Apple's Employee Engagement Essay And Management Infrastructure.

Definition of Involvement and Engagement

Apple is one of the leading organisations with a strong foothold in multiple global market regions. The organisation had relied on inclusion, diversity and leadership as the core values of human resource management (Apple 2022). One of the core strategic objectives of the organisation had been to maintain a consistent level of employee engagement across the global locations. Employee engagement is often mediated by leadership style, organisational culture and other related aspects (Hook and Jenkins 2019). The critical challenge for a multinational organisation is to ensure that the team members are motivated to contribute positively. The collaboration among the employees is correlated with the overall efficiency. Therefore, a global organisation seeks to align some core values with the overall employee behaviour. The report will focus on the various dimensions related to the employee management infrastructure at Apple. Moreover, the role of training and development will be one of the critical areas of assessment. The strategic tools of the organisation will also be assessed. The strategic tools, in this context, are designed to shape employee involvement and engagement. The range of assessments will also focus on the overall result of the involvement and engagement strategies. The analysis will be leveraged to develop a set of recommendations.

Involvement and engagement can be defined as the alignment of the team members with the organisational culture, policies, and protocols (Hook and Jenkins 2019). An engaged employee generally accepts the established leadership pattern, decision-making flow and sustains those through proactive contribution. Blau and Kahn (Healy and Ahamed 2019) had recommended a multi-dimensional approach toward engagement and involvement. The theoretical framework asserts that an employee should ideally feel engaged at physical, cognitive and emotional levels (Healy and Ahamed 2019). The holistic approach ensures the sustainable engagement of the team members. Saks (2006) (Mani and Mishra 2019) had further elaborated on the antecedents or factors that facilitate engagement.

One of the key strategies will be to empower the team members through adequate scopes of continuous professional development (Banfield, Kay and Royles 2018). The theoretical framework recommended by Saks (Mani and Mishra 2019) stresses the antecedents that shape the overall employee engagement dimension. The organisational support to ensure the holistic development of the team members is one of the core antecedents that can influence employee engagement. Apple has implemented focused strategies designed to provide holistic development of team members. Apple University is one of the strategic tools to empower the team members with resources, tools to develop a knowledge base (Apple 2022). The empowerment had resulted in satisfaction, engagement and retention. (Apple 2022) The resources can also be leveraged to develop the team members' leadership skills. The strategy can be considered a competitive parity compared to the industry-based best practices. (Harris and Tayler 2019) Global organisations have adopted a culture of consistently improving the core knowledge, expertise and leadership skills to ensure sustainable engagement (Harris and Tayler 2019).

The theoretical framework recommended by Kahn (Healy and Ahamed 2019) correlates physical, emotional engagement with cognitive and emotional dimensions (Healy and Ahamed 2019). Apple had focused on strategies that primarily strengthen the physical and emotional engagement of the global team members. The organisation has provided access to a range of physical and emotional well-being care facilities as part of its infrastructure (Apple 2022). Moreover, Apple had formed strategic collaborations with reputed healthcare centres to cater to the well-being needs of the team members. The extensive medical coverage offered by the organisation covers the healthcare needs of the family members of the global employees (Apple 2022). These strategies strengthen both the physical and emotional engagement of the global team members (Apple 2022) The management has also established a strategy to reward the lateral thinking of the employees. The employee welfare programs are at par with the strategy implemented across the global industry (Harris and Tayler 2019).

Strategies to Enhance Employee Engagement

Apple had maintained an optimal combination of extrinsic and intrinsic motivational sources. The intrinsic motivational sources are intangible and ideally ensure sustainable association of the team members. The Apple Mentorship Program was introduced as a leadership development program across the key global markets (Apple 2022). The facility offers the scope of effective job shadowing and learning from a very early stage for the employees. Ideally, the team members will develop a sustainable sense of engagement from the inception stages of their careers. The organisation had also leveraged extrinsic motivational sources to ensure sustainable engagement. The global team members are allowed to avail the product ranges of the organisation at discounted rates across multiple channels. Moreover, access to company shares at subsidised prices is among the strategies to ensure engagement. (Apple 2022)

Organisational culture often plays a mediating role in shaping the overall engagement of the employees (Armstrong 2019). Apple had leveraged the organisational culture as a strategic tool to shape the involvement and engagement of the team members. (Apple 2022) The collaborative organisational culture promotes a flat hierarchical structure (Harris and Tayler 2019). The strategy allows employees to engage in creative discussions across hierarchies. The cross-hierarchical communication and a platform to collaborate strengthen the overall engagement among employees. (Mani and Mishra 2019)

Mentorship programs help in familiarising the team members with the organisational culture. The strategy creates a platform for knowledge development through interaction with the senior resources. (Omilion-Hodges and Baker 2017). The organisation's new members can gain from the established resources' tacit and explicit set of experiences (Apple 2022). This learning process creates a motivation to acquire further knowledge through proactive initiatives. Moreover, the scope of effective interaction helps to align with the organisational culture. The strategies help to accept the established work environment and reflect engagement through team effort. However, reliance on mentorship programs can hinder the development of self-leadership. Autonomy of the resources is one of the key assets of innovative organisations. Autonomy is correlated with creativity and lateral thinking. Mentorship programs can create a dependency that may limit autonomy and creative thought process scope (Omilion-Hodges and Baker 2017).

The collaborative process and clan-shaped culture can facilitate collaboration. The culture can potentially shape organisational citizenship behaviour (Armstrong 2019). Organisational citizenship behaviour will ensure the proactive engagement of employees. The team members will be uniformly involved in enriching the overall business process. The culture also provides that the team members can approach the higher management in case of any issues and critical feedback. The exchange of feedback and opinions will ensure consistent engagement and collaboration among team members. However, reliance on collaborative culture can create ambiguity regarding the approval chain. Moreover, prioritising the delegated responsibilities can be one of the issues. Focus on group thinking, collaboration can result in a clutter of ideas. Consequently, the core priorities of the team members may become compromised. (Podolny. and Hansen 2020)

The strategies have been primarily designed to enhance employee satisfaction through involvement and engagement. The success of the strategy can be assessed based on relevant research. (Taylor 2018). The organisation was recently considered the best employer among private sector players across the UK (Taylor 2018). The consensus was based on positive perceptions regarding organisational culture, collaboration, and extrinsic rewards such as Apple products at discounted prices and adequate bonus percentages. The collective feedback reveals that the organisation had successfully correlated the strategies with positive employee involvement.

Role of Organisational Culture in Employee Engagement

Employee retention rate is one of the critical indicators of the engagement strategies implemented by an organisation. (Hook and Jenkins 2019). The organisation's retention rate has improved significantly in the recent past (Taylor 2018). The significant improvement in retention rate can be attributed to the positive employee involvement over the years. The mentorship program has been identified as one of the most prominent strategic tools. Moreover, the collaborative culture was among the positive factors. (Apple 2022)

The communication strategy can be based on collaboration and voluntary representation from each critical department of the organisation. The representative from each department can express the team members' issues, feedback, and insights to the leadership team. The team members' autonomy will help create an effective bridge between the management and the employees. The voluntary representatives can be selected on rotation through mutual consensus of the team members. The representative can communicate progress and team-specific issues with the line manager through monthly meetings. Moreover, the organisation can accommodate further flexibility in the communication process. The volunteer can prefer to approach higher leadership or the HRM team members to communicate issues and challenges. Moreover, the employees can schedule flexible meetings in case of critical problems. In such cases, the employees will not have to rely on the periodic, monthly communication pattern. The communication can be conducted during one-to-sessions. The mode of communication can be through the internal digital platform or face-to-face meetings, depending on feasibility and preferences. (CIPD 2020). Apple had established a range of infrastructure to strengthen the employee voice. AppleConnect, the internal communication portal of the organisation, had been leveraged as the platform to share feedback, opinions and insights (Apple 2022). The integrated portal can be considered an effective tool to approach the leadership team directly. The employees can communicate with any preferred management layer to share their issues. Moreover, the employees can create a forum for discussions on critical issues. The team members can also share an informed opinion on management decisions and policies. However, the tool can be further utilised by introducing the periodic, monthly communication pattern between team members and the leadership team. The communication tool can complement the monthly meeting between the preferred management representatives and the departmental volunteers. The most pertinent and critical issues can be communicated to the higher management for resolution. (Armstrong 2019)

Transactional communication can be introduced to enhance the overall efficiency of productivity. Transactional communication involves an exchange of ideas, insights and feedback (Omilion-Hodges and Baker 2017). From the perspective of an organisation, the communication process should shape the best interests of both the leadership and the team members. The leadership team is expected to provide concrete ideas about organisational vision, shared goals and the overall objectives. On the other hand, the team members are expected to provide the explicit roadmap required to achieve the established objective. Moreover, transactional communication should include details of the rewards, benefits associated with the contributions of the team members. The team members can also express inputs regarding the expected challenges and overall feasibility of the goals. The core benefit of transactional communication is that the collaborative process ensures optimum benefit for the involved parties. Transactional communication can be aligned with the organisational culture at Apple. (Podolny and Hansen 2020). Apple is an innovation-driven organisation that focuses on core efficiency and creativity (Podolny and Hansen 2020). Transactional communication will ensure that the employees receive the platform to express the need for specific training to contribute to particular projects. Moreover, the team members can point out the feasible timeline, resources required for innovation practices. (Hook and Jenkins 2019)

Mentorship Programs and Employee Engagement

Consultation with employees is often considered a strategic tool to gain insights into perceived issues and challenges. The upward consultation model ensures that the management accommodates the employees' perspectives in governance and decision-making matters. Moreover, the process ensures that the employees gain a platform to enquire about their rights and employers' duties and obligations. (Healy and Ahamed 2019).  On the other hand, the employers can gain in-depth knowledge regarding the scopes of improvement of the leadership procedure and protocols. In this context, the legal framework for consultation with the employees can be referred to. The National Work Council (NWC) is based on Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (CIPD 2020) recommendations. The legal framework recommends the provisions of creating collaborative forums with the employees. The legislation primarily states the obligation of the employers to inform the employees about the rationale behind policy formulation. Moreover, the leaders are responsible for expressing the employee benefits associated with the range of protocols. Ideally, the employers can are allowed to form informal collaborations or forums with the team members. The objective of the consultation should be the consistent improvement of the policies and procedures of the organisation. Moreover, the legislation states that the consultation process should be based on exchanging information. The employers should share the specific requirements and expectations of the management. On the other hand, the employees can express the perceived limitations of the organisational culture, infrastructure. The team members of Apple can identify any gaps between the espoused culture and the tangible resources provided by the management. The limitations, in this context, can be expressed through the consultation forums. The employees will be within their legal rights to form such collaborations with their preferred management team members. The strategic objective will be to achieve resolutions that ensure the best interests of all the members (CIPD 2020).

Ideally, training and development programs should be streamlined based on the evolving preferences and demands of the employees. Apple had introduced a range of training options for the team members. The Self-Paced Training infrastructure is based on the discretion of the team members (Apple 2022). The team members can select their preferred module and curriculum based on self-evaluation (Apple 2022). Moreover, the team members can also prefer a training process that includes a curriculum designed by Apple certified trainers. The flexibility indicates that the organisation prioritises employee voice and engagement. The management had avoided designing generalised training modules for the tea members. The focused training modules will be scheduled as per the employees' preferences. The team members are provided with the flexibility to assess individual knowledge gaps. The collaborative culture allows the employees to communicate the perceived knowledge gap to the management team. (Podolny and Hansen 2020).  The team members can prefer to avail themselves of the training from Apple Authorized Training Center or external Apple certified trainers (Apple 2022). The overall flexibility reflects that the management relies on the evolving preferences of the employees. The training module complements the requirement of lateral thinking and innovation among the team members. The autonomy provided to the team members supports the scope of proactive engagement, application. (Podolnyand Hansen 2020).

The training and development culture initiates during the onboarding phase at Apple. The employees are provided with a holistic view of Apple's organisational culture, innovation practices, and collaborative communication style (Apple 2022). The onboarding phase also includes core technical training for the new team members. The nature of the training curriculum is transformed based on the tenure and experiences of the team members. For instance, the managers are provided focused training related to ethical leadership skills (Apple 2022). Ethical leadership, in this context, includes a range of criteria, such as a focus on inclusion and avoiding unconscious bias during team handling. The managers are also trained specifically in the skills required to leverage employee feedback. Employee feedback is considered one of the strategic tools to ensure cross-hierarchical collaboration. The overall training and development of the managers are aligned with the clan-oriented culture of the organisation. The strategic objective of the training procedure is to develop leadership skills from an early stage. Moreover, the training program is designed to align with the core cultures of Apple. The organisation relies on the fundamental values of inclusion, creativity and equity of rewards. The managerial training curriculum accommodates these values as part of the overall knowledge base. (Podolny and Hansen 2020) 

Ideally, training and development need to be modified based on an understanding of the individual needs and requirements of team members (Hook and Jenkins 2019). A multinational organisation should ideally accommodate a range of training styles. The training and development patterns at Apple can be assessed in this context. In the initial phases of their careers, the employees are provided with coaching. The coaching style, in this context, is shaped by a supportive attitude and explicit directions (Apple 2022). Tenured employees are provided with comparatively fewer directions. The management, in this case, provides the necessary support, as perceived by the team members. The line managers are trained to ensure effective delegation and task allocation. The managers delegate the responsibilities and the overall objectives of the project. The experienced employees are allowed to schedule their respective priorities. The requirement of proactive training and development is comparatively less in case of the experienced resources. The training programs are designed based on the discretion of the management and the preference of the resources. Overall, the nature of the training programs varies based on the experience and skill set of the employees. The strategy indicates that the organisation does not follow a generalised pattern of formal training. (Podolny and Hansen 2020)

The line managers can modify employee engagement through well-aligned leadership styles. Innovative and learning organisations generally rely on Laissez-Faire leadership (Podolny. and Hansen 2020). The leadership styles of the line manager, in this context, promote autonomous decision making and task scheduling. The employees can formulate and schedule respective work schedules and training requirements. Moreover, the line managers ensure the minimal scope of a leadership intervention. The strategic objective is to provide adequate freedom to the team members. Autonomy generally leads to a sense of ownership and enhances overall engagement. (Mani and Mishra 2019). The line managers also rely on a democratic leadership style to improve employee engagement (Podolny. and Hansen 2020). Democratic leadership accommodates consensus and feedback of the team members. The team members are empowered to provide critical views and insights. The team members' opinions are leveraged to generate new, feasible work processes. The democratic style of the line managers is designed to value the contributions of the team members. The leadership motivates the team members to participate proactively. The hybrid model of the democratic and Laissez-Faire style collectively ensures engagement. The team members perceive the leadership style of the line managers as empathetic and effective. The positive perception, in turn, provides continuous involvement of the employees. (Mani and Mishra 2019).

The line managers need to create specific incentives for collaborative lateral thinking. The team members will require participating in weekly brainstorming sessions. The line manager should also be a part of the brainstorming sessions. The participation of the line managers will enhance the importance of the sessions. The collaborated brainstorming sessions will be associated with rewards and acknowledgement. The team or individual with the most feasible and innovative strategies will be rewarded. The strategy will primarily help develop reward-based motivation for employee engagement and involvement. Moreover, the line manager's direct participation will help strengthen the cross-hierarchical communication culture. Periodic collaboration among the members will ensure strong inter-team dynamics.

The team members will be encouraged to provide proactive feedback regarding the organisational culture and feedback. The periodic employee satisfaction survey will continue to be a sustainable part of the culture. However, the line managers should also monitor proactive input by the team members. The feedback will be analysed and assessed to explore potential issues related to employee engagement. Any general pattern or common observations should be addressed immediately. The proactive strategies will be to prevent further escalation of the problems. The importance associated with the feedback will shape employee involvement (Mani and Mishra 2019).

Conclusion

Overall, it can be concluded that Apple has successfully aligned the core values of innovation and creativity with employee engagement. The scope of feedback, autonomy had shaped the involvement of the global team members. The organisation had succeeded in establishing employee engagement at various levels. Apple had focused on creating emotional and cognitive engagement strategies for the team members. Management support and rewards were some of the antecedents that shaped employee engagement. Moreover, the management's feedback and learning development facilities had created positive motivation. The motivation had accelerated the overall contribution of the team members. The employee retention rate and the brand equity as an employer had reflected the success of the engagement strategies. The training and development mechanism of the organisation had been among the critical success factors. Research has revealed that the management focuses on holistic development from the initial stages of the team members. The nature and pattern of training shifts based on the employees' experience and knowledge base. The modification of the training strategies had created positive engagement across hierarchies. The internal infrastructure for professional development has also been among the critical success factors. Overall, the participation, autonomy and scope of feedback had collectively shaped the involvement of team members.

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