Wal-Mart hires former nun to steer some company PR issues

With Wal-Mart under constant attack from just about every possible angle, it needs public relations assistance sometimes in ways it could not have known possible. Enter Harriet Hentges, a former nun and conflict mediator, to help the world's largest company deal with labor relations, health care and environmental policy. Sometimes, even the world's largest company needs a little help, yes?

The newly-created position for Hentges, "senior director of stakeholder engagement", is one I've never heard of before -- what a very original title that is. Anyway, it becomes clear that Hentges' mission will be to appease the WMT shareholder as issues before the retailer crop up from all sides. Can a single person really handle that kind of load? Well, sure -- with a complete support team, that is.

With the hiring of Hentges -- who has quite am impressive resume -- Wal-Mart is seeking to do better with multiple issues, and this is a sigh of relief from my perspective. The anti-Wal-Mart crowd may see this as a publicity stunt, but I don't think it is. Wal-Mart can't have the bad rep (and rap) it has now and continue it into oblivion -- it needs a damage control specialist of the best kind if there is even a small attempt for it to begin polishing its image. Hentges seems to be a step in the best direction.