New Delhi: It is usual for employees to rant about their workplaces, how horrible their bosses are and how tough it is to sustain the peanuts-paying job. But if you are a retail store employee, one that is working at an Apple Store, then there isn't just a workplace problem but a concoction of a lot of things thrown in between which even includes 'death threats' by angry customers.
In an interview with Business Insider, a veteran Apple Store employee in the UK shared her experience of working for the tech giant which highlights why the work atmosphere at even a small store that sells Apple products is no less than being on an undercover mission for the country.
The former employee served at the store from 2011 to 2015 and among many flaws deep-rooted into the Apple employee policy also revealed the worst part about working as a retail store employee - the customers. While customers getting little angry over delay in service or products not working is a usual thing at any retail store of any product, but Apple retail store employees also have to tolerate the wrath of some customers who blatantly threaten to run them over with their car if their issue isn't resolved; and the employee recalls that in her almost four years of service, she had received a couple of such threats but thankfully was never really crushed beneath the wheels of an angry customer.
From the extremely strict selection of staff, which the employee recalls is a lot harder than getting into the Harvard University, lack of internal promotion policy, no perks, extreme confidentiality about your job, and no discussing of work issues with even fellow workers; the very atmosphere at an Apple retail store is very cult-like and those employees who begged to differ, for example- walking in with a Samsung phone, are deemed weird.
The employee further recalls that how during strict training sessions, the workers are brainwashed to 'believe' in what Apple believes. While it is not necessary to need a new Apple product, but as the retail store employees, they are made to think that they need one. Although the company offers heavy discounts on products to its in-store employees, but given the meager 8 pounds/hour salary, most of the employees can't afford the devices they are selling and some also run into debt.
Other than the usual contracts that Apple sells with the iPhones, there are also other add-on things like Apple Care and One-to-One for Macs. Making the customer aware of these embellishments too is taken into account when a manager or fellow employee is giving or given a feedback. The feedback system too is an usual one where despite the hierarchy, each employee has to provide feedback to one another. Each employee also needs to develop a certain level of personalised connection with every customer that walks in the store, with or without a prior appointment.
Rude customers who may or may not have the patience to wait for hours for their turn to arrive, the stress on making every customer feel truly important, while making sure you achieve the sales target that is expected of you everyday is something no retail employee could sustain for long. However, given the brand name and the opportunity to work with like-minded, creative and absolutely loyal team tends to retain employees for a long time even if that means no internal promotion or a desired pay raise.
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