Apple is a vaunted company. This reputation makes successfully executing a talent acquisition strategy easy. The prestige makes high-performing professionals want to work there.
You probably wish your talent acquisition strategy was that easy to execute, too.
While we cannot promise Apple levels of acquisition and retention, we do have advice that will help you bring on more working and winning candidates.
Don’t be like Steve Jobs.
Undoubtedly, he was a visionary. But he is not the kind of boss most of us would want. Many of his traits, particularly in the early years, read like a caricature of a bad boss. His personal success and Apple’s ability to effortlessly recruit is not a result of the 3 traits we outline below, it’s despite them.
3 Leadership Traits to Avoid for Strong Talent Acquisition Success
1. Relentless perfectionism
According to former Apple employee Guy Kawasaki: “In the Macintosh Division, you had to prove yourself every day, or Jobs got rid of you.”
Kawasaki added that Jobs’ perfectionism elevated the work the division turned in. However, the environment was “sometimes unpleasant and always scary.”
Fostering fear in the workplace causes attrition.
The American Psychological Association asked Mindy Shoss, Ph.D., a professor and industrial organizational psychologist at the University of Central Florida, to define toxic workplaces.
She did it in one word: fear.
“Toxic workplaces drain all the energy and excitement out of employees and replace it with fear,” Dr. Shoss said.
It’s an unsustainable, stressful environment – for you and your team. Ultimately, employees will quit and you will gain a reputation as a toxic workplace, making it harder for you to bring on high-performing professionals.
Set high standards for your employees but be reasonable.
And if they fall short, do not bully them about it.
2. Bullying behavior
In 2014, the other Steve from Apple (aka co-founder Steve Wozniak) told an interviewer:
“Some of my very best friends in Apple, the most creative people in Apple who worked on the Macintosh, almost all of them said they would never, ever work for Steve Jobs again. It was that bad.”
“He would directly confront people and almost call them idiots,” Wozniak said in the same interview.
Be constructive, not confrontational
As a boss, there are times when you are disappointed in an employee’s work. Calling them an “idiot” is not a constructive way to express your displeasure. It fits into the Workplace Bullying Institute’s (WBI) definition of “workplace bullying.”
In their 2021 survey, the WBI described bullying as “repeated mistreatment: abusive conduct that is threatening, intimidating or humiliating; work sabotage or verbal abuse.”
No one wants to be called an idiot (or worse). Use this guide from BetterUp to offer constructive, not confrontational, feedback.
3. Micromanagement causes long-term harm
Managers who constantly insert themselves into their employees’ work foster negative and self-limiting behaviors.
Micromanaged employees:
- Lack confidence
- Depend on colleagues to complete work
- Question why their manager does not trust them
- Fail to develop professionally
- Look for new job opportunities
Even Jobs came to see his micromanaging as negative
Jobs eventually stopped involving himself in every detail and learned to delegate. Learn from the later version of Jobs and trust your employees to do the work you hired them to do.
Apple Values Worth Emulating to Increase Employee Satisfaction and Retention
Angela Ahrendts served as Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple from 2014-2019. While she was in the role, employee retention at stores went from 61% to 89% during that time.
On the RBC Disruptors podcast, Ahrendts attributed the increase to Apple’s strong vision and positive employee culture.
Ahrendts’ actions reinforced a positive culture. When she started in 2014, she visited over 100 call centers, stores and back offices. She was there to answer questions, field complaints and listen.
At the same time, she instituted changes that relieved stress and granted workers greater autonomy, including:
- Improved internal communication systems
- Solicited and implemented ideas from retail staff
- Created career paths for Apple store employees
- Raised pay
- Unified retail and online sales groups
By showing she was willing to listen and act on what she heard, Ahrendts positively impacted the culture. At the time the Fortune article detailing her changes was published, Apple said retail employee satisfaction was at an all-time high.
How to Fast-Track Your Talent Acquisition Strategy
Unlike Apple, you cannot post a job and assume it will automatically attract top talent.
First, people need to find your opening in the sea of online listings. Then they need to want to work for you. Their desire will be diminished if your leadership team has a reputation for embodying Steve Jobs-esque characteristics.
Before you need to hire, ask critical questions
- Do leaders display characteristics that are assets or drawbacks?
- What’s employee retention like?
- When people leave, do they cite management concerns in exit interviews?
If there are obvious issues, work to reverse the narrative through executive training or hiring.
Get a partner who finds passive candidates for your job
Trying to attract A-players through job boards is not an effective hiring strategy. When you want to bring on top talent, ditch traditional hiring methods and work with a talent acquisition partner like ProActivate.
Instead of hoping to find professionals with proven skillsets, your talent acquisition manager sources working and winning passive candidates for your role.