As Apple is known as one of the world’s biggest organisations in regards to both computing hardware and software, but also as a lifestyle brand as well as based in Apple’s proud history, Apple’s purpose under Steve jobs was 'To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind'( as cited in (Farfan, 2019). As Apple has and continues to create tools that advance mankind and create change as Steve said, “Man is the creator of change in this world. As such he should be above systems and structures, and not subordinate to them”( as cited in (Farfan, 2019). It is important that as Apple computers have been at the for front of satisfying the needs, wants and unknown desires of customers, it is time that the organisational looks in to the needs and wants of their own employees as an insurance to remain at the very top of the technology industry. Therefore I have complied this report.
Mental Health in Business
The protection of employee mental health is extremely important, as a lack of effective management of mental health in the workplace can lead to a number of effects of productivity. Taking the Australian market as an example, in 2014, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2014) measured the impact of mental health conditions as a total cost of absenteeism, presenteeism and compensation claims estimated in one year across all industries. It is estimated that mental health conditions have an approximately $11 billion worth of impact on Australian workplaces per year. This consists of $4.7 billion in absenteeism, $6.1 billion in presenteeism and $146 million in compensation claims (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2014). It further discovered that every dollar spent on making workplaces healthy, a $2.30 is returned in benefits to the organisation with the prevalence of anxiety across the Information Media And Telecommunications industry over one year only second to Financial And Insurance Services at 33% and 28% of total industry employees respectively as seen in the graph below (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2014) and therefore this is a large area of concern for the technology industry and it may benefit Apple employees if some aspect of working conditions are adjusted to combat these findings.
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First Recommendation
As stated previously, there are a number of aspects of the work environment that Apple are doing in order to better the wellbeing of their employees such as the access to the wellness centre and green space. However, in terms of the inclusion of the green space and the trees, there is one recommendation that I would like to make, is that the trees that were planted when the new apple campus was created were mature trees (O'Brien, 2016). While it is understandable that this was done in order to create the illusion of a “forest-like wonderland” (O'Brien, 2016) from the offset, however it may be beneficially if a number of new much younger trees were planted, as this may allow employees and teams to have a project outside of work and therefore have something that they feel reasonable for which will grow along with the employee during their time with apple. This will allow for better mental health and reduced anxiety as employees will feel compassion and pride for a living thing just as much as the products that they may be working on at apple.
Second Recommendation
Another aspect that Apple has possibly overlooked is employees who work in Apple stores across the globe, who may not be receiving adequate pay, as mentioned in a 2012 Forbes article by Steve Denning (Denning, 2012). In 2012, $16 billion worth of Apple product were sold worldwide , 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in the United States who worked in Apple Stores are said to earn roughly $25,000 a year (Denning, 2012). They are a part of the world’s fastest growing industry, and employed by the most valuable company, Apple however they may not be getting payed enough . In the article, Denning uses Jordan Golson as an example. Mr Golson was an apple store employee in New Hampshire (Denning, 2012) , in 2011, during a three-month period he reportedly sold roughly $750,000 worth of apple product, (Denning, 2012). This was a performance that may have warranted a celebration however this was not possible for Mr. Golson as he simply was able to afford to. Mr Golson stated (as cited in (Denning, 2012) that “I was earning $11.25 an hour,” “Part of me was thinking, ‘This is great. I’m an Apple fan, the store is doing really well.’ But when you look at the amount of money the company is making and then you look at your pay check, it’s kind of tough.” (as cited in (Denning, 2012).The lack of adequate compensation for the number of sales made by Apple store employees may be a factor in increased anxiety of apple staff . I believe that incentivising and rewarding employee performance in the form of performance bonuses or an employee reward program which may include the ability to receive Apple products based on their sales performance. This has the possibly to lead to a reduction in employee anxiety, as staff will feel like they are being acknowledged for their work.
The mental wellbeing of Employees is a matter of importance as without the acknowledgement of employees mental health a number of challenges may arise including the high prevalence of anxiety in the theological sector as displayed in figure one therefor the two recommendations have been put forward in an attempt to combat these challenges and to act in the best interest of staff which intern will ensure that apple maintains there market domination as an attractive organisation to work in and as a lifestyle brand. In order for this the achieved there must be global adjustments to the way apple operates both in regards to staff at the apple campus in Cupertino as well as in apple stores around the globe.
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