On February 8, Bloomberg broke the Apple headlines: starting April 4, retail staff would get a raise in perks. According to the story, store employees will get twice the paid sick days, additional yearly PTO, and compensated parental vacation.
Before you get the wrong idea and believe I’m pushing for small companies to emulate a big behemoth, keep in mind that Apple only indicates the specific path we should be heading in.
The effect of The Great Resignation — and possibly a hint of staff displeasure with CEO Tim Cook’s management of working remotely over the warmer months of 2021 — are certainly factors in the decision.
Several incredibly high companies have made attempts to maintain their finest and smartest employees, but in the “workforce” retail industry, they have gotten a ridiculous response — or none at all. I wrote about Nike’s unbalanced attempts to alleviate psychological health stress after the epidemic a few short months ago. Employees at the office were given a day off, while retail employees were not.
Apple’s latest decision, on the other hand, emphasizes the necessity of safeguarding not just your experts, advertisers, and HQ professional teams but also individuals who are marketing your products or services on the ground immediately.
The greatest win is that part-time employees would be eligible for up to six paid weeks of vacation as well as compensated parental break. That’s nearly unheard of; traditionally, part-time employees haven’t gotten anything in the way of perks.
However, because we’ve tragically discovered in our modern epidemic normal, it’s the frontline employees — many of whom are continuation — who are doing the marketing, which feeds the profit margins, supports expansion, and allows HQ corner field offices to pay exorbitant wages.
My argument isn’t that another business is devising a new strategy to combat The Great Resignation. Those attempts are inundating us. My argument is that Apple now recognizes part-time employees and creates a precedent for other businesses to follow.
This relatively little feature in the revised compensation package is equally important: sick days may be utilized for psychological health breaks and family members to the doctor. We should emphasize this as much as possible; it’s long past for people to recognize the enormous effect of mental health difficulties in today’s environment and the crucial need for family and community support.
Do you want to follow in their footsteps? You do not just double your sick time right now. Or, at the very minimum, a shift in terminology will get the ball moving toward better health. Make it clear how this may be used. Sick days aren’t simply for physical ailments. They may also be used to manage mental health issues. Encourage your employees to make the most of this vacation by focusing on their overall health. And, when you’re able, gradually offer more wellness perks, such as in or on-call consultants, support networks, and, yes, extra vacation time.
These adjustments do not need the herculean effort that they seem to be. Start modest and gradually build up, but get started immediately.