This paper examines Apple Inc.'s human resource practices, focusing on how the company recruits, selects, and develops talent. It explores Apple's reputation as the world's most admired firm and how that reputation attracts top candidates, as well as the company's aggressive "pirate-raiding" approach to poaching talent from competitors. The paper also analyzes Apple's retail employee referral program, its succession planning process—illustrated by the transition from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook—and its performance management culture. Drawing on sources from HR professionals and business analysts, the paper offers a broad overview of the HR strategies that have contributed to Apple's sustained success as a global technology leader.
Apple Inc. was first incorporated on January 3, 1977. Apple is known for its excellence in "designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices." Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked together to invent the Apple computers (Apple I and Apple II); the Apple II was the first successful computer designed for home computing, featuring a mouse-driven graphical interface.
Today, the devices that Apple designs and manufactures include personal computers, portable digital music players, iPhones, iPads, Macintosh products, and Apple TV, among other electronic devices. In addition to these products, Apple sells many peripherals, a variety of software programs, networking solutions, and "third-party digital content and applications," as Reuters explains. One of Apple's most popular portals is iTunes, and the company also offers the App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store. Apple operates worldwide, manufacturing and marketing its products in Japan, Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific (including Australia and other Asian countries), and it provides mobile learning products and solutions for educational settings.
Dr. John Sullivan writes in ERE, a recruitment portal, that one of the key recruitment tools Apple has going for it is its glowing reputation. Apple is the world's "most admired firm," according to Sullivan, who notes that Apple has received that distinction for years in a row. In many instances, the reputation Apple has earned lures potential employees to the company without Apple having to actively seek talent. The categories used to rank most admired firms include: "factors that impress potential applicants," "people management," "quality of management team," "innovativeness," and "social responsibility" (Sullivan, p. 3). Apple is very adept at making good impressions on the media and business executives, which helps it continue to craft a "most admired" image.
As to direct recruiting, Apple has a "pirate-raiding mentality," meaning it has a "long history of recruiting away top talent from other firms," Sullivan continues (p. 3). When Steve Jobs was alive, he was directly involved in recruiting top talent. Sullivan asserts that the hugely popular iPod might not have been developed if Jobs hadn't brought in specific talent to assist with its creation (p. 3). The former Human Resources VP at Apple, Jay Elliot, cites a core principle the company believed in: "Always hire the best 'A' people. As soon as you hire a 'B,' they start bringing in Bs and Cs" (Sullivan, p. 3). More recently, Apple recruited a skilled team from Electronic Arts, but prior to that its recruiting methods were, as Sullivan describes, "pedestrian." Apple used job boards and paid up to $5,000 to employees who referred talent that Apple subsequently hired (Sullivan, p. 4).
Apple has clearly been successful at recruiting, but there is room for improvement. Now that Steve Jobs is no longer the living symbol of Apple's success — and it remains unclear whether his successor, Tim Cook, can be equally visible as an Apple icon — the company should consider spending less time raiding other technology firms and more time developing talent from within its own lower ranks. Talented people undoubtedly want to work for a company that has changed the way people live and communicate, and there are many highly innovative individuals in Europe, Asia, and the Americas who would embrace the opportunity to work for Apple.
"Glassdoor users rate Apple interviews 3.0 out of 5.0 with regard to difficulty," Sullivan explains (p. 4). Many applicants and existing employees on the retail side of Apple are willing to work for relatively modest wages and endure the "relative drudgery of retail work" for the opportunity to one day earn the title of "genius" at Apple. When these employees are selected, part of the attraction for Apple's HR department is their enthusiasm for the Apple brand. The company selects people who are willing to work exceptionally hard in pursuit of the "genius" designation.
Current employees also carry a referral card with them, and when an Apple retail employee encounters outstanding service at a store such as Best Buy or Radio Shack, he or she hands that employee the card as a recruitment gesture. The front of the card reads: "You're amazing. We should talk." The back reads: "Your customer service just now was exceptional. I work for Apple Store and you're exactly the kind of person we'd like to talk to. If you're happy where you are, I'd never ask you to leave. But if you're thinking about a change, give me a call. This could be the start of something great" (Sullivan, p. 4).
In other words, Apple is smart enough to use its own employees as recruiters, selecting potential talent encountered in everyday interactions. Whether this approach reliably uncovers technologically brilliant individuals who might develop the next generation of Apple products is another question. Nevertheless, involving retail employees in the recruitment process is a smart and effective strategy. The retail end of Apple is managed by highly trained staff, and any customer walking into an official Apple Store can immediately observe that these employees are sharp, engaged, and well prepared.
Writing in Computerworld, blogger Jonny Evans explains that Apple's biggest challenge isn't "imagination, the road map for change, or the capacity to predict the future. Apple's biggest challenge is finding the right people to help it build that future" (Evans, 2010, p. 1). Evans asserts that being a "stereotypical brainbox" is not the best route to a job at Apple; candidates need intelligence, but they "also need the right personality — it's attitude as much as aptitude" that carries an applicant through Apple's hiring process.
Writing in HR Magazine, Jane Sunley notes that Apple had a succession planning process in place — an important distinction given that 42% of businesses in the United Kingdom do not have a process for "identifying future leaders" within their HR departments (Sunley, 2011, p. 1). The HR department can play a "critical role in supporting or facilitating the process" of succession, Sunley explains. Because Apple's HR planning embraced "a strategic and robust succession plan," Tim Cook was already groomed and in place to succeed Steve Jobs when Jobs departed the company.
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