of any position. In regards to those who feel entitled to take legal action against Walgreens, if they have a legitimate case, should be free to do so and I support them. If hourly team members feel the need to unionize, I support them. On this I'll elaborate: for years Walgreens has discouraged team mates from joining unions because the company felt unions do not do anything for those members. It's true: unions charge fees to the members, but some good may come from it. The fact that Walgreens has to even mention unions at all is a sign of weakness and shows everyone that Walgreens doesn't care about workers' rights to unionize and have their legitimate concerns addressed. Part of my solution is the following: settle your lawsuits and do not retaliate (terminate, bully, discriminate, etc.) against your team mates who unionize. Unions and lawsuits would not be issues for Walgreens had the company treated and paid their employees fairly. To be fair, there are no active unions representing Walgreens team mates, but I'm sure if I learn of one they will have my support. Update: according to FELM documentation, there are two states where Walgreens team mates are involved with unions. Have their concerns every been addressed as it relates to field transformation?

 

That's the first part of my solution. The second part is replace your legal teams and your consulting firms. The advice from these sources is contributing to a neverending cycle of lawsuits and other damaging issues. The advice Walgreens should listen to are legal and consulting sources that place people above money. Yes, I mean advocate sources: they have solutions that balance the needs of employees with the needs of the business, a balance that equals a happy and healthy workforce that's amazingly productive and strengthens the business, thereby raising the profitability of the business.

 

Now we get to the third part of the solution: tying everything together to ultimately address these issues and prevent future issues of these natures from arising again. I am advocating the creation of a new position within Walgreens. The person in this position will be ultimately responsible for resolving these issues. The goal is true resolution, for the benefits of Walgreens and all of its associates, employees, and partners. The goal is deal with these issues in a truly beneficial and collaborative way where no one is left without proper closure. No issue will be swept aside and ignored, but bravely confronted and resolved.

 

The position is the Walgreens Director of Advocacy. The basic purpose is to resolve all issues of discrimination, favoritism, abuse of authority, bullying and retaliation. Efforts to address these issues will result to resolve them permanently, reduce and/or eliminate future litigation, reduce the loss of future cash flow, and increase employee loyalty to Walgreens, reducing turnover and cutting costs associated with turnover loss.

 

Responsibilities and Requirements

 

Investigate all claims of above mentioned issues

Analyze team engagement scores and develop actions plans to address issues

Engage store personnel to learn issue specifics unique to the experiences of the individual team member

Engage store leadership to permanently resolve issues for the benefit the store personnel and the Walgreens Family of Companies

Drive engagement at store level to prevent issues

Develop and implement company-wide training program specifically addressing issues

Report to Kathleen Wilson-Thompson on plan execution and progress

Travel 90% of the time required

Work closely with Human Resources and Employee Relations to increase efficiency and response time to issues brought to attention of these departments

Work closely with District Loss Prevention Supervisors to investigate issues from motivational angles

Act as liaison between store leadership and hourly team members

Ability and willingness to work extended hours, weekends, holidays, and maintain excellent attendance record

Work closely with Change to Win Retail Initiatives to reduce negative impact to healthcare deliverance and livelihood of all Walgreens team members

 

Experience

 

5 to 10 years experience as Walgreens Store Leader (ASM, SM, CL)

Four year degree from accreditated University

Proven supervisory skills

Proven customer leadership skills

Ability to conduct business meetings and presentations

Ability to speak for long periods of time

Ability to engage team members and learn issues affecting their performance to accurately resolve issue for the benefit of the individual and the company

Ability to operate without supervison

Proficient with Microsoft Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint

Ability to communicate with all levels within the organization to resolve the issues at all levels

 

This position will be a key position within the Walgreens Family of Companies and vital to the continued health of the Walgreens brand, and also the continued health of all our team mates. As you know, in addition to the daily stress in our profession, regardless of where in the organization we operate, the issues stemming from the negative impact of transformation (discrimination, bullying, abuse of authority, favoritism, and retaliation) actually do negatively impact the health of our affected team members. Replacing our valued team members does not solve these issues as there will continue to be breadowns and abuses within the system. Eliminating the causes of these issues, thus the issues themselves, is the ultimate mission of the Walgreens Director of Advocacy. The successful completion of this mission will produce several positive results, notably:

Happier and healthier team members = increased revenue

Highly motivated and truly engaged team members = high performers producing meaningful and impactfull results = increased revenue

Brand strengthened and fully supported by team members = reputation not tarnished = increased revenue

Occurrence of legal litigation reduced = loss of revenue reduced

 

As I hope you can see, the benefits to addressing the negative impact of transformation have important tangible as well as intangible benefits that everyone within the organization can fully enjoy. We have almost 300,000 employees, a great number of whom feel cheated, overworked, underpaid, under appreciated, and their mental as well as physical health affected by this atmosphere. Now imagine all of them operating as a machine breaking. Replacing the busted parts does not solve the problem in our case. We have to address the cause of the breakage.

 

Now imagine that machine completely fixed: parts, causes, etc. Picture our team members, all of them treated fairly, supported correctly, paid correctly, and above all, healthy in every sense of the word, all of them truly at the corner of Happy and Healthy. Again, I could keep going on and on, but by now I hope you understand my point and purpose.

 

I stated before, the purpose of my correspondence is to seek a permanent resolution to what I have discussed. A collaborative effort, where everyone benefits, where Walgreens stands on firm and solid financial ground, where Walgreens is not only the place to shop for all health and daily needs, but it is the company to work for... is what is needed.

 

I recently heard from Diane Hartman. She has alerted me that despite her efforts to get her legitimate issues addressed, no one has contacted her. Is it because no one takes her seriously? Or that no one knows what the first step would be in resolving her concerns not just to the benefit of her, but also Walgreens? While I sympathize with her, I can almost understand the company's position. The fact remains that she will not go away nor should she: she is a shareholder with rights to express her concerns and have them addressed. And she will not be the only one. There will be others with legitimate concerns and they will have to be heard. Update: upon speaking with Diane, she has not heard from Kathleen. Instead, a lawyer has threatened her in order to stop Diane. How is this an example of Walgreens treating not only its team members fairly, but a fellow shareholder?

 

Sir, allow me to handle this, all of this, as the new Walgreens Director of Advocacy. I am qualified to properly engage all team members and turn around the negative impact of field transformation into a positive that benefits all of our team members, even our shareholders. It is the right thing to do.

 

Or, you could let an opportunity slip by you. This is an opportunity that can showcase your bold leadership, taking ownership of all aspects of field transformation, positive as well as negative. If you let this opportunity slip by you, you risk the company's future and legacy as a fair company for which to work while Walgreens gets by on a short term gain. Eventually, the negative aspects of field transformation will come back to hurt Walgreens and it will hurt our bottom line tremendously.

 

Please take into account that all I want to do is help, nothing more. I hope you consider my concerns, the concerns of Diane Hartman, and the concerns of all of your fellow Walgreens Family of Companies team mates.

 

The decision is ultimately yours, Mr. Wasson. What will it be: short term gain or the legacy of fairness under your leadership?

 

Thank you for your time and be well,

 

Carlo Tamarit

 

Walgreens 3795

6996 HWY 19 North

Pinellas Park, FL 33781

(727) 528-4114, ext. 77