Soft and Hard HRM at Google - Assignment Example

?HRM Practices at Google Employee Benefits at Google The hiring process of Google is very challenging. Therefore, in addition to that, Google utilizes compensation practices to gain efficiency/cost competitive advantage in order to motivate employees to search for innovative services and products. The best talent of the world is attracted by Google due to its prestigious brand image, but it is also necessary to retain that talent. Google does that by ensuring big compensation. The primary business of Google is to attract finest technical geeks who assist Google for the creating an innovative and creative culture, develop and train them to work for longer period of time and retain them in order to make an impact on the bottom line of the business. Google ensures through compensation that these talented people are retained. The reward and compensation system at Google is pay-for-performance. The stock option system of the company ensures that employees get compensated and rewarded along with the growth of the company. The most astonishing factor is that in 2005-2006 the employees by themselves demanded a wage cut. According to the Director and Professor of Human Resource Center working at Wharton Business School, "these perks and benefits help Google to recruit people who are willing to spend most of their time at work place". Statistics show that software engineer at Google receives an average salary of $81,239 which is just $8000 less than their senior competitors, yahoo (Small Business, n.d.). Nowadays, many young engineer and professional aspire to get employed at Google. The reason is due to excellent fun and work environment. Top it all, bonuses and compensation, flexibility in working on projects etc. Google has been the most renowned example of a motivating and encouraging employer. There wouldn’t be any single person who wouldn’t wish to work at Google. Soft and Hard HRM at Google Prior to coming to discussion about whether Google possesses soft HRM or hard HRM, the concept of both the terminologies needs to be cleared. The concept of hard and soft HRM is an emerging concept in the field of HRM. Every organization owns a certain traits and characteristics which encompasses its corporate culture, strategies, recruitment and selection (Armstrong, 2006). Under this head, comes the most extensively debated subject that is soft HRM and hard HRM. In Soft HRM, companies consider their employees as the most valuable and important resource. For such companies, the needs of employees must be catered at first. Such types of companies are usually considered as ‘good’ employers. Therefore, these companies offer their employees substantial chances to grow not only as workers but also as individuals. Employees are provided regular training in order to ensure that prospect promotions. In hard HRM, companies generally treat their employees as a means of obtaining profits and efficiency. Hard HRM usually do not takes into account the needs and wants of employees. Hard HRM allows the employer to have full control over its workforce and operations. In such organizations, the morale and skills of employees are relatively lower. Companies utilize these approaches according to their corporate culture and type of industry. Those organizations which operate in such industry where norms, standards and benchmark needs to be maintain adopts hard HRM. On the other hand, those companies which are research based and require creative and innovative tactics utilize soft HRM where employees are given full authority to do the work in a way they feel the best. Hard HRM is widely accepted and implemented in organizations like KFC, McDonalds and Ryanair while soft HRM is implemented and encourages in organizations like Facebook and Google. Yes! Google utilizes soft HRM approach (Peter Bamberger, 2000). The culture of Google gives liberty to its workers to bring in innovative and creative stuff. In this regard, they are expected to research and work as per their own way. In fact, Google encourages its employees to spend 20% of their work time in doing the work about which they are passionate for. This strategy entails that Google encourages its employees to give their best of efforts for the betterment of the company. Google’s founders interact with employees periodically in order to boost their creativity and innovative skills. Both the founders interact with employees and respond to their queries and concerns and in this manner, promoting a more creative and innovative corporate culture. The talented workforce of Google is provided time and resources for bringing in more creative stuff. It not only develops and improves the skills of employees, but also proves to be beneficial for the company. Apart from providing benefits at workplace. Google offers variety of other benefits to its employees. it includes massage and yoga, on-site doctor, running trials, maternity and paternity leaves, stock options, medical programs, professional development opportunities etc. Hard HRM Soft HRM Little or no delegation of authorities Employees are encouraged to take responsibility and delegation Appraisal system based upon judgments Appraisal system based upon developmental and training needs Organizational structure is usually taller Organizational structure is generally flatter Style of leadership is usually autocratic Democratic style of leadership exists in organizations having soft HRM Recruitment and Selection at Google Google spends a great deal of time and money in the recruitment and selection process of its employees. At Google, there is no one best approach for recruitment and selection. Staffing practices are utilized by Google in order to gain a competitive edge because according to Google, “People are our most important asset”. The criteria of selecting and recruiting the most talented candidates has been put forward by the top management and founders of Google, i.e. Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Google’s cofounder Larry Page annotates on the Google’s approach for talent acquisition; “We don't just want you to have a great job. We want you to have a great life. We provide you with everything you need to be productive and happy on and off the clock”. This statement reflects the concern of the top management for its employees. at Google, it is not just about work, but about providing productive and joyous professional as well as personal lives. Google possesses an informal corporate culture, in this regard, the hiring process at Google is way different than typical formal organizations. The hiring process is taken very seriously at Google and consensus based decision is encouraged. The only aspect which Google looks for in its employees is their creativity and talent. The basic criteria for considering a candidate is his talent, innovative and creative skills. Another important aspect which is considered during the process of recruitment and selection is the ability of candidate to work in smaller teams. Google looks forward to hire those candidates which have natural skills of responding immediately to the dynamic environment. The process of hiring begins with the candidates searching for the job of their interest at Google. Recruiters then respond to the queries of the candidates and contact them in order to learn more about their background. After reviewing the background of the candidates, an interview is conducted on phone so as to determine whether the applicant can be called for interview. In interviews at Google Inc, core technical skills for software engineers are evaluated. For the managerial positions, behavioral and problem solving skills are evaluated. In interviews, several interviewers coming from managerial and technical background are involved (Ingham, 2008). Google considers this as an expensive and time consuming process, yet believes that this is the right and fair procedure for selecting the talented and deserving candidates. After the interviews are conducted, recruiters decide which candidates are suitable for job opening and afterwards a job offer is made. Google recognizes the ongoing need of training and developing talented staff, in this regard team of Google’s Learning and Leadership Development (LLD) formulates and implements the innovative training and learning program to develop and support its employees. Recruitment and Selection at Google HRM Theories and HRM Models to be applied at Google HRM Model At Google, Harvard and Michigan models of HRM cannot be applied. The reason is that both of these models come for the concept of Hard HRM, where people are considered as resource for maximizing profits and efficiency. Concept of hard HRM doesn’t prevail at Google, therefore, these models cannot be applied in the case of Google (WIRIADINATA, n.d.). Based on the analysis, the best possible model that can be applied on Google, is Guess Model. Guests Model of HRM has 6 major dimensions. They include: HRM Practices HRM strategies HRM outcomes Performance outcomes Behavior outcomes Financial outcomes All of these dimensions work together in order to pursue the organization for achieving goals in every segment. David Guest’s model suggests that practices of HRM are certainly different than other traditional personal management programs and techniques. This model encompasses the fundamental assumptions on which the assumptions of HRM are based upon. Google follows the Guest’s model by considering all the above mentioned criteria for measuring its performance. It takes into account whether the financial goals are met or not, as well as considers that the employees are given full rights and liberty to achieve the goals in the manner they think as best (Kumpikaite, 2008). HRM Theory The theory which is most suitable and applicable to the working environment of Google is Resource Based View. Under this theory, the organization primarily focuses that the resources which it utilizes are rare, valuable, non-substitutable and difficult to imitate. Organizations try to gain competitive edge in any of their resources. Resource based view is important for organization whenever they are facing strategic based problems. This theory focuses on the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization. It helps in developing worthwhile resources and eradicates barriers of imitation from its way. Resources, that organization generally have are primarily of two types; tangible resources and intangible resources. Tangible resources include facilities, machinery, building, branches etc whereas intangible resources include brand image, reputation, patents, cultures, trademarks, experience, learning, technological knowledge etc. (Price, 2011) Google emphasize on making its human resource valuable. The primary attention to which Google gives is its human resource. The company invests a great amount of time and money to its employees. Learning Styles for Engineers at Google Organization Learning is an activity that keeps the individuals working in the organization moving ahead with better knowledge, skills and abilities. These KSAs are mainly developed with the help of training and development in the organization. Human Resource Department of any organization is the one which mainly responsible in conducting the training and development for the employees working in the organization. Training and Development is the activity by which the managers learn the course of actions that they have to exhibit in the organizational dealings. Barham (1999) presented three different styles of organizational learning, which are actually the approaches of training and development. These are described below: Fragmented Fragmented Approach deals with such training and development approach which can be assumed as the peripheral style of learning rather than intrinsic style of learning. Such training and development is not aligned with the organizational objectives and strategies, it is considered as the cost incurred on employees rather than making investment on them, it is non-systematic and directive bases, it is conducted in the classrooms of human resource departments and only course related material is taught to the managers. Formal Approach Formal approach is slightly different from the fragmented one such that it is more of a systematic approach in which employees are appraised by themselves, they are given the role to play so that their individual skills can improved along with the knowledge that they acquire from the training program. However, training is conducted by the trainers in the training centers and the main objective of this approach is to align the organizational learning of the employees with the human resource needs of the organization. Focused Approach This is the approach which is totally based upon those organizations which operate in the fast changing and dynamic environment. This approach of learning is based upon the intrinsic value of the organization. Learning is considered as the continuous activity such that the individuals and the organization itself keep on equipping them with the upcoming needs and requirements presented by the external environment. Organizational survival in fact is highly dependent upon the learning activity of the organization. The other main features of the focused approach includes that training and learning is assumed to be the most competitive sword of any organization, employees are trained with a view to making investment on them to make them the human resource assets of the organization. The employees are presented with such a learning growth based environment in which they choose themselves the organizational learning that they require more. The employees are allowed to make the mistakes so that they can learn more with those mistakes and pursue the new developments without fear of getting punished due to making mistakes. In such environment, mistakes are the part of learning process of the organization. Google Engineer The most preferred approach to a Google engineer to resolve the issues e.g. on Google Maps may be a Focused approach, as this approach may assist the engineer in tracking out the most recent solutions and its course of actions. Since the industry is the most dynamic one, therefore the engineer needs to be on his/her toes to stay align with the most recent developments and solutions and all these are mainly possible by deploying the focused approach. Works Cited Armstrong, M., 2006. Strategic human resource management: a guide to action. Newyork: Kogan Page. Ask Online, n.d.. Soft and Hard HRM. [Online] Available at: http://www.askwillonline.com/2012/01/understanding-human-resource-management.html [Accessed 14 June 2012]. Howell, P., 2009. The Google Code. [Online] Available at: http://www.hrmasia.com/site-search/the-google-code/38331/ [Accessed 14 June 2012]. Ingham, J., 2008. HR for Innovaion/ Google. [Online] Available at: http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/2008/05/hr-for-innovation-google.html [Accessed 14 June 2012]. Kumpikaite, V., 2008. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN LEARNING ORGANIZATION. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 9(1), p. 25–31. Olive Lundy, A. C., 1996. Strategic Human Resource Management. Newyork: Routledge. Peter Bamberger, I. M., 2000. Human Resource Strategy: Formulation, Implementation, and Impact. Newyork: Sage Publications. Price, A., 2011. Human Resource Management. Chicago: Cengage Learning. Small Business, n.d.. Learning from Google’s HR Techniques. [Online] Available at: http://buzz.greatfxbusinesscards.com/learning-from-googles-hr-techniques.htm [Accessed 14 June 2012]. WIRIADINATA, M., n.d.. The Resource-Based View (RBV) in Human Resources. [Online] Available at: http://mamikikeyu.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/the-resource-based-view-rbv-in-human-resources/ [Accessed 14 June 2012]. Read More