Analyzing Employee Retention Practices at Apple: A Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of Apple's employee retention practices, focusing on strategies to manage both voluntary and involuntary turnover. It examines the techniques employed by Apple, including providing competitive benefits, fostering a positive work environment, and implementing effective communication and grievance management systems. The report highlights the benefits of these policies, such as enhanced employer branding and increased employee motivation, while also acknowledging the associated weaknesses, including the costs of implementation and the challenges of adapting to rapidly changing business requirements. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, such as adopting a learning organization approach and tailoring human resource management policies to local trends. The report emphasizes the importance of employee allocation based on skill sets and the need for continuous adaptation to maintain a skilled and engaged workforce.

Running head: EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
Employee retention practices
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1EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
Executive summary
The aim of this report is to discuss about the retention policies being practiced by Apple for their
employees in order to manage the voluntary and involuntary turnover. This report discussed
about the approaches being maintained by them along with discussing the weakness and benefits.
This report concludes that, one of the key benefits being gained by Apple from the initiation of
the retention policies is the skill sets of them, which lead to the innovative approach of Apple.
Various recommendations are also being discussed in this report to overcome the weaknesses
being identified in this report.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Techniques for managing the voluntary turnover............................................................................4
Techniques for managing the involuntary turnover.........................................................................5
Benefits of the retention policy of the Apple...................................................................................6
Weaknesses of the retention policy of the Apple............................................................................7
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference.......................................................................................................................................11

3EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
Introduction
Human resource management is one of the key factors that are being considered by the
contemporary business organizations. This is due to the fact that, determination of the feedback
of the employees is important for the business organizations in order to gain competitive
advantages in the market (Purce, 2014). One of the key competitive advantages being gained by
the business organizations from the effective implementation of the human resource management
is the reduction in the rate of the employee turnover (Hancock et al., 2013). Thus, the less will be
the turnover rate of the employees; the more will be the competitive advantages and less will be
the cost of recruiting new employees. This is the reason behind the initiation of the retention
policies by the contemporary business organizations. The key objective of initiation of the
retention policy by the business organization is to increase the rate of retention of the employees
along with reduction in the rate of the average turnover.
Apple is one of the leading organizations in the current business scenario who have
effective and extensive retention policies for their employees. Apple is the leading brand in
electronic gadget market in the world with having their product portfolio present in different
locations around the world (Apple 2018). They are mainly having two competitive advantages,
which set them ahead in the competition. One is their innovative products and the other is having
the same set of employees for amount of time. Same set of employees helps in retaining their
skills in the organization. Their innovation oriented business approach is being made possible
with the help of the skill sets being possessed by their employees who are being nurtured for a
long period of time.

4EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
This report will discuss about the techniques that are being used in managing voluntary
and involuntary turnover of the employees. Moreover, the benefits and weaknesses of the
techniques will also be discussed in this report. In accordance to the identified weaknesses,
various recommendations will also be discussed in their report from the perspective of Apple.
Techniques for managing the voluntary turnover
Voluntary turnover leads to the attrition of the employees at their will from the
organization. Thus, it mainly leads to the loss of the organization due to the reason that, majority
of the skilled employees tends to opt for new organization due to having better opportunities
(Russell, 2013). Apple in order to retain and manage the voluntary turnover of the employees
initiates various techniques. The following sections will discuss about the various techniques
initiated by Apple to manage the voluntary turnover of the employees.
 Providing of best in class benefits to the employees. Apple provides salary and other
benefits to their employees, which are being considered as the benchmark in the industry
(Cohen, Blake and Goodman, 2016). Thus, it reduces the voluntary turnover due to the
reason that, majority of the employees voluntarily terminates for better opportunities.
Thus, having the benchmarked facilities in Apple refrain their employees to look out for
other opportunities.
 Apple also initiates the process of effective human resource management. This involves
maintenance of the ideal working environment for the employees, maintaining the work
life balance of the employees and motivates the employees to work better (Lazaroiu,
2015). Thus, it helps the employees to be engaged in their workplace along with having

5EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
the reward and recognition for their job. It de-motivates them to look for other
opportunities.
 Employee grievance management system is being made effective and efficient for the
employees in Apple. This is also important for managing the turnover of employees. A
major portion of the employees leave the company due to grievances (Gomathi, 2014).
Thus, having the effective grievance management system helps Apple to manage the
issues with the employees at their primary stage and refrain them from leaving the
company.
Techniques for managing the involuntary turnover
 Apple is having effective training and development program for their employees. This
helps their employees to have the required training do deal with the organizational
challenges along with enhanced skills set (Jehanzeb and Bashir, 2013). Thus, the more
equipped they will be in their workplace; the less will be the occurrence of involuntary
turnover by the organization.
 Communication is important in the organization in order to reduce the rate of occurrence
of involuntary turnover. This is due to the reason that, in many cases, involuntary
turnover occurs due to not having effective communication between the managerial
levels and subordinates (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014). In accordance to this
phenomenon, Apple is having effective communication process in their organization,
which involves all the internal stakeholders of them. This helps in having mutual
understanding among the internal stakeholders and the issues of the employees can be
effectively conveyed to the superiors.

6EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
 Effective and efficient recruitment and selection policy of Apple also contributes in
reducing the involuntary turnover of the employees. This is due to the reason that, in
majority of the cases, involuntary turnover occurs due to having wrong employee in
wrong place (Klotz et al., 2013). Thus, with the help of the effective recruitment and
selection process of Apple, they hire right people for the right place. Thus, the generation
of the issues from the side of the employees is less. It will leads to the retention of the
employees for major period of the time.
Benefits of the retention policy of the Apple
 One of the key benefits being gained by Apple from their retention policy is the
involvement of the higher level management in the process. This is due to the reason that,
in the earlier sections, it is being discussed that, higher level managers are involved in the
communication channel and employee grievance management. Thus, it helps in
determining the requirement and issues that are being faced by the employees. It helps
the organization to provide facilities according to the requirement of the employees.
 Providing the best standard facilities for the employees helps to gain the employer
branding in the market for Apple (Leekha Chhabra and Sharma, 2014). This is due to the
fact that, the more effective facilities will be the provided to the employees, the more will
be the generation of the positive word of mouth from the side of the employees. Thus, the
employer branding of Apple will get enhanced, which will attract more talents for them.
 Retention approach being followed by Apple is not having any intervention from third
parties. Thus, it helps them to limit their internal issues in the organization rather than
publicizing in the public. It eventually helps them to maintain the positive impression in
the market.

7EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
 This retention policy of Apple not only helps them to manage the turnover of the
employees, but also it helps to enhance the level of motivation of the employees. In the
previous sections, it is being discussed that, Apple promotes effective working
environment and proper work life balance for their employees. Thus, it helps in
enhancing the level of motivation and engagement of the employees that in turn increase
the organizational productivity (Terera and Ngirande, 2014).
 It also helps them to gain competitive advantages from the market. This is due to the
reason that, having the same employees in right place and with enhanced skill sets is
helping Apple to maintain their organizational culture. Moreover, the employees are
comfortable with the organization with being with for long terms. It helps to gain
competitive advantages.
Weaknesses of the retention policy of the Apple
 Initiation of the retention policy involves cost for Apple. This is due to the reason that,
the facilities and activities being promoted by Apple to retain their employees involves
huge cost for the organizations (Sung and Choi, 2014). It incurs added cost for the
organization. Thus, though retention policies of Apple help them to gain competitive
advantages from the market, but it also proves more costs for them.
 Initiation of the training and development program for the employees also having
demerits for Apple due to the reason that, the market and business requirements is rapidly
changing and it is difficult for the business organizations to equip their employees
accordingly (Dhar, 2015). This will in turn create dissatisfaction among the employees.
 Voluntary turnover of the employees occurs for different reason rather than just for the
dissatisfaction with their organizations and working environment. Thus, it is not possible

8EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
for the business organizations such as Apple to reduce the rate of the voluntary turnover
with the initiation of their retention policies.
 In the earlier section, it is being discussed that, Apple is having effective process and
policies of recruitment and selection to hire right employees for the right job. However,
in the current era of globalization, Apple is having their operational facilities in different
locations around the world with having diverse employees in the workplace (Choi and
Rainey, 2014). Thus, it is not possible for the human resource managers to select
employees from different social and cultural backgrounds in every time.
 With the change in the time, the business requirement is also changing and thus, the skills
set expected from the new employees are also evolving. Thus, it is difficult for the human
resource managers to recruit according to the business needs (Pulakos et al., 2015).
Moreover with the frequent change in the business scenario, the existing employees will
face the difficulties to cope up with. It will lead to the voluntary turnover of the
employees.
Recommendations
The above sections have discussed about the retention policies of Apple along with
discussing their benefits and weaknesses for them. The following section will discuss about the
recommended steps to be followed by them in order to overcome the identified weaknesses.
 One of the key recommended steps to be followed by Apple is to initiate the concept of
the learning organization. This will help the employees to learn new skills in due course
of their job profile and without having to invest extra time for the training programs. It
will have benefits for Apple. One will be the reduction in the cost of the initiation of the

9EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
training and development programs for the employees and the other is reduction in the
loss of time of the employees due to training purpose.
 Allocation of the job profile for the employees is more important than the initiation of the
recruitment and selection policies. This is due to the reason that, with the change in the
business trend and requirement, process of recruitment cannot be changed. Thus, in that
case, allocation of the employees should be done effectively. Employees should be
allocated in different job profile based on their skill sets. It will help to have right people
in the right place and will face less issue from the frequent change in the business
scenario.
 Apple should have their policy of human resource management according to the local
trend and requirements of their operational locations. For instance, their approach to the
human resource management should be different in the United States and in China. This
will help them to cater to the diverse requirements of the employees from different
locations around the world. Moreover, initiation of the human resource management
according to the local preferences will help to engage the employees effectively with the
organization.
 Employees should be given enough time for their personal life. As discussed in the earlier
section, employees are having various reasons for their voluntary termination from the
organization. Thus, providing enough personal space to them will help the employees to
meet their personal requirements. This will reduce the emergence of more reasons for
voluntary termination.

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Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that, Apple is truly known for their
effective retention policies. This report discussed about the policies to manage the voluntary and
involuntary turnover of the employees. In addition, the benefits and the weaknesses being faced
by Apple with their retention policies are also being discussed. It is being concluded that, one of
the key benefits being gained by Apple from the initiation of the retention policies is the skill
sets of them, which lead to the innovative approach of Apple. On the other hand, various
weaknesses are also being identified and in accordance to that, different recommended steps are
also being discussed in this report.

11EMPLOYEE RETENTION PRACTICES
Reference
Apple. (2018). Apple. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/ [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].
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organizations: Does fairness matter in managing diversity?. Review of Public Personnel
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Cohen, G., Blake, R.S. and Goodman, D., 2016. Does turnover intention matter? Evaluating the
usefulness of turnover intention rate as a predictor of actual turnover rate. Review of Public
Personnel Administration, 36(3), pp.240-263.
Dhar, R.L., 2015. Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of
organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, pp.419-430.
Gomathi, S., 2014. A Study on Grievance Management in Improving Employee Performance in
a Pvt Enterprise. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), p.20.
Hancock, J.I., Allen, D.G., Bosco, F.A., McDaniel, K.R. and Pierce, C.A., 2013. Meta-analytic
review of employee turnover as a predictor of firm performance. Journal of Management, 39(3),
pp.573-603.
Jehanzeb, K. and Bashir, N.A., 2013. Training and development program and its benefits to
employee and organization: A conceptual study. European Journal of business and
management, 5(2).
Klotz, A.C., Motta Veiga, S.P., Buckley, M.R. and Gavin, M.B., 2013. The role of
trustworthiness in recruitment and selection: A review and guide for future research. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 34(S1).