蘋果零售店的秘密
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????蘋果（Apple）員工給人的印象總是激情飽滿，每當有新零售商店開張或者新款iPhone上市，商場里到處都是他們齊聲高呼口號的聲音和東奔西走的忙碌身影。你是不是好奇，蘋果公司到底對它的員工進行了怎樣的培訓，才讓他們如此狂熱？戴維?西格爾上周日發表在《紐約時報》（New York Times ）的頭版文章為人們提供了一些線索。 ????這篇文章是《紐約時報》推出的蘋果公司系列報道的第4部分。該系列其他部分將蘋果公司樹立為“網絡經濟”負面形象的典型：避稅、輸出就業、剝削中國工人。而這一部分的開篇也不例外，這一次它給蘋果公司安的罪名是：提供毫無前途的零售工作。 ????跟其他部分一樣，這一部分的內容非常充分，而且相對比較中肯，但一樣存在根本性的缺陷。雖然選擇蘋果公司是因為它具有極高的知名度，可以吸引更多的瀏覽量，但客觀上看完文章的讀者會很容易得出這樣的結論：蘋果公司的政策并不像《紐約時報》暗示的那么差勁，甚至要好于它的大多數競爭對手。 ????比如，報道提到，蘋果商店初級員工的時薪是11.25美元（該文見報前蘋果公司剛剛實行的漲薪沒有計算在內），比最低工資水平（7.25美元）高出不少，甚至高于蓋普公司（Gap），比瑜伽與運動服裝連鎖店露露檸檬（Lululemon）銷售員的12美元時薪也不差多少。露露檸檬是西格爾能夠找到的付酬最高的一家零售商店。 ????2001年，芭芭拉?厄萊雷奇在《美國生存體驗實錄》（Nickel and Dimed）一書，描述了自己臥底沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）所體驗到的“窮忙族”們的生活。很明顯，西格爾的文章并沒有達到這樣的深度。 ????不過，這篇文章確實讓讀者深入了解到了蘋果商店對員工的教化過程，其中包括下面這個關鍵環節： ????一位經理稱，經常有人在得到公司提供的工作機會之后激動得熱淚盈眶。如果入職的新人還只是蘋果粉絲，那么經過公司的培訓課程，他們就會成為蘋果公司虔誠的門徒。根據工作崗位和地點，蘋果公司的培訓課程長度從幾天到幾周不等。 ????培訓最開始是“熱烈歡迎”儀式。新員工進入房間后，蘋果商店的經理和培訓師起立為他們鼓掌。剛開始，掌聲通常會讓培訓生們不知所措，不過掌聲持續幾分鐘后，新人們也會主動加入其中。 ???? |
????If you've ever wondered what kind of training is required to get Apple employees to behave the way they do at the opening of a new retail outlet or the launch of a new iPhone -- whooping, hollering and tearing around the shopping mall -- David Segal's front-page story in Sunday's New York Times offers some clues. ????The piece, Part 4 in the paper's puzzling series about the company, begins like the others -- setting Apple up as the exemplar of all that is wrong with the companies that make up the "iEconomy": avoiding taxes, exporting jobs, exploiting Chinese workers and, in this piece, creating dead-end jobs in retail sales. ????Like the others, the story is well reported and relatively balanced. But it suffers from the same basic flaw: Having chosen to focus on Apple (AAPL) because the company is so high profile and sure to draw page views, the reporting leads readers to the conclusion that Apple's policies are not as evil as the set-up implies and in fact are better than most of Apple's competitors'. ????In this case, the $11.25 an hour entry-level Apple Store employees make (not counting the raises Apple handed out just before the Times' story appeared) is considerably higher than minimum wage ($7.25), better than the Gap, and nearly as high as the best-paying retail outlet Segal was able to find: Lululemon, a yoga and athletic apparel chain where sales staff earn about $12 an hour. ????"Nickel and Dimed" -- Barbara Ehrenreich's 2001 undercover expose about the life of Wal-Mart's working poor -- this is not. ????But it does take readers deeper inside the Apple retail indoctrination process than anything I've read before, including this key section: ????One manager said it was common for people offered jobs to burst into tears. But if the newly hired arrive as devotees, Apple's training course, which can range from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the job and locale, turns them into disciples. ????Training commences with what is known as a "warm welcome." As new employees enter the room, Apple managers and trainers give them a standing ovation. The clapping often bewilders the trainees, at least at first, but when the applause goes on for several lengthy minutes they eventually join in. |
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