Corporate Values and Goals in Google - Essay Example

?Introduction This essay is focused on Google, one of the most popular brands in the world. Probably, Google may be the only brand that is equally known among all age groups of the population. However, this essay focuses not on the external popularity of Google but on its internal popularity. That is, how well the company is accepted, liked and respected by the existing and prospective employees. Google was ranked first for the best companies to work for in 2012. “Everything was up at Google last year -- revenue, profits, share price, paid search clicks, hiring -- and so, too, was employee love; the search giant climbed three slots in our ranking to reclaim the top spot.” (CNN Money, 2012) Recent reports show that this ranking is sustained by Google even in the year 2013. The most notable of the report is that not even Facebook or Apple made it to the list. Google has committed human resource team whose only job is to work on keeping employees happy. Irrespective of such extreme attention on the retention policies, Google still loses their workforce to Facebook or other bigger companies. But, the employee turnover rate of Google is comparatively less than that of the rival companies. For an organization, it is not just important that they have clear mission and goals. It is also important that they reach at all levels of the organization. This is exactly what we will analyze with the case of Google’s ranking. The difference in Google compared to that of other companies is that the employees are equally aware about the mission and goals of the company while in many other companies it is just the top management that are aware about the mission. In Google, the employees strive towards achieving the organizational goals. The work and leisure environment at Google is considered to be the best in the industry. The essay will begin by analyzing how the job satisfaction and motivation of people at Google are influenced by its corporate values and goals concerning employees, customers and business. The essay will finally conclude by suggesting whether this business model can be adopted by every organization or not. Corporate Values and Goals Values and Goals Concerning Employees: “A company with employees aligned on goals for the future is able to reach those accomplishments faster.” (Frost, 2013) The same is true in the case of Google. Google’s value and goals concerning the employees are one of the best in the industry. Google’s values consist of 10 things that the company charted in the initial years of formation of the company. The company still holds on to those 10 values. The one point that focuses on employee values is ‘You can be serious without a suit.’ (Google, 2013a) Google’s approach to employees is unlike the traditional organizations. Google believes that work should be fun for the employees. Google’s work culture is employee friendly compared to many other organizations. In fact, Google believes that it is the proper work culture that brings out the best from an employee. Google values the ability of the employees over their experience. For proper employee motivation and job satisfaction, the freedom to share opinions and ideas is very much essential. In Google, each and every employee gets the opportunity to be a significant contributor to the objectives of the organization. They have good say in the objectives of the organization. At the weekly meetings, employees have the freedom to shoot questions even to Larry and Sergey. It is not just the monetary benefits that motivate an employee. Almost all theories related to motivation and job satisfaction says that participation of employees in decision making will lead to higher employee motivation. (Ezinearticles, 2013) Similarly, a good work culture is also essential in job satisfaction and improving employee morale. This theory holds true in the case of Google. Due to its extreme focus on enabling an employee friendly work culture, Google was able to be ranked as one of the best companies to work for. It also has one of the least employee turnover rate. Values and Goals Concerning Customers: Google’s values and goals concerning customers are the main reasons for its unbeatable success. “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” (Google, 2013b) All other objectives are derived from this primary mission. For Google, achievement of this mission involves bringing together both the internal and external elements closer. Google believes that success will follow if the entire focus is given on the user. From the very beginning, Google has been known for giving the coolest user experience on internet. Google never wanted the users to think that the interface would have been better if it was in some other design. There is no distraction from the advertisements unlike Yahoo or MSN. The core customer focus areas of Google consist of the elements such as design, speed, accessibility and monetizing options. Google always wanted to give customers the most exciting experience. Therefore, Google is not just a search engine provider but also the provider of YouTube, Google News, Chrome Browser, Android, and many more exciting applications and websites. This is where the company’s customer orientation correlates to the employee morale and job satisfaction. As Google strive to create new experiences for the customers, fresh challenges are being thrown to the employees. Once the job is assigned, employees are at the liberty to bring out the best products or designs they can. In Google, job challenges are a highly motivating element for the employees as the employees share the vision of the company. Employees feel great for the fact that their efforts are turned into amazing products for the customers. The employees also have various opportunities to try their talents in diversified products. Values and Goals Concerning Business: Google’s values and goals for the business are already included in the values for customers. For Google, value for customers is the value for business. The excessive focus on users is the main success strategy of the company. Today, Google is not just a search engine. Google has plenty of other products that form a major chunk of the revenues of the company. “Google is a serial acquirer, having scooped up more than 100 companies that go on spending sprees, it’s been able to successfully integrate most of these smaller companies into its business.” (Rahemtulla, 2012) Acquisition is the new success strategy of Google. Most of the acquisitions have turned out to be very successful for Google. Android and YouTube is the best example for that. The increased traffic generated from popular brands is huge revenue earner for Google. Google also demonstrated that they are not afraid of taking risks or failure. This is true in the case of Orkut and Google Plus. The company reports double digit growth every year. Conclusion Google’s success shows that its vision integration model is something that companies across industries can adopt. Most companies focus more on market share and financial stability with least attention on the employee welfare. Such companies do not realize that employee welfare is a crucial element to the success of business. Companies like Facebook and Apple, two of the most popular brands today were still not able to find place in the list of employee friendly companies. The main reason for this is that their consideration is the excellence of their products and nothing else. Most often, companies will have values and goals for customers and profitability. Little do they focus on employee motivation. The case of Google explains that employee satisfaction and morale is the result of proper integration of employee and customer visions. Works cited CNNMoney, (2012). 100 Best Companies to Work for. Retrieved May 4 2013. From: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/1.html Frost, S. (2013). How to Align Employees with Company Goals. Retrieved May 4, 2013. From: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/align-employees-company-goals-11667.html Google, (2013a). Ten things we know to be true. Retrieved May 4 2013. From: http://www.google.co.in/about/company/philosophy/ Ezinearticles, (2013). How to boost employee satisfaction or morale. Retrieved May 4, 2013. From: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Boost-Employee-Satisfaction-and-Morale&id=3885773 Google, (2013b). Focus on user and all else will follow. Retrieved May 4 2013. From: http://www.google.com/about/ Rahemtulla, K. (2012) Google’s secret to success. Retrieved May 4 2013 from: http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2012/08/20/googles-secret-to-success/ Read More