People Management Practices at Google - Research Paper Example

? Google Company - People Management Practices Google Company - People Management Practices Company’s Overall People ManagementStrategy People management is also referred to as human resource management and entails the way in which an entity manages its employees. It also shows how effectively a company manages its human resource as a way of achieving a competitive advantage. This paper reviews the people management practices at Google: one of the most successful advertising and internet companies in the contemporary world. It mainly specializes in the internet engine and allied advertising services. It primarily operates in the U.S, U.K and other countries in the global scene. It is based in California and employs over 20, 000 people. The company is not only known for its innovation and prowess in technology but also for its special HR practices and culture. Its HR practice is known as ‘People Operation’ and it is based on value of the employee relationship and respect. This keeps the employees highly motivated and improves their efficiency and productivity. Approach to Employee Rewards and Motivation In the company’s workplace, employees are considered to be the most important asset. This is owing to the fact that employees perform basic tasks in the organization that are aimed at achieving the company’s goals and objectives. It is important for employees to perform their duties in a positive environment that motivates them to maintain an optimistic attitude that improves their productivity. Google takes employee rewards and motivation seriously and has established motivation and rewards practices. In addition to the competent hiring process, Google employs compensation practices to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. Google’s reward and compensation system is pay for performance based (Great Place to work, 2009). This means that the employees are motivated to deliver quality output so as to get a higher pay. Additionally, the company’s stock option organization ensures that employees get rewarded for the company’s equity linked growth. It was surprising that all the workers requested for a wage reduction in the year 2005 to 2006. These benefits and rewards help the company to recruit employees and motivate them towards achieving the goals and objectives. The employees take part in a wide range of extra curricula activities such as cycling, wine tasting and travelling which keeps them highly motivated and have the desired to work in the company throughout their lives. The company was ranked as the best workplace in the U.S by Fortune magazine in 2009 (Datamonitor, 2009). The company’s goal is to provide rewards and do away with all the obstacles that get in the way of their duties and responsibilities. Some of the rewards include top class dining facilities, laundry rooms, gyms, massage rooms, carwashes, dry cleaning and commuting services. The company believes in the provision of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards owing to the fact that employees are not motivated by monetary incentives alone. This explains the reason why the company has established a culture that highly rewards and motivates employees. One of the best ways of maintaining the company’s culture is by maintaining rewards. Together with its compensation and conventional extrinsic benefits including health and dental benefits, vacation packages, insurance, tuition reimbursement and flex spending accounts, the company also has unique benefits. These include an eighteen weeks maternity period at full pay. Additionally, parents get extra benefits during this period that make things easier. They are provided with an allowance to cater for the meals of the newborn and a back- up childcare plan. The company also contributes towards the legal expenses associated with child adoption. These are just some of the extrinsic rewards offered at Google. However, it is clear to note that people who work at the company are motivated by other reasons besides the rewards. They enjoy the freedom and flexibility in the workplace. The secret to the company’s success further than the amazing rewards and compensation is basically the work process. The intrinsic rewards and motivation in the company include small working teams, no established hierarchy and objectives. The company has not established a monolithic hierarchy or teams. There are no clearly spelt or official channels to allow the flow of ideas within the groups. A project manager is placed in charge of the teams. The company believes that the small teams are in charge of the bringing great ideas to the company. Employees are also allowed to use 20% of the time to enhance individual projects and this boost creativity within the teams. This explains why the employees are always motivated and work efficiently towards the achievement of the company’s goals and objective resulting to increasing profitability. Company’s Culture The company culture is outstanding and this is what makes it an awesome workplace. The entity strives to maintain a basic entrepreneurial team culture. Although the company employs over ten thousand employees in the global scene, it maintains a global feel across its employees globally. Sharing of ideas and inventions is encouraged among all the employees in the company. For instance, the employees eat their meals at the cafe and this gives them the opportunity to interact with members from different departments and share ideas and opinion. The employees are free to consult the company’s co- founder and President Larry page. This concept has led to the establishment of the most successful search engine and an incredible work environment. Qualified professionals have a keen interest of working in the company or its subsidiaries. This is not only because of the salaries and rewards but also because of its culture. It culture is diverse and the work environment is campus like leading to high employee retention and consequently increase profits and success. Google’s corporate philosophy is made up of casual principles such as ‘you can make money without doing evil’ and ‘you can be serious without a suit’. The best example of Google’s corporate culture is Thank God it's Friday (TGIF) where the employees attend a weekly meeting to discuss and interact with their colleagues. The company’s founders started this culture where different activities are performed to ensure employee satisfaction in all ways. The activities include welcoming new employees to the company, providing information about the company, a question and answers session and recognizing and celebrating the employees’ achievements. The setting in these meetings is friendly and employees are free to ask any questions. The company holds quarterly kick off meetings where the sales manager talks about the company’s performance on a quarterly basis. The main objectives of these meetings are to inform the employees on the progress and future plans. In addition to, the company has set up the 20 percent project that gives the company’s engineers a chance to dedicate twenty percent of their time towards innovation. This helps them to channel their creative abilities and develop their knowledge base. Google declares an aggressive hiring process whereby skills and abilities are preferred over experience. The company strongly believes in diversity and has established offices in various parts of the world. In spite of the location, product or services offered at the company, Google maintains an optimistic workplace environment by hiring talented employees and locals who share in the company’s vision in ensuring perfection and having fun while doing it. The company discourages bureaucracy so as to make everyone feel valuable and appreciated. The management acknowledges that all employees have something important to offer and play a key role in the company’s success. Google offers individually- tailored employee payment packages that are made up of competitive salaries, bonuses and the chance to get better benefits and rewards in future. The employees thrive in teams that are highly focused and in positive work environments. In addition to, the company believes in the ability of technology to transform the world. The employees are passionate about their work and are motivated to work by taking part in extra- curricular activities. The company's ability to attract and retain employees The company attracts qualified professionals who are keen to work with the leading internet and advertising companies. To begin with, the brand name attracts qualified employees from different professions. Secondly, the company has a highly attractive compensation package that enables it to hire and retain a qualified and talented workforce. In addition to, the management maintains competitive rewards that motivate the current work force and attract new employees. The work environment at Google is friendly and flexible and the employees can freely exchange ideas. The company places a lot of emphasis on employee participation and this shows that employees are a valuable asset to the company. As a result, the employees will continue to show increased loyalty to the company and others are attracted to work in the company. The compensation system in the company is based on individual performance hence employees are attracted to work in such an environment. It has been observed that most people that are searching for work would like to work at Google, however most miss out on this opportunity due to its competitive and challenging recruitment. Those who get the chance to work in the company are retained owing to the above discussed factors. Recommendations for strengthening the company's workforce strategy In spite of having a nearly ideal workforce strategy, the company should work on a number of areas to strengthen the company's workforce strategy. The company should revise its rewards strategy to minimize the current workload that is associated with the numerous rewards. Secondly, the company should draw a clear line between the subordinates and the management as it seems like the subordinates are getting a better deal than the management. The company is advised to give its employees a chance to improve their careers through training and education and not giving them an opportunity to make money and enjoy the employee benefits. The company is advised to challenge the employees more often as a means of improving and evaluating their performance. Conclusion Effective people management practices can lead to improved profitability, ability to attract and retain employees who are motivated to work towards the set goals and objectives. Attractive rewards and compensation result into minimal employee turnover, lower product costs, increased efficiency, greater profitability and better implementation of the corporate strategy. There is no company in the world that can match Google’s level of benefits and compensation. This is deeply entrenched in the company’s culture and has made the company’s work environment the best in the US. As a result, the company experiences increase productivity, an increasing profit margin, innovative products and services and sustainable growth and development. Recent surveys state that most of the cost and completive advantage results from the productive, innovative and motivated work force. Other companies that would want to share a similar success story are advised to follow in Google’s footsteps. References Allen, M., & Wright, P. (2007). Strategic management and HR. Oxford University Press. Datamonitor (2009). Google, Inc. Retrieved from http://datamonitor.com/ Dessler, G. (2005). A framework for human resource management. Prentice Hall: UK. Google Benefits. Google Benefits. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=benefits Great Place to Work (2009). Great Place to work institute best companies list. Retrieved from http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best/100best2007-google.ph Redman, T. (2009). Contemporary human resource management: Text and Cases. Prentice Hall: Italy. Schuler R. S., & Macmillan, I. C. (2006). Gaining competitive advantage through human resource management practices. Human Resource Management, 23(3), 241-255. Read More