Having jumped to Apple in 2014 after eight years as CEO of Burberry, Angela Ahrendts talks with Fast Company’s Rick Tetzeli about how Tim Cook is building on Apple’s culture.
We just ended the year with the highest retention rates we’ve ever had: 81%. And the feedback [from Apple Store employees is that it’s] because they feel connected. They feel like one Apple. They don’t feel like they’re just somebody over here working with customers. I don’t see them as retail employees. I see them as executives in the company who are touching the customers with the products that Jony [Ive] and the team took years to build.
The thing I didn’t know before I came in—a month in, I told my husband, “I now know why this is one of the most successful companies on the planet: Because the culture is so strong. The pride, the protection, the values.” The company was built to change people’s lives. — Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and online stores
I have to say, after reading all the BS analyst info about Apple, the earnings call, the forecast, et al, this little snipit right here is the reason to stick with your stock in Apple. There’s simply no other Company on earth with Apple values. And they matter, they matter a lot.
“I see them as really cheap executives with low pay and limited benefits and we intend to suck all the blood from them we can” probably would have been more accurate statement.
The company I worked for used to use the “we’re all family” meme, until they decided to disown a bunch of the family.
Apple emplyees get a host of benefits, retail empoyees get the same benefits as their corporate employees: product discounts, private Dental and Health insurance for them and their partners, free life insurance, 70% off a mac every 3 years not to mention large discounts off each product line each year, ability to transfer to any store in the world visa permiting if required, pay rises every year, thousands in stock options, gifts a xmas and lunches paid for including perks like free massages etc there is alot more perk these are just a few.
A lot of this is true, and some is not. The Mac discount is 50% of one complete system every three years, and three 25% friends and family discounts. You can only transfer between stores if they have the position that you want open, and you need an endorsement from your store, and you still have to interview for the new job. Stock options for retail are certainly not in the thousands, maybe hundreds. There are no free massages, unless you work overnight at 5th Ave. in NYC and one of the hookers that frequents the store on cold nights takes a liking to you. Pay raises are usually marginal, not keeping up with inflation or cost of living. Lunches are only paid for during things like product launches where it’s all hands on deck and you work for at least 12 hours.
I’m not saying their perks and benefits aren’t fantastic, they are. You just overstated a little bit.
So all retail Empoyees get a whole host of benefits including: discounts, Free health and Dental insurance this also covers your partner or spouse, free gym membership, large discount off macs every 3 years nearly 70% off, friends and family discounts, pay rises every year. Thousands in stock options this is just a few perks of the job there is alot more
What percent of a poverty wage does Apple pay? Or a living wage? Is it a career, or just a job? At three years in, could a retail employee qualify for a mortgage? Or buy a new car?
The bulk of Apple retail staff doesn’t work behind the Genius Bar. They work as sales staff. In the US they wouldn’t be allowed to work full time, but if they did their salaries would be below the poverty line, if they were the wage earners for a family.
You’re in the UK, doesn’t everyone get NHS? How does Apple take credit for health insurance?
But this misses the real point. How is it that Apple values “executives” over “retail employees”? That’s a poor attitude for someone with a multi-million dollar per year paycheck. If you don’t respect what people do, you can’t respect the people, no matter what you blather. Saying you just pretend they do something different by thinking of them differently is wrong-headed. She should honor an respect what they do for what it is, not pretend they are some other thing.
“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
The NHS here well dental is not free you have to pay a checkup is about £45 and Hygenist visit £50 private. In terms or service well the NHS is not that good maybe upto 4 to 10 weeks to see a specalist on private its about 1-2 weeks with dedicated private hospitals for your treatment. its about £120 per person per month for private healthcare here and looks like Apple pay for your partner too so thats £2880 in total from them per year which is really good
Whats the average retail salary in the US? UK its about £16K with 24 days paid holiday a year.
Dan, it’s irrelevant what retail workers get paid in the UK or their benefit situation. I’m sure that Apples employment policies are different in every country, aligning with the cultural norms and legal requirements in each country. In the US, retail workers are generally temporary and low paid. Most employers don’t expect the worker to stay and invest very little in them. I’m sure Apple is at the extreme high-end of retail worker treatment in the US. That Ms Ahrendts sees 80% retention as a good thing attests to Apples differences from the US norm.
That said, Apple has about 70,000 employees worldwide. Of that 70,000, almost 28,000 work in Apple stores in the US. That means 40% of Apples worldwide workforce are part-time employees in the US with limited employment benefits. Why add insult by calling them “executives”? The term executive has the same root as executioner, not always a term of honor.
As a data point, the typical US retail worker is paid the minimum US wage of $7.25/hour (about £5). There are no paid holidays for part-time workers. Apple is better than typical, but not “executive” level.
She didn’t know what made Apple so great????
I could have told you long ago that it was the culture, pride, and values wanting to make people’s lives better.
She is so clueless.
By the way, that values thing has eroded substantially since Steve has been gone.
I used to love going to the Apple Store. Not so much now. Making genius appointment only was a big step back.
It used to feel like you were going to see Steve. He would then fix it for you. Now it feels like you are going to get your teeth cleaned.
Money doesn’t “matter” to some people. Usually those that have a bunch of it.
Also, that’s a class thing, not a left-right political thing. Rich conservatives have that attitude, as do rich liberal “elites.”
Another example is Chelsea Clinton saying “I tried to care about money but I couldn’t.”
It turns out that people who have to handle money very carefully to survive/thrive DO care about money a lot – they have no choice.
It also turns out that people who have very little money start to be so overwhelmed they often have a hard time making good decisions about their money. Constant fear has been shown to break down the ability to make good decisions.
Useful info to know when we look at how people behave in the world. Eye-opening, in many cases.
“Constant fear has been shown to break down the ability to make good decisions.”
Exactly. Its a cliche that companies that focus only on next quarter don’t do as well as longer term thinking companies.
But poor people literally have to scramble every week. The stress and extremely short term focus are difficult to break out of, because poor they can’t sacrifice food, shelter or other necessities for the future, whereas wealthier people can “sacrifice” significantly for the future without sacrificing any basics.
Then when a chronically stressed poor person gets a bump in money, its very difficult not to spend in some way that alleviates stress, such a nicer TV or something, instead of saving. Chronic stress rewires the brain for short term survival.
It is an unfortunate irony that most poor people are very hard workers and are very good managers of their meager resources within the short term focus. Its just a very hard cycle to break out of.
This is why health care and education for children is so important. Its not charity, its an investment, as better prepared children will pay higher taxes for the rest of their lives.
(I wish politicians focused on making the economics of help work objectively instead of pandering for votes of rich vs poor. Everyone wins from well thought out and managed investments. )
“Tim Cook’s best hire” *gag* How has what she changed in retail added to Apple’s bottom line? Wasn’t she the one that pushed online ordering instead of the free, organic marketing that throngs of Apple die-hards lined up at stores provided?
My ten year old ason and I were just at the Cerrtios Mall Apple Store in Southern California and I realized it wasn’t fun anymore to go into an Apple Store. It wasn’t fun mainly because it all about Apple products and not how they interact with other technologies or the world around you. It used to be like to seeing old friends at a Macuser Group meeting. Gone are the seating and theaters at the back of the store where you could see how the products all worked with other software and equipment. I miss the the speaker demos and music playing, it the experience festive and made me want to stay and come back for more. I used to be a Mac Specialist back when it was fun at the Costa Mesa, CA Apple Store.
Until you’ve worked for a company with a strong culture, you can’t understand what its like. I can imagine that Angela’s first few month in Apple were eye opening and perhaps a little stressful as she learned how important it is to learn and internalize Apple’s values and philosophy. At Burberry’s she was maybe more of an individual leader. At Apple she has to respect the collective experience and wisdom of the company and fit in. That she tries to describe retail sales people as executives shows just how carefully she is choosing her words and fitting into the culture.
You’re giving her way too much credit. The rest of the world sees her for what she is: a waste of $100 million that could have been better spent on retail employee training and rewards, better Mac advertising, or product development. What at pathetic waste of money, Cook!!!!!!
I wanna be an Apple executive!!!
I have to say, after reading all the BS analyst info about Apple, the earnings call, the forecast, et al, this little snipit right here is the reason to stick with your stock in Apple. There’s simply no other Company on earth with Apple values. And they matter, they matter a lot.
They certainly don’t pay us like executives…
“I see them as really cheap executives with low pay and limited benefits and we intend to suck all the blood from them we can” probably would have been more accurate statement.
The company I worked for used to use the “we’re all family” meme, until they decided to disown a bunch of the family.
Apple emplyees get a host of benefits, retail empoyees get the same benefits as their corporate employees: product discounts, private Dental and Health insurance for them and their partners, free life insurance, 70% off a mac every 3 years not to mention large discounts off each product line each year, ability to transfer to any store in the world visa permiting if required, pay rises every year, thousands in stock options, gifts a xmas and lunches paid for including perks like free massages etc there is alot more perk these are just a few.
A lot of this is true, and some is not. The Mac discount is 50% of one complete system every three years, and three 25% friends and family discounts. You can only transfer between stores if they have the position that you want open, and you need an endorsement from your store, and you still have to interview for the new job. Stock options for retail are certainly not in the thousands, maybe hundreds. There are no free massages, unless you work overnight at 5th Ave. in NYC and one of the hookers that frequents the store on cold nights takes a liking to you. Pay raises are usually marginal, not keeping up with inflation or cost of living. Lunches are only paid for during things like product launches where it’s all hands on deck and you work for at least 12 hours.
I’m not saying their perks and benefits aren’t fantastic, they are. You just overstated a little bit.
So all retail Empoyees get a whole host of benefits including: discounts, Free health and Dental insurance this also covers your partner or spouse, free gym membership, large discount off macs every 3 years nearly 70% off, friends and family discounts, pay rises every year. Thousands in stock options this is just a few perks of the job there is alot more
What percent of a poverty wage does Apple pay? Or a living wage? Is it a career, or just a job? At three years in, could a retail employee qualify for a mortgage? Or buy a new car?
Yes the average genius salary here in uk is £30k adding benefits and pension this is about £37k
The bulk of Apple retail staff doesn’t work behind the Genius Bar. They work as sales staff. In the US they wouldn’t be allowed to work full time, but if they did their salaries would be below the poverty line, if they were the wage earners for a family.
You’re in the UK, doesn’t everyone get NHS? How does Apple take credit for health insurance?
But this misses the real point. How is it that Apple values “executives” over “retail employees”? That’s a poor attitude for someone with a multi-million dollar per year paycheck. If you don’t respect what people do, you can’t respect the people, no matter what you blather. Saying you just pretend they do something different by thinking of them differently is wrong-headed. She should honor an respect what they do for what it is, not pretend they are some other thing.
“The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
The NHS here well dental is not free you have to pay a checkup is about £45 and Hygenist visit £50 private. In terms or service well the NHS is not that good maybe upto 4 to 10 weeks to see a specalist on private its about 1-2 weeks with dedicated private hospitals for your treatment. its about £120 per person per month for private healthcare here and looks like Apple pay for your partner too so thats £2880 in total from them per year which is really good
Whats the average retail salary in the US? UK its about £16K with 24 days paid holiday a year.
Dan, it’s irrelevant what retail workers get paid in the UK or their benefit situation. I’m sure that Apples employment policies are different in every country, aligning with the cultural norms and legal requirements in each country. In the US, retail workers are generally temporary and low paid. Most employers don’t expect the worker to stay and invest very little in them. I’m sure Apple is at the extreme high-end of retail worker treatment in the US. That Ms Ahrendts sees 80% retention as a good thing attests to Apples differences from the US norm.
That said, Apple has about 70,000 employees worldwide. Of that 70,000, almost 28,000 work in Apple stores in the US. That means 40% of Apples worldwide workforce are part-time employees in the US with limited employment benefits. Why add insult by calling them “executives”? The term executive has the same root as executioner, not always a term of honor.
As a data point, the typical US retail worker is paid the minimum US wage of $7.25/hour (about £5). There are no paid holidays for part-time workers. Apple is better than typical, but not “executive” level.
She didn’t know what made Apple so great????
I could have told you long ago that it was the culture, pride, and values wanting to make people’s lives better.
She is so clueless.
By the way, that values thing has eroded substantially since Steve has been gone.
I used to love going to the Apple Store. Not so much now. Making genius appointment only was a big step back.
It used to feel like you were going to see Steve. He would then fix it for you. Now it feels like you are going to get your teeth cleaned.
If you really think they are executives, pay them $200K a year.
When they perform a job worth $200K a year, they will be paid that amount.
I think that’s his point. They aren’t executives. It’s a ridiculous assertion.
Yes, don’t insult them by calling them what they are not.
Money doesn’t “matter” to some people. Usually those that have a bunch of it.
Also, that’s a class thing, not a left-right political thing. Rich conservatives have that attitude, as do rich liberal “elites.”
Another example is Chelsea Clinton saying “I tried to care about money but I couldn’t.”
It turns out that people who have to handle money very carefully to survive/thrive DO care about money a lot – they have no choice.
It also turns out that people who have very little money start to be so overwhelmed they often have a hard time making good decisions about their money. Constant fear has been shown to break down the ability to make good decisions.
Useful info to know when we look at how people behave in the world. Eye-opening, in many cases.
“Constant fear has been shown to break down the ability to make good decisions.”
Exactly. Its a cliche that companies that focus only on next quarter don’t do as well as longer term thinking companies.
But poor people literally have to scramble every week. The stress and extremely short term focus are difficult to break out of, because poor they can’t sacrifice food, shelter or other necessities for the future, whereas wealthier people can “sacrifice” significantly for the future without sacrificing any basics.
Then when a chronically stressed poor person gets a bump in money, its very difficult not to spend in some way that alleviates stress, such a nicer TV or something, instead of saving. Chronic stress rewires the brain for short term survival.
It is an unfortunate irony that most poor people are very hard workers and are very good managers of their meager resources within the short term focus. Its just a very hard cycle to break out of.
This is why health care and education for children is so important. Its not charity, its an investment, as better prepared children will pay higher taxes for the rest of their lives.
(I wish politicians focused on making the economics of help work objectively instead of pandering for votes of rich vs poor. Everyone wins from well thought out and managed investments. )
Educated, healthy citizens are a public good – they benefit everyone, not just those individuals.
Primary hiring characteristic for Apple Store peeps? An attractive personality.
“Tim Cook’s best hire” *gag* How has what she changed in retail added to Apple’s bottom line? Wasn’t she the one that pushed online ordering instead of the free, organic marketing that throngs of Apple die-hards lined up at stores provided?
My ten year old ason and I were just at the Cerrtios Mall Apple Store in Southern California and I realized it wasn’t fun anymore to go into an Apple Store. It wasn’t fun mainly because it all about Apple products and not how they interact with other technologies or the world around you. It used to be like to seeing old friends at a Macuser Group meeting. Gone are the seating and theaters at the back of the store where you could see how the products all worked with other software and equipment. I miss the the speaker demos and music playing, it the experience festive and made me want to stay and come back for more. I used to be a Mac Specialist back when it was fun at the Costa Mesa, CA Apple Store.
Until you’ve worked for a company with a strong culture, you can’t understand what its like. I can imagine that Angela’s first few month in Apple were eye opening and perhaps a little stressful as she learned how important it is to learn and internalize Apple’s values and philosophy. At Burberry’s she was maybe more of an individual leader. At Apple she has to respect the collective experience and wisdom of the company and fit in. That she tries to describe retail sales people as executives shows just how carefully she is choosing her words and fitting into the culture.
You’re giving her way too much credit. The rest of the world sees her for what she is: a waste of $100 million that could have been better spent on retail employee training and rewards, better Mac advertising, or product development. What at pathetic waste of money, Cook!!!!!!
Tim Cooks worst hire.
What a tone deaf comment to make. Yes, I value you as an executive but, no, I will not pay you. It’s called talking up which is sleezeball language.