Deirdre O'Brien named as Apple's new 'Vice President of People' overseeing HR

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Apple today announced that Deirdre O'Brien, vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations, has been named the head of human resources -- a title the company is calling the "Vice President of People."




O'Brien has been at Apple for nearly 30 years. She will head up all human resources departments, including talent development, recruiting, benefits, compensation and business support, as well as overseeing Apple University.

"As long as I've been at Apple, Deirdre has been the glue that bonds our operations, sales, marketing and finance teams to deliver products to our customers," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Deirdre deeply understands Apple's unique culture and that people join Apple to do the best work of their lives. She is a superb leader and I'm thrilled she will be bringing her experience and talent to this critical role."

O'Brien earned a bachelor's degree in Operations Management from Michigan State University and an MBA from San Jose State University. She will assume her new role this fall.
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  • Reply 1 of 24
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    "A contribution to the Human Fund has been made in your name."
    tallest skil
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  • Reply 2 of 24
    randominternetpersonrandominternetperson Posts: 3,202member
    Good for Apple for using normal words for normal things. What are "human resources"? People!
    blastdoorStrangeDaysdesignr
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 24
    getvoxoagetvoxoa Posts: 84member
    randominternetperson said:
    Good for Apple for using normal words for normal things. What are "human resources"? People!
    It's like "... In a human grocery store, Ain't that fresh ..."  That's human resources to me :)
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 24
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    So... she's the Vice President of all Earth people? 
    hexclockblurpbleepbloop
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  • Reply 5 of 24
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,346member
    SpamSandwich said:
    So... she's the Vice President of all Earth people? 
    "Not MY Vice-President!!!!!"


    SpamSandwich
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 24
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,773member
    I've said this before, but I'll repeat it. 

    I'd love to see Apple transform into a 100% ESOP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_stock_ownership_plan). 

    I cannot think of a better way to ensure that Apple's culture and business model are not corrupted by outside owners who don't understand the company and just want to make a quick buck. 

    It would also mean that Apple employees receive the full benefits of their hard work and good ideas. 
    dysamoria
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  • Reply 7 of 24
    NY1822ny1822 Posts: 621member
    Mike...your great on the podcast...hope your on more often
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  • Reply 8 of 24
    ihatescreennamesihatescreennames Posts: 2,008member
    Interesting, it's something like a "trickle up" effect.  In general, one of the managers in an Apple Store will be the "People Leader", which has been described as "the closest person you'll get to an HR person in the store."  That isn't an entirely accurate description but is on the right track to what the "People Leader" is.  So, Vice President of People makes sense, in a way.

    At least they aren't calling her Vice President of Personnel.
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  • Reply 9 of 24
    sidricthevikingsidrictheviking Posts: 195member
    Nice to see the American-Irish represented at this level in . Now, perhaps, Deirdre will dig back into her roots and ask Tim (or Angela?) to give us our first Apple Store in Ireland? 

    Is that too selfish of me? 

    Sorry...

    😎☘️🇮🇪
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  • Reply 10 of 24
    Mike Wuerthelemike wuerthele Posts: 7,051administrator
    NY1822 said:
    Mike...your great on the podcast...hope your on more often
    Appreciate it. I'd like to be.

    I do my own over at spacejavelin.com
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  • Reply 11 of 24
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Mike Wuerthele said:
    NY1822 said:
    Mike...your great on the podcast...hope your on more often
    Appreciate it. I'd like to be.

    I do my own over at spacejavelin.com
    Looks like you get about 130-160 listeners per episode. That's actually not bad!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 12 of 24
    Mike Wuerthelemike wuerthele Posts: 7,051administrator
    SpamSandwich said:
    Mike Wuerthele said:
    NY1822 said:
    Mike...your great on the podcast...hope your on more often
    Appreciate it. I'd like to be.

    I do my own over at spacejavelin.com
    Looks like you get about 130-160 listeners per episode. That's actually not bad!
    I'm pleased. I don't editorialize over here, really at all, so that's my outlet after a week of headlines.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 13 of 24
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,565member
    "Vice President of People."

    Dumb touchy feely name. Cute maybe for internal use. But 'Hello, this is     Deirdre O'Brien, Vice President of People'... Geeze.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 24
    ihatescreennamesihatescreennames Posts: 2,008member
    designr said:
    randominternetperson said:
    Good for Apple for using normal words for normal things. What are "human resources"? People!
    I've always hated the term "human resources". That department used to be called "Personnel" which was at least a little bit more like "Person".

    The title does sound a bit cheesy, but it would be nice to see organizations move away from the slightly dehumanizing "human resources". Words mean things. We usually change the words we use to describe things in order to assuage our guilt or feeling. Laying people off becomes "workforce reduction" and then "right sizing". :-/
    Why even reference people at all anymore? We have RIFs (Reduction In Force), which totally removes any mention of people from the action. Or how about VSPs? The Voluntary Separation Program. That's actually pretty good, it's when the employee and the company come to an "agreement" for early retirement. 
    dysamoria
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  • Reply 15 of 24
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,415member
    Sounds like a title one of the Kim Jongs might hand out...
    SpamSandwich
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 16 of 24
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    randominternetperson said:
    Good for Apple for using normal words for normal things. What are "human resources"? People!
    People? To a corporation like that? Ha ha ha ha ha... Employees are not people to any company with a "Human Resources" department. Employees are merely a commodity, or, at best, assets. The name "Human Resources" is already a euphemism. This particular Apple euphemism is even worse. It's a bit of PR, for both inside and outside of Apple.

    Never ever trust HR people.
    blurpbleepbloop
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  • Reply 17 of 24
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    macgui said:
    “Vice President of People." Dumb touchy feely name. Cute maybe for internal use. But 'Hello, this is Deirdre O'Brien, Vice President of People'... Geeze.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 18 of 24
    StrangeDaysstrangedays Posts: 13,172member
    dysamoria said:
    randominternetperson said:
    Good for Apple for using normal words for normal things. What are "human resources"? People!
    People? To a corporation like that? Ha ha ha ha ha... Employees are not people to any company with a "Human Resources" department. Employees are merely a commodity, or, at best, assets. The name "Human Resources" is already a euphemism. This particular Apple euphemism is even worse. It's a bit of PR, for both inside and outside of Apple.

    Tell us, what is “people” a euphemism for?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 19 of 24
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    StrangeDays said:
    Tell us, what is “people” a euphemism for?
    “Human resources”–the commodification of human life as raw input for the entity in question.  :p
    bestkeptsecret
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  • Reply 20 of 24
    schwabsauceschwabsauce Posts: 64member
    Sounds like a great appointment!
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