Motivation at Apple Inc.

Apple is able to motivate their employees to not only do there job effective and
efficiently, they also make sure the employees enjoy doing it. To achieve this,
Apple uses both Intrinsic and Extrinsic rewards .
Intrinsic motivations uses internal rewards to motivate the employees. The
employees will be motivated to do a task because they found pleasure and
enjoyment in it. They will have a feeling of gratification and fulfillment in
achieving the task.. Apple makes sure their employees are given jobs that are not
easy, instead they give them challenging ones. The employees are pushed to their
maximum potential so that they could improve and have better performance. The
employees will feel respected because they are believed that they have the
potential to achieve challenging task and thus strive for good performance results.
When Apple hire excellent people, they will give them a part of the business and
make them run it by themselves as this allows them to make good decisions . If
they fail, they can learn from their mistakes and plan better decisions. To achieve
this, Apple makes sure that all the employees understand and know everything
about the business. Every Monday, Apple review how much they sold for the week
before. They review all their products that are under development, products that
they are having difficulties with and products with demands greater than their
production rate. They do this to make sure their employees know how is their
business doing and how to improve and makes sure the employees are in the same
page. The employees will feel respected and wont feel left behind.

Extrinsic motivation uses external rewards such as money, gifts and recognition to
motivate the employees. Apple are able to attract and also gain loyalty from their
employees through these types of rewards.

For extrinsic motivations, Employees are given free iPod shuffle or iPhone and are
given product discounts. It is also cheaper to give the employees products rather
than a raise. Apple has give recognition bonus of 3 percent for the salary of their
executive despite not achieving their target on a project. Apple do this because
they assert their team efforts.

Also from various other study sources about motivation at Apple inc.
 Apple Inc. produces highly motivated individuals who work hard at their job.
Managers within the organization, including Steve Jobs, lead through motivation to
create conditions where employees constantly feel inspired to work hard. Apple’s
highly motivated workforce is one of the major reasons for their high-performance
results.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory is being applied in the Apple company.

Apple Inc. fulfills the employees’ physiological needs by providing wages that
sufficient for employees to purchase their basic needs. It makes the monthly
payment to its employees regularly. It also provides some financial incentives to its
employees such as flexible benefits, investment and savings plans, investment
options and stock purchase options. Besides, Apple Inc. provides a good
environment to employees for eating. For example, the corporate cafeteria -Caffe
Macs, which is the place to eat on campus, offers a variety of good quality food. It
sells various type of food such as pizza, sushi, pasta and salad. The level of
excitement and electricity in the café are perfect. On a daily basis, at least one of
Apple’s top executives will be seen in Caffe Macs such as Steve Jobs. Apple Inc.
also provides good working environment in the aspect of water, shelter and other
facilities.

Next, Apple Inc. satisfies its employees’ safety needs by providing them job
security, retirement benefits and a safe working environment. Apple Inc. provides
full-benefit medical insurance to its full-time employees as well as part-time
employees who working as few as 15 hours a week and have at least one year of
service with Apple since January 2010. It also provides pension and sickness
schemes to its employees.

Apple Inc. then satisfies the employees’ social needs. The company has developed
team atmosphere and made sure employees know that they are a part of something
bigger. For instance, from its lack of bureaucracy within projects, to its engineer-
focused culture, to its emphasis on passionate and loyal employees, the huge
company has maintained the corporate culture of its startup days. And that culture
is a huge part of what makes it so successful — and, not surprisingly, a good place
to work.

Furthermore, Apple Inc. fulfills its employees esteem needs by valuing emphasis
self-respect and respect for others and praise for hard work. Appraisal system helps
to recognize individuals’ contributions and importance of celebrate achievement.
For example, Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook has noted that employees will be given a
major discount on Apple products, starting in June. Employees already get 25
percent off Macs and iOS products, but in a few months they will also be given an
extra $500 off Macs and $250 off iPads. For example, the low-end Macbook
Air will cost just $250 after the discount and new credit.

Next, Apple Inc. also satisfies its employees’ self-actualization needs. Apple has
pushed the limits of how people create with technology in everything it has done.
Steve Jobs directed the company towards excellence by helping people create in
ways they could never achieve before. Consequently, the iMac, the iPod, the
iPhone, and the iPad all played a big role in the introduction of new markets. The
self-actualization need of a business is tied tightly to the man steering the ship,
such as CEO of a company who will dictate a company’s direction. For example,
CEO Steve Jobs led Macintosh through each of its largest innovations, but when he
left, it began to lose its way and market share. Upon his return, Macintosh quickly
returned to its initial direction and to profitability.