Achieving Organisational Success at Google - Essay Example

Google Case Study Introduction Few companies have achieved as much success as quickly as Google. It is hard to fathom the reality that one ofthe largest companies in the world is only about two decades young. Much of this success is attributed directly to the employees that form that 21,000+ workforce for Google, yet the philosophy of inclusion espoused from the beginning by the founders cannot be neglected either. As Maslow theorised decades ago, one of the basic human needs is to feel valued and included. Far too many organizations globally miss the mark in this regard, and their bottom line shows. They struggle to retain quality employees, and innovation is weak causing them to be left behind by more progressive companies that are constantly displaying a forward thinking mentality. Google, on the other hand, values each employee and this show with one of the highest retention rate of quality employees ever realised during the course of modern civilisation (Finkle, 2012). The purpose of this brief expose is to examine that various means by which Google has achieved wides swarths of organisational success via it hiring policies, company initiatives, and overall corporate culture. 2. Achieving Organisational Success at Google Few could deny that Google has achieved much success in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, Google is a household name nearly worldwide, with a global name recognition exceeded perhaps only by Coca Cola. Much, if not all, of this success can be contributed to the organisation itself. Google strives to be the ‘perfect search engine’ and they have accomplished this by adopting a set of core value that powers everything they do as a company. As a management team, the focus is on the employee, and for all employees, the focus is on the end user. From the formation of the company, Google has sought to give the user the best Internet browsing experience possible. They also have opted to only focused on what they do extremely well. While many technology based companies had a broad diversification of products and services, some successful and others a flop, Google has chosen to only focus on their core offerings that fit in well with their existing talent and customer base (Alange 2013). 3. Employee Engagement Employees at Google work in teams, and are rarely assigned to an independent office. In fact, even cubicles are frowned upon. Teams are encourage to work together in what is dubbed ‘cubes, yurts, and huddle rooms’ where each person can share ideas with one another. There is no competition to do better than the next person, as the teams success is what really matters. To engage employees, the atmosphere is pleasant and conducive to discussions and conversations taking place everywhere. Even going from one place to another within the same facility is made a bit entertaining, and time efficient, as bicycles or scooters are provided throughout. In addition, there are items such as lava lamps, massage chairs, and large inflatable balls to help employees feel comfortable in whatever work environment they may find themselves in. Google is also different from many large companies in that all levels of staff are really treated equally. In fact, even new employees are encouraged to make decisions that even upper management will buy into. Upper managers are approachable and do not use titles. In essence, Google is naturally like any other company in that they have a hierarchy and system of seniority, but it is not utilised in the daily decision making process. If one individual needs assistance, they will engage the employee that they feel can provide them with the best possible assistance, without considering one’s actual job title or time of service with the company. This has worked to fully engage employees that work for Google from their very first day. It has encouraged each of them by making them feel valued and important, no matter what their salary might be, who they know, or how much experience they might have. The company feels that every individual employee they have will bring something to the table, no matter how big or small the idea might be, and this has contributed to the overall success of the organisation to a large degree (Vise 2006). 4. Wellness Initiatives at Google Google prides itself on developing the whole employee, helping to promote a healthy lifestyle at work. From their cafe to benefits packages offered to each employee, the focus in on a healthy body and mind. Google has offices around the world, but each is designed to have various places of recreation, healthy cafes, break rooms, and fitness classes scattered throughout the facility. Each employee is encouraged to actively take part in the programs on site. If an employee feels the need to escape the sharing cube for a moment, they can quickly find some type of fitness activity to take part in. Google has the philosophy that this is actually a worthwhile investment, even when taking place during work hours, while other companies view this a waste of resources. Google has the philosophy, however, that there are few investments more worthwhile than providing extensive wellness programs to all employees. Sick leave requests, for example, are far lower at Google than other similarly placed companies. Employee job satisfaction is extremely high, and employees express that they do not feel like they are at ‘work’, but that they are simply at a location where they are valued and cared for. That is the key to wellness. Even the cafes at Google are tailored to promote healthy living and eaten g habits. Employees are encouraged to sit with others that might not be on their team in order to gain a fresh perspective and ‘escape’ work for just a few moments. The cafes are organised to encourage interaction with other employees, not solitude as is the case in many other company cafeterias (Miller 2009). 5. Focus on Innovation and Creativity Google strives to hire only the most innovative and creative individuals in the business. There are numerous reasons for this, from the globally competitive nature of the industry today to the desire to be on the cutting edge of technology. The reality is that the end user today has a plethora of options at their disposal to choose from, so Google strives to provide the consumer with exactly what they want in their Internet experience so that they will not desire to even look elsewhere. In recent years, for example, Google has expanded into nearly 21 different countries. The rationale behind this was to hire local taken that better understand the unique needs and wants of specific regions around the globe. The atmosphere in each individual office, then, is reflective of the culture in that specific region. The sample is given of a maul in Buenos Aires to ski gondolas in Zurich. This not only reflects the individuality of each region, but it highlights the companies desire to focus on the innovation and creativity of the individual. Nearly every aspect of the office is focused on this objective, going to great psychological lengths to induce a feeling amongst each employee that is focus on ingenuity and helps serve to bring out the best in each individual. Because the company recognises that nobody knows when the next great idea is going to be struck, Google strategically places laptops and computers nearly everywhere in the facility in order to facilitate note taking and emailing on the go. For those employees that are constantly moving from meeting to meeting, there are many applications available today that enable employees to even develop code on the go, further enabling employees to be creative by equipping them with the tools necessary to foster that ingenuity (Kuntze & Matulich, 2010). 6. Efficiency of the Hiring Process It is noted that Google receives in excess of one million job applications each and every year, yet hires less than .05 percent of those. This not only confirms the fact that they retain quality employees, thus not needing large amounts of new employees at any one time, but they can afford to be extremely rigorous in their screening process. It is important for technology based companies, such as Google, to constantly be recruiting fresh talent, however, as that infuses new ideas and perspectives into the organisation. At the same time, it is costly to recruit such employees, so Google works hard to ensure that the new personnel that they hire are truly capable of fitting into the organisational team structure and that why will quickly provide new ideas to benefit the company. To accomplish this, the company has highly skilled reciters that are constantly looking for new talent, and who are capable of hiring only the best. To go through one million applications annually and arrive at the top .05 percent of that speaks to the overall efficiency of the hiring process. It also speaks to the overall success of the organisation in that millions around the world are clamouring for an opportunity to meet with recruiters to get their foot in the door. At the end of the day, Google is satisfied with who they have, as evidenced by the benefits that they lavish on employees at all levels, but they also realise the importance of looking for the next great tech mind. That mind might just lead to the next great idea that sweeps the world by surprise and with awe (Steiber, 2013). 7. Positive Organisational Behaviour Google takes care of its employees. This report has illustrated that. While many talk about the care they show for their employees, the simple fact that over one million applicants apply to Google annually, and the reality that the company has one of the highest retention rates in the world, seems to speak for itself. Over the years, the company has also demonstrated extreme care for the end user of its products by developing a series of core values that everyone in the organisation is meant to follow and observe. One of these is to focus on the user. Every idea or product that is proposed by the staff at Google is judged against this principle. The organisation exhibits positive behaviour in encouraging such ideas to be openly tossed around and then arriving at the best plausible solution for the user. They have also worked to continuously sped up their products. They want users to get their results quickly. Not only will users simply go elsewhere if they do not do so, but their advertisers will lose out on potential visitors as well. In today’s fast paced environment, both professionally and personally, Google feels that it is important to deliver what people desire, and to do as quickly as possible (Miller 2009). Google also provides an inclusive approach throughout their organisation. Not only does this apply to individual employees, but to the millions of individuals that aim to use Google to direct other individuals to their website. By being an organisation that welcomes nearly everyone, Google has opened up the Internet to both the novice and advanced user alike. In addition, Google is expressing their ability to be progressive by increasingly moving towards more mobile applications and abilities. The organisation as a whole is striving to make information accessible to users and employees alike wherever they are, and on whatever device they might have, when they need it. This type for forward thinking has enabled Google to continue to be successful even when other companies, such as Research in Motion, have floundered due to a lack of innovation and ingenuity. In addition, even as companies such as Samsung and Apple have experienced a resurgence of late, Google has maintained its place at the top with these companies because of the same type of progressive thinking and work ethic as the others. A final point to note is Google’s believe that money can be made without being evil. While it is acknowledged that Google is out to make revenue, and that it accomplishes that feat rather well, the income that they do generate is in the forms from of advertisers trusting Google with their product or service. Google, in turn, takes its obligation to the advertiser seriously and ensure that the ad only appears in relevant locations and that the advertiser truly gets what they paid for. They do not engage in unscrupulous activities to encourage advertisers to ‘sign up’, nor do they try to be flashy in their product line. Their services have remained largely consistent throughout their nearly two decades of business, and it appears that, as an organisation, they are intent on keeping it that way (Svitavsky 2013). 8. Conclusion In today’s increasingly global and competitive business environment, Google stands out as a shining star that will likely endure and prosper for the foreseeable future. They are are committed to their core principles, they have a clearly worded mission statement and vision, and they are devoted to the development and professional growth of their employees. Employees, in turn, are motivated to d the best that they can for Google, intend to remain with the company for quite some time, and are dedicated to their trade. Far too many organizations globally miss the mark in this regard, and their bottom line shows. They struggle to retain quality employees, and innovation is weak causing them to be left behind by more progressive companies that are constantly displaying a forward thinking mentality (McMahon 2010). Google, on the other hand, values each employee and this show with one of the highest retention rate of quality employees ever realised during the course of modern civilisation. This has contributed to its success and the reality that nearly every computer user on the face of the planet uses Google to some degree on a daily basis. References Alange, S. (2013). Google grows on people. Strategic Direction, 29(9), 16-18. Finkle, T. (2012). Corporate entrepreneurship and innovation in silicon valley: The case of Google Inc. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36(4), 863-884. Kuntze, R. and Matulich, E. (2010). Google: searching for value. Journal of Case Research in Business and Economics, 2(1), 1. Miller, J. P. (2009). Google. Choice, 46(8), 1555. McMahon, T. (2010). google.com. The Charleston Advisor, 1(4), 31. Petrie, C. (2010). Is Google evil? IEEE Internet Computer, 14(3), 92-96. Steiber, A. (2013). A corporate system for continuous innovation: The case of Google Inc. European Journal of Innovation Management, 16(2), 243-264. Svitavsky, W. (2013). Google and the culture of search. Choice, 50(6), 1018. Vise, D. A. (2006). Google. Foreign Policy, 154, 20-24. Read More