Disclosure: All of the companies mentioned here except Apple are clients of the author.
One of the people I admire in the tech world is Stella Low, who I initially met at Dell Technologies. She moved from Dell to Cisco to Apple, and then quickly jumped to HP. Dell, Cisco ,and HP all prioritize employee and partner job satisfaction, while Apple is far more focused on margins and lowering costs.
Which approach is better?
Apple’s performance and market valuation show the financial benefits of its tactics, but issues with companies like Qualcomm, and its constant efforts to remove employees’ ability to leave can create serious problems with hiring and retention once those methods are discovered and become broadly known.
