Analysis Of Talent Management Philosophy In Apple Company

On 2nd august of 2018 Apple became the first trillion-dollar public company. It hit that mark 42 years after its foundation and is considered to have unique case of success coming from the fact that it almost went bankrupt in 1997. From the company who dares to compare itself to Picasso, you would not expect anyhow less in the way that they treat their employees and how they manage their talents. Leading that kind of company, of course, requires strong leaders, talented staff and the skills to envisage what the company could be. Apple, even on their website, makes it clear, that they are not looking for balanced people: “Making it all happen can be hard work. And you could probably find an easier job someplace else. But that’s not the point, is it? ”They are looking for hard-working, talented, motivated and maybe a little bit obsessed employees, who are willing to give their all in order to help the company succeed, in order to “make a difference”.

If you look at the history of the company, you’ll see how many times apple has penetrated new markets. First it was Apple computer only, then it entered the music industry, created an IPod, then the phone industry with an iPhone, and also then unscratched market of Tablets and created an iPad. Agility helps them maintain the stream of innovation and a great deal of it comes from its leadership and corporate values. So who do they need? People who are ready to commit to “the next big thing” the second after they accomplished the previous one. Apple doesn’t need ties, schedule and mundane tasks. It needs ideas, innovation, revolutions. It needs people who can bring them. In one of the interviews, Steve Jobs himself said, that the process of recruitment is one of the most crucial ones. They not only need those with knowledge and degree, but also those with passion and enthusiasm. The employees of Apple say (in an interview), that they would show the candidates apple computer and would expect “their eyes to light up”, and that was their cue. That meant that they found a worthy candidate for the job. So apple pays a lot of attention to these right from the start. Apple has had the philosophy of having less is more, for years, which means that providing less funds or understaffing some tasks, actually led to better results and productivity, which so far seems to be true, because the revenue generation per employee is 2 million dollars in Apple. This lean management approach is one of the key factors of this company’s success. Not letting the resources, time and energy be wasted for nothing lets the company innovate with less expenses than any others.

Any analysis of Apple would reveal instantly, its dead-on focus on delivering the best products to the market, hence, putting emphasizes on performance of the employees and not only the employees, but the company as a whole. A lot of employees have stocks, therefore leading to their desire of the company’s success as a whole and not only their own part. Because the failure affects them as well. It is not a surprise, that workers are differentiated based on their performance and those who are at the top, get so much more, than everyone else. In fact, a lot of former employees have complained about the fact that “top 100 most important employees” got way too much compared to them. It does discourage a lot of people, however giving everyone equal opportunities and incentives regardless of their performance, would lead to high-potentials leaving the company, because they feel underappreciated. That’s a thin ice to walk on. Performance is once more emphasized by the fact that your degree or past experience does not matter much either. In Apple’s highly competitive environment, if you do not show your potential, you’ll be out regardless of your Harvard degree. The secret university of apple, indeed, is very hidden from the society. No pictures have been leaked on the internet and all the employees are generally discouraged to talk about the company, especially about this university. It is interesting that apple gives “the taste” of this lectures to every junior manager and in case of further success, lets them attend more classes. The selection process is vague, however, considering apple philosophy of recruitment, promotion and so on, it would be fair to assume that they choose those who will be the ones leading the maintenance of Apple culture within the company. Steve Jobs established this university with that idea in mind, to sustain the culture that was nourished during the years of company’s existence. The fact that they study the history of the company and how/why all the decisions throughout its operation was made, further strengthens that argument.

Moreover, they choose the ones, who they know, are going to stay. Apple would not waste resources on the employees who they suspect will leave the company in the future. Hence, they choose not only successful managers with leadership and cognitive skills, but also HOW would they, in case of their promotion to higher level of management, lead the company, will they be able to maintain the culture that apple has built over the decades, because after all, it is not just a technology company, it is an idea, it is a way of looking at life and you must not let the customers forget, that Apple is more than just a company. They have to select those who will attend these lectures very carefully. As mentioned above, people who intend to leave the company would be a waste of resources, so finding the ones who intend to pave their career in Apple is a priority. Also being a leader is not enough. Apple moves using a vision, rather than simply moving forward. It needs visionary people, the ones who know the placement of this company in the future, not losing the values that is so distinct to apple. And again, people who are not looking for a balance, hard-working, goal-oriented, not afraid of challenges and able to deal with stressful and highly competitive environment. Those who can further help to build the culture block by block, not losing the sight of the building that they want to get in the end. This is talent FOR Apple. Because this is what they need. Measuring it could be hard, but if you break it down to easier bullets:

• Loyal employees, who like not only their job, but the company as a whole
• People who move a lot, by which I mean moving from task to task (successfully), which are in completely different spheres. For example, phones and computers to music industry, because that way, they are acquainted with every possible corner of Apple
• Those who take on challenging jobs/tasks and do it SUCCESFULLY
• Highly motivated, enthusiastic employees with a lot of innovative ideas
• But more importantly those who thrive to IMPLEMENT the ideas mentioned above

That’s the main points on which selection process should focus. This kind of approach is helpful in many ways. First of all, those who get to the gates of this university will feel deeply appreciated. And maintaining this kind of secrecy around the university will lead to the feeling of honor (“I came this far”), that’s what those who had an opportunity to attend more than once felt.

Result? Loyalty. Loyalty to the company, loyalty to the values, loyalty to the ideology it stands for. Aside from the emotional impact, it also has a cognitive and perspective-wise effect. Employees learn more intensely what the company stands for. Of course, they knew before as well, vaguely, but they did. However, now they learn how the company came all this way, the decision-making process, the pros and cons of every turn that Apple made throughout the years. It creates a completely new level of familiarity with the company. They are no longer only your employer, you were there when all the decisions were being made, you were part of it all, you suffered all the losses too and all the victories were yours as well. They gain the experience, which otherwise would be impossible to have.

Why? Because they are the future of the company and they HAVE to know everything in its past. More importantly, it helps to identify who is worth further investment much more steadily and effectively. Why? Because one big promotion to higher management level could turn into a failure, because they were not evaluated or tested properly. With the help of this university Apple can see slowly, who can become true leaders of the company, maintaining everything that the name Apple stands for. The existing talent management philosophy, however, has its flaws, which are not easily ignored. As mentioned above, apple highlights performance all the time and rewards the top performers openly and maybe with too many incentives compared to those who are not in that league (which certainly does not imply that they are not doing their job well), hence the feeling of unfairness, under appreciation and envy is bound to come up. Also another disadvantage of this philosophy is that high performance is not the same as high potential and when the time of promotions come, the company might make a huge mistake by promoting high performer.

Why? Because this employee is doing well in their current position, with the resources that they have. There is no guarantee, that after moving one step higher, they will be able to sustain this result and deal with different kind of workload. Some might not be able to deal with stress, some might have self-esteem issues and no confidence that they will do as well in their new position. Some, on the contrary, might be too confident, leading to under performance. In order to avoid high turnover, apple has to make it clear that the contribution of others (non high performers), is also very valuable and create incentives for those who might not be the best but are very good performers. Retaining the ones that are average does not seem attractive anyway, so loss of those employees should not be a problem. Also some changes should be made regarding the identification of those who should get promoted or sent to apple university. Instead of only focusing on the performance in general, first it should be identified what kind of top management positions are in need of good and fast candidates, then make the list of criteria of skills, knowledge, experience, performance, that is needed in order to operate on this position successfully and only then start choosing the candidates, instead of right away selecting the ones who perform the best. Someone might be 0. 5% below the next “top performer” but could be much more efficient in that position. Implementing all of the things mentioned above will not be easy and may come with higher costs, however it will reduce the turnover and lead to better decisions from the top-management.

First: better evaluation criteria should be set. It will require the help of a firm with big experience in talent management and HR. Second: incentives should be provided for those who are not top performers as well. Of course it will be far smaller than the ones that high performers get, however, it should be significant enough, so that the employee will feel that he/she is appreciated in the company. Third: the recruitment process should be strict on the criteria (the ones that are mentioned in the first recommendation), even while recruiting people all the requirement that will be needed in the future for top positions should be taken into account and hire those who have better chances of performing well and becoming high potentials (that way high turnover will be avoided).

Expenses:

• Hiring well-experienced HR Company (cost of time and money)
• Additional incentives (money)
• Selective recruitment process (time)

Results:

• Low turnover (saves time and money)
• Effective decisions (affects the company as a whole)
• Easier to find people for top management (saves time and money)
• Loyalty (as mentioned low turnover)

The average revenue generation from one Apple employee is $2 million and profit per employee is $478,000. Which is an exceptional number. Even though the costs might rise, it will be a short-term problem. After establishing new talent management philosophy, the expenses will start decreasing and maintaining it will not be as costly, while more incentives will raise the productivity of an employee, leading to a rise in profit per employee digits.