By now, you may have heard about the letter written by employees to Tim Cook and the executive leadership at Apple. In short, the content of it addresses what so many organizations and employees have grappling with: To go back to the office or Not to go back to the office. If you haven’t, you can read it HERE.
First, and this is very important, let’s be honest about what really motivated the grand scale move to remote work that we have seen over the last year. A global pandemic. We often wonder how many organizations were seriously considering, strategizing, implementing such changes prior to COVID-19 hitting our shores.
This is important because the initial push for change was a response to an event rather than a change in beliefs, shift in mindsets, or adapting culture.
Let’s breakdown some of the Apple employees’ biggest points:
“This past year has been an unprecedented challenge for our company; we had to learn how to deliver the same quality of products and services that Apple is known for, all while working almost completely remotely. We did so, achieving another record-setting year.”
In other words, they delivered RESULTS.
“Over the last year we often felt not just unheard, but at times actively ignored. Messages like, ‘we know many of you are eager to reconnect in person with your colleagues back in the office,’ with no messaging acknowledging that there are directly contradictory feelings amongst us feels dismissive and invalidating. Not only do many of us already feel well-connected with our colleagues worldwide, but better-connected now than ever.”
Translation, they want 100% autonomy and to be trusted to make decisions about how they work and live.
“We have developed two major versions of all our operating systems, organized two full WWDCs, introduced numerous new products, transitioned to our own chipsets, and supported our customers with the same level of care as before.”
The message here is, hold them 100% accountable for their work performance rather than hold them back for what the performance of work looks like.
We honor the courage and clarity in how the employees at Apple expressed their wants and needs.
Apple, it’s time to THINK DIFFERENT about workplace culture.