Apple Inc.
The world experience demonstrates that the full support of economic entities in the field of innovation greatly facilitates its development (especially at the initial stage) as well as contributes to the creation of public and private projects. Herein, each of them is capable of providing a technological breakthrough in the relevant industry. In accordance with the theory of human resource management, costs are a kind of capital investment that allows employees and organizations to achieve certain economic results, produce goods and services in greater volumes and better quality, receive higher monetary incomes, and so on. The theory of human capital explores the relationship between investing in the human factor and the revenues that the organization receives from these investments.
In case of labor development assessment, the most important issue lies in the labor potential and the factors for its development. They contain cumulative characteristics of the workers responsible for selection, execution, and coordination of actions that provide a company with strategic advantages in the services, market goods, and knowledge. These advantages reflect the fact that competitors are unable to produce similar quality goods or services, or are late with their modernization. These abilities can be inherent in the organization as a whole, or feature individual employees, but, in both cases, they are essential for the implementation of the organizations strategic goals. Therefore, the main concepts for the Apple Company are changes, creativity, and innovation, as the company needs to receive the best results from its employees for its continuous growth.
Changes
Apple has a unique ability to move from industry to industry, and certainly dominate in each of them. At the first stage of creation, the Apple Company was a computer enterprise named AppleComputer. In the contemporary world, the Apple Company has been active in both the music and smartphone industries. Most recently, the Apple Company even began to try itself in publishing. This very speediness provided by the companys leadership policy and the corporate culture of Apple, reinforces the need to be ready for a new big step accompanied by changes.
The changes should comprise the process of search for fast talented personnel, however, the essence is in the process of adaptation. The corporate culture of the Apple Company has the following strategy: after the successful execution of a task, the employee immediately gets a new one, which is significantly different from the previous one. Thus, staff needs to learn quickly and easily master new tools. Such presentation of corporate culture helps employees understand that in this company they must always be ready for outstanding challenges and tasks. The Apple Company personnel need to change the way of the implementation of companys activities. The staff conducts the activities through unrelated, disconnected teams that compete among each other, without really understanding the purpose and practical utility of the task. Oppositely, there should be a reliable link between the departments to direct them to the same trend. In such a system, it is obvious that the employee who would be bored with his or her work would not stay in the company for a long time since the main goal of personnel selection is readiness for a rapidly changing load or even a passion for challenges and significant modifications. The ability of the Apple Company to absorb and dominate in a variety of industries directly relates to the companys general unusual approaches, talent management, and image-building method, which are all necessary for the successful implementation of innovations . Herein, the term of think different should be changed, but not to the fullest extent. It means that there should be a continuation of the phrase: different from who/what. Such a company cannot use the generally accepted norms and approaches in talent management, therefore, it should develop its motto further. For example, career planning reduces employee self-confidence and interfunctional interaction. In most organizations, the management assumes that the HR department should continuously change its approaches. In most cases, it usually helps employees to accelerate career growth considering the fact that career opportunities encourage employees to work and help keep employees in the company. Now, in the current fast changing world, the career development should entail generating the new staff while preserving and retaining the previous employees who have showed the best performance. The Apple Company has a completely different approach provided that the employee himself/herself is responsible for his/her career advancement. The concept of the owner of ones career has existed in Apple for many years. It does not support the career growth of employees in order not to beak career expectations, although it is customary to think that employees have the right to continuous promotion.
The methodology of innovations, talent, development, and creativity management as a dominant paradigm of the Apple modern management lies on the ground of the following provisions, which lack modifications to a certain extent. Firstly, the manager cannot extrapolate the understanding of non-linearity of business development and the organizations behavior on the basis of previously revealed patterns and observations, which determines such specific features, as limited time intervals to consider, and constraints to require. The evaluation takes place, as a rule, on a qualitative rather than a quantitative level. Secondly, there should be a consideration of the organization as a whole, ensuring the integration of all functional subsystems. Thirdly, the talent and knowledge management are to be the basis for innovative development. Fourthly, the management of business processes is to be on the ground of their analysis, rather than analysis of the structure. The features of innovative organizations are their ideology, understanding of the essence of change, and managing the creation of innovations.
It is necessary to underline that in the process of operational management, it is inadmissible to combine the principles of various conceptual approaches, the focus should be on certain principles of a long-term or strategic approach to innovation management. The top management should clearly define the philosophy of business and the principles of management in each particular organization at each stage of its development and embody them in various kinds of procedures, regulations, organizational design, corporate culture. In addition, the Apple Company has an effective system of financing innovative processes and scientific development. Its realization takes place through contracts and grants, however under strict municipal supervision. The contractual system and the system of grants enable firms to form and determine priority areas in the field of innovations, scientific, and technical activities. One of the methods of financing innovative work in the Apple Company is venture funds. At one time, even such giants of high technologies, like Apple, at the stage of their emergence received funding from venture funds. Another financial source for innovative activity in the country comprises all sorts of credit programs aimed to secure the allotted means for the establishment, development, and reconstruction of companies, assistance to innovative entrepreneurship. In order to develop research activities and increase technological production, many enterprises in the Apple Company also use such opportunity of the financial market as obtaining loans on favorable terms with their subsequent return. Sources of financing of innovative activity for the companies can be their own money resources released in the process of production of innovative products. One can note the creation of funds at the enterprises used for the renewal, expansion, and restoration of production. They comprise a part of the companys own circulating assets in monetary terms derived from the sale of products and the formation of material costs and a part of the profit going for the renewal and expansion of the company. In general, the Apple Company has developed an excellent system of access for innovative companies to various forms of financing. There are also a number of other municipal financing and technical assistance programs, as well as legislative, monetary, tax, and property levers at all levels of government that support the development of innovative activities in all spheres of business.
In the current conditions of the financial market, the assessment and development of the labor potential of the personnel requires the implementation of a systematic approach, first and foremost, necessarily based on the goals and objectives of the organization in the long run. At the same time, taking into account the dynamics of the industrys changes, the time factor of the assessment is of significant importance, limiting the possibility of implementing labor-based methods of assessing the personnel. The changes in the company should determine the exact current state of the labor potential, especially in its value terms, which is often difficult due to the lack of sufficient initial information. The diversity of participants in the management process, which often have different interests and goals, contributes to the complication of evaluation. This circumstance determines the increased requirements to the quality of formation of demands for labor potential, the selection of methods and indicators, the development of a transparent procedure, and the organizational mechanism of the process of assessing labor potential. The existence of a unified methodology that requires minimal intervention with regard to adjusting evaluation criteria makes it possible to significantly increase its economic efficiency and shorten the period of the development, implementation, and preparation of resources for assessing the labor potential of personnel. Firstly, the program on changes should include a definition of requirements to the personnel. Secondly, there should be a training of personnel and provision of rotation, and replacement of workers for timely covering the need for personnel creating a personnel reserve. Thirdly, it is necessary to ensure a constant high level of qualification aimed at studying new technologies, innovations in the field of socio-economic and legal conditions. Fourthly, there should be a definition of the required level and quality of staff capacity to achieve the organizations goals. Fifthly, it is crucial to create a team whose labor potential will correspond to the objectives of the organization. In addition to this, there should be conditions created for the most complete implementation of the labor potential of the organization. Determination of the required value of the labor potential of personnel is also necessary to achieve the operational, tactical, and strategic objectives of the organization effectively at this stage of its development, taking into account external and internal conditions. Furthermore, there should be the realization of monitoring (periodic evaluation) of conformity of the required and actual level of the organizations labor potential. Finally, it is crucial to ensure the growth and improvement of the labor potential of the company focused on strategic prospects for its development.
Talent Acquisition
Innovation presents not only the development of new products, technologies or processes, but also the introduction of a new organizational structure or application of new technology in any kind of performance activities. Talented employees of the enterprise generate the innovations. To manage personnel and talents, it is necessary to form a model that will help to hire, develop, and preserve the innovators. Herein, it is possible to use the principles of the Bible (2001) and follow some of the traditional religious statements acclaimed to be extremely truthful and correct. It means that the managers and HR managers should follow at least some of the principles dictated by the religious book. For instance, the relations at work should be built on the truth, devotion, and kindness. These principles would create the proper working conditions. Talented employees of the organization collectively or individually create new methods, ideas, prospects for the implementation of further activities. At present, talent is the most significant competitive advantage for innovative organizations, as well as a set of tools for attracting and effectively using the talent of employees.
In order to work with talented people, one needs to develop a talent management strategy. The strategy can consist of the following aspects. Firstly, the audit of talents identifies those employees who have the potential. In addition, the audit can be a tool for determininng the potential danger of leaving the organization by talented employees and outlining the actions that would make these people stay. The second step involves the development of roles that talented people play, hereby using their talents more widely. It gives responsibility, challenges, and provides autonomy, necessary for the enthusiasm of the role and motivation. It also implies steps aimed at enabling people to get opportunities and encouragement for studying and developing these roles. Thirdly, the strategy provides the management with the relations with talents. It means a process of building productive relations with people playing their roles. The goal is to achieve commitment on the part of talents, which guarantee peoples commitment to their work and organization. Fourthly, the management of labor indicators aimed at planning training and promotion, which allows saving most of the talents, is a very important issue as well. One can also conduct a risk analysis to assess the likelihood of the withdrawal of a talent from the organization. Fifthly, there should be a comprehensive remuneration. Cumulative compensation strategies provide financial and non-financial rewards that can contribute to the commitment of talented employees demonstrating to the latter how valuable they are for the company. In addition to this, there are the study and development policies and programs of learning and development, which are extremely important components of the talent development process, providing a guarantee that people would acquire the skills and competencies they need, thus, emphasizing a need for professional and personal growth for every talented employee. Moreover, it is crucial to underline the career management, which includes career planning and succession management processes. Career planning shapes the rotation of people within the organization, defined profiles of employee success and labor indicators, the potential and preferences of individual employees. Finally, the strategy comprises a process of creating a great work, which means that it is necessary to ensure a positive image of the company, i.e. become the place where people want to work. People have a desire to work in this organization, and when they start working, they want to stay in it. In order to acquire the reputation of a good employer on a national scale and even at the local level usually takes time. However, the efforts spent would bring the results. A common strategy can include all these components or focus only on some of them. The decision remains within the organization. To learn more about the work of this innovative tool, it is necessary to analyze talent management in large organizations . Many companies develop exclusive approaches for dominance in their industries. Herein, the Apple Company uses its principles of talent management, which differ from the generally accepted. The Apple Company has a unique reputation around the world compared to the cult in consumer electronics due to the use of new technologies and its aesthetic design.
Retention
Undoubtedly, talented employees are always in demand. Therefore, to retain them, it is crucial to offer serious motivation. For example, many workers need the support of senior management, so one can organize regular informal meetings with the leaders of the organization to consider the current key issues (Tang et al., 2015). Furthermore, employees consider the following aspects to be important: training and promotion opportunities, a system of benefits that matches the needs of employees, a qualified mentoring approach, implementation of the leading principles of personnel management, a working atmosphere that would promote the prosperity of the company, the organization of a system of material and non-material rewards (Tang et al., 2015). Speaking about meeting the expectations of employees, it necessary to stress that after a while many organizations are afraid of not fulfilling their promises to the ambitious and powerful people, in which an employer is interested. Comparing Western and domestic practices, we can say that only 10% of organizations have implemented programs to manage talented employees on the Russian market. The reasons for such failures in most cases are common fears accompanying each significant innovation in the organization or the hardened trade union settings.
Compensation and Benefits
The system of remuneration and motivation aimed at securing talented employees includes two components: basic compensation and bonuses. The company constantly conducts research on the labor market on such compensations provided for employees by competitors. However, there are four factors that directly influence the level of earnings in the Apple Company: the level of position, the work experience at this level, the growth of salaries in the market and immediate achievements of the employee. There is a set of formulas for determining the level of wages taking into account all of these factors (Chen, Yang, & Lin, 2013). In addition to the basic salary, depending on the above factors and benefits that practically do not differ at various levels, all employees starting from the third level receive an annual bonus under the bonus program (short-term achievement reward), which is essentially a short-term bonus for achievements (Chen et al., 2013). At the same time, the higher the position, the higher the maximum possible level of payments (8% of the base for the 3rd level and 170% for the position of the general director (tenth level)) (Chen et al., 2013). Moreover, the higher the level of the position, the greater the percentage of compensation is the bonus part (from 0% for the first levels to 90% for the higher ones) (Chen et al., 2013). This so-called risk payment reflects the principle of the company stating that the interests of the employee and the company are inseparable from each other. The company actively uses elements of non-material motivation, including active involvement of managers in career development and personal growth of each employee, a variety of forms of flexible working hours (work from home, paid and unpaid leave for various reasons, preserving the workplace, and others), a wide range of benefits, and development programs in various countries within the framework of training, the opportunity to obtain a geographically and functionally diversified work experience in the rotation process (Chen et al., 2013). The motivation systems used by the company within the framework of the leadership strategy ensure securing and the development of talented employees.
Conclusion
Apples policy says that helping in career growth reduces the employees confidence in their own abilities and thereby decreases cross-functional cooperation and training. When employees cannot expect for help from anywhere, they have to look for knowledge and information themselves in other parts of the organization. Therefore, being actually personified for each organization by a resource, these and HR features are an irreplaceable competitive advantage that contributes to the profitability of the organization through a combination of scientific, technical, production, organizational, and human resources. To conclude, at the present stage of economic development talent management is an innovative technology in personnel management enabling companies to develop and take leading positions on the international market.
