The Role of Human Resources in Organizations: Apple Inc.

Apple is an American multinational corporation specializing in consumer electronics, entertainment, and digital financial services. Apple Inc. has gained a foothold in the technology industry due to its focus on product innovation, design, and user-friendly functionalities, and multi-product integration (Podolny & Hansen, 2020b). Some of the most popular Apple products include the Mac computer, which has been evolving since it was first developed in 1984, setting standards in the personal computing sector: The Role of Human Resources in Organizations: Apple Inc.

Also, the iPhone, which was founded in 2007, has been critical to the company’s growth. Having changed the way people communicate and consume media, Apple’s success can be largely attributed to the iPhone. Other successful company products include the iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, MacBook, Apple TV, and AirPods.

A key contributor to Apple’s success is the focus on innovation. Following Steve Jobs’ exit and subsequent promotion of Tim Cook as the company’s CEO, Apple has mostly focused on innovation. Instead of developing new products, the company has focused on improving previously existing versions (Podolny & Hansen, 2020b). For instance, the company’s iPhone has undergone multiple improvement initiatives, with each new version having new functionalities and features.

The company’s diversification strategy has contributed to its success. For instance, in 2014, Apple launched Apple Pay, which has since revolutionized digital transactions. Also, Apple’s entry into the wearable technology segment through the introduction of the smartwatch and Apple Watch has bolstered the company’s bottom line since these products have attracted health-aware customers.

Visibility of the Human Resource Department

According to Watit Intuluck (2023), one of the roles of Apple’s human resource department is to engage and retain the company’s talent. The department has been largely successful in this role because Apple boasts of having some of the highest employee retention rates at 1.85 years. Only Facebook does better than Apple on employee retention at 2.02 years. One of the strategies Apple leverages to retain employees is by offering financial rewards.

For instance, the company offers employees stock grants as a way of showing them that they matter to the organization. Besides, the company organizes an engagement loop to improve its retention strategies. An example is the stay interview, whereby employees are asked why they would like to leave or remain in the organization, helping managers implement strategies that will keep employees at Apple.

Another role that shows the visibility of Apple’s HR department is the implementation of the company’s reward strategy. Technology jobs have, for a long time, been associated with high compensation. However, the company went further by introducing restricted stocks for employees.

By availing these stocks to all employees in 2015, the company has since been able to retain most of its employees. The HR department plays a key role in ensuring that rewards are customized based on employees’ unique needs.

Impact of HR Activities on Other Departments

One of the HR activities that impacts other departments is employee training. Training, whether conducted in the work environment or in learning institutions, impacts the innovative capability of employees. Employees are interested in training because they need to prepare for new responsibilities, status, and future growth.

Training changes employees’ attitudes, making them develop a desire for innovation (Com et al., 2018). Since Apple’s operations are significantly shaped by innovation, the company facilitates its employees’ training to encourage innovation.

Another HR function that affects other organizational areas is performance appraisal. The primary goal of employee appraisal is to offer feedback and assess areas where improvement is required (Com et al., 2018). Just like employee training, performance appraisal creates challenges for employees, and this can go a long way to bolster employees’ determination to innovate. Besides, performance appraisal removes hurdles that can potentially prevent employees from reaching peak performance.

Another HR activity that impacts overall organizational performance at Apple is employee relations management. Unlike most companies, where general managers oversee the functions of managers, the case is different at Apple because experts manage experts (Podolny & Hansen, 2020). This leadership structure was started by Steve Jobs, who emphasized the need for leaders to be specialized in the areas they lead.

Managing employee relations becomes easier if a manager understands their followers’ pain points. For instance, Apple has 600 experts on camera hardware technology, and they are led by a specialist in this area (Podolny & Hansen, 2020). To that end, the leaders’ immersion in details makes it possible for easier employee relations management and problem solving.

Role of HR in Organizational Success

The HR department of an organization plays a key role in an organization’s success. One such function is that the HR department operationalizes relational activities to meet stakeholder needs (Jo et al., 2023). For instance, training and development practices and incentive systems go a long way to enhance employees’ capabilities. HR identifies job-relevant skills and motivation that can help a department in an organization achieve its organizational goals.

Also, the HR department conducts human capital reviews designed to replace and reconfigure different departments to align with organizational needs. Notably, this HR function is performed in consultation with other stakeholders (Jo et al., 2023). For instance, burnout can affect individual employee performance and derail the organization from achieving its objectives. Subsequently, the HR department can recommend and undertake the recruitment of skilled employees to fill the human resource gap.

References

Com, W., Aman, Q., Noreen, T., Khan, I., Ali, R., & Yasin, A. (2018). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Innovative Ability of Employees Moderated by Organizational Culture. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 7, 426–439. https://ijol.cikd.ca/article_60434_904222870d1d47a264149e4d60d83287.pdf

Jo, J., Chadwick, C., & Han, J. H. (2023). How the Human Resource (HR) Function Adds Strategic value: a Relational Perspective of the HR Function. How the Human Resource (HR) Function Adds Strategic Value: A Relational Perspective of the HR Function, 63(1). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hrm.22184

Podolny, J., & Hansen, M. (2020a). How Apple Is Organized for Innovation. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-apple-is-organized-for-innovation

Podolny, J., & Hansen, M. (2020b). How Apple Is Organized for Innovation It’s about experts leading experts. In Apple (pp. 1–11). Harvard Business Review. https://www.apple.com/jobs/pdf/HBR_How_Apple_Is_Organized_For_Innovation-4.pdf

Watit Intuluck. (2023, July 27). The HRM Best Practices: A Case Study of Strategic Human Resource Management of APPLE Inc. ResearchGate; unknown. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372677766_The_HRM_Best_Practices_A_Case_Study_of_Strategic_Human_Resource_Management_of_APPLE_Inc

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As a human resources professional, you will face tough decisions. Much of your work is on behalf of the larger organization, unlike other departments whose work is primarily focused on their own functions.

You may receive close scrutiny for the end result of what you do.

Conversely, you might not be recognized for the work that you do, since much of it is behind the scenes.

For this Assignment, review the week’s Learning Resources and consider the larger role and work of the Human Resources Department/Division within organizations.

Use the 10K Form available is this week’s Learning Resource from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Select an organization that you might research further for the AHROP that you will draft in Week 5 and finalize in Week 7.

The organization you decide to investigate must be located in this search engine and have a large Human Resources Department or HR Division.

There should be adequate information from this site, coupled with the company’s websites, to identify their business vision and mission, objectives, and strategies.

You are encouraged to select an organization other than the one in which you work to facilitate achieving an organizational view not influenced by perspectives from your current employer—this is critical.

Since many organizations do not make their strategic plans widely available, you may need to deduce the organization’s business objectives and strategies and by reviewing 10-K forms (an example of which is located in this week’s Learning Resources),

websites, and/or transcripts of quarterly earnings calls with the media, or through your own organizational awareness and/or communications as an employee of this organization.

The Role of Human Resources in Organizations: Apple Inc.

For this Assignment, review the week’s Learning Resources (including a provided link to their 10-K forms) and consider the larger role and work of the Human Resources Department/Division within organizations.

To complete this Assignment, respond to the following in a 2- to 3-page paper:

• Describe your selected organization in 1–2 paragraphs.
• Explain the “visibility” of the Human Resources Department/Division’s role in that organization and provide two examples.
• Analyze how different areas or departments within the organization are impacted by HR activities (e.g., compensation, employee relations, staffing, training and development, HRIS, organization development) working on behalf of the organization.
• Using the organization you selected, examine how HR adds value to the success of the organization. Provide at least two examples.

Notes:

• I was thinking of using Apple, Inc as the organization.
• I have also attached a word document with the links that are to be used. (See resources below)

Resources

• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2016). EDGAR company filings.
• To find a particular company’s Form 10-K filings, use the Company Search for the SEC’s EDGAR database.
  On the returned listing of filings for the company, enter “10-K” in the Filing Type box near the top of the page to filter for only Forms 10-K that have been filed.

• Annual Operating Plan for Human Resources