Human Resource Management at Google - Term Paper Example

?Running Head: Google HRM Google HRM Inserts His/her Introduction Google is one of the most well known online companiesin the world. The famous search engine of Google is visited by almost all of the internet users all over the world on a daily basis. Google is a public corporation now but it started as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The company was officially founded in 1998 but went public in 2004. The progress the company has made is tremendous and it is one of the most successful internet firms that are still standing tall today. The rapid growth of Google is mainly because of its innovative culture and leadership. The company is always coming out with a service that is more attractive than the previous one. Google services include search engine, Google Advertisements, Google +, YouTube, Android etc. One of the major reasons of success of Google is its human resource policy and management. Employees at Google are mainly responsible for all the innovation and success of the company. Innovative culture with high levels of motivation in employees is the driving force of Google. It is one of the best companies to work for because of the benefits and working environment it offers its employees. The human resource management of Google will be center of discussion in this paper. All the major HR functions of Google will be discussed and possible issues will be identified. The paper will also highlight the reason of success of Google in a competitive industry. The main focus of the paper, however, will be on how various parts of human resource system align and support each other at Google. Background of Google Many internet companies came into existence after the internet bubble of last decade of 20th century. It is important to note that not all of them were extremely successful and many reported heavy losses. Google was an exception in the internet industry because it was not only successful in surviving but was also successful in growing into a giant corporation. Google was a service based internet company and it was not expected to grow at such a fast rate, but it did and today it is one of the most well known names in the world. The reasons behind the success of Google are its management style, leadership, innovative culture, and eye opening human resource management practices. The company is such a big name today because of its employees. Google employees are known to be innovative and out of the box thinkers. The company has set new precedents in the field of human resource management and organizational behavior. Constant innovation has made Google what it is today. The company never stopped after their famous search engine rather they used their search engine to start an advertisement program which helped them grow even more. Today Google is still coming up with newer products so that its name remains in the minds of the consumers. It is because of this approach that Google has earned the reputation of trend setter in the internet industry. Human Resource Management at Google The human resource management policy and practice of Google is exemplary. The position that Google has attained today in the world is mainly due to its innovative employees and HR policies. Employees are given a free hand to a great extent in the company. Employee freedom is one of the main characteristics of organizational culture at Google. The company has a clan culture where everyone interacts with each other freely. Treatment of employees at Google is also quite different from other companies. Facilities offered by Google are so amazing that every computer science related person on the planet wants to work in the company. Below we will discuss different functions of human resource management at Google. Job design, training, recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, promotion system, pay, and general supervisory style of Google will be discussed in detail below. Job Design Issues The main jobs at Google are innovative in nature. Employees are required to come up with new ways in order to better enhance the already existing services or to come up with newer products. The job design at Google is therefore aimed at motivating employees to come up with new ideas. Innovative jobs are very difficult to design because of absence of set protocols to follow. There is not a job manual at Google which can guide employees about what their jobs rather they are given a freehand to use their creativity to come up newer services and product. A job should also be designed in a way that can increase the productivity and motivation of employees. Especially creative jobs are to be designed in a way so that employee productivity is not adversely affected. Creative jobs are, therefore, flexible in nature so that employees are not bored anytime. There are also no bureaucratic managers in innovative centric organization. Managers are just facilitators who work together with employees to create new things. Google provides its employees with flexible job designs. Jobs are creative and employees are allowed to use their time according to their understanding. Employees are also provided with indoor activities to keep them fresh. A perfect example of flexible work design at Google is its ‘Doodle 4 Google’ initiative where employees are allowed to use their creativity to change the home page of Google’s search engine on special occasions like Earth day (Google, 2011). This is also evidence of the employee freedom at Google. It also makes working at Google interesting for employees. This is one example how Google handles its job design issues. Training Activities Google is well known for the perks it offers to its employees and training and development is one of them. The company provides training to employees on a regular basis so that employees can perform better in future. The amount of time and money invested in employees at Google is unprecedented. Employees are treated like internal customers and their needs are fulfilled at all costs. Training is extremely important for employees at Google because services and products of the company are ever changing. It is therefore important for company to regularly train employees so that they can keep themselves with the pace of the organization. Innovation is at the core of Google and it is something which cannot be learned through books or courses. For innovation one needs training and intellectual vigor. It is not written in any manual how to develop a new technology that has not yet been created. Training therefore plays a vital role in improving the skill level of employees which in turn bolsters innovative behavior. At Google employees are required to take 100 training hours per year and this training is mandatory (Great Place to Work, 2007). These 100 hours does not include other training activities regularly held in the company. Google wants to retain all its employees and what better way to do so than to train the existing employees about newer techniques and skills. This saves the hiring costs of new employees and also the cost associated with training of the new employees. Existing employees are well aware of the dynamics of the organization therefore they can better perform tasks then newly hired employees. Training therefore contributes to the well being of the organization and that is why Google gives so much importance to training of employees. Training activities of employees are also designed keeping in mind the jobs they usually perform. Job design and training activities are therefore in full congruence at Google. One is supporting the other because employees of a field are trained in their particular fields. This is done so that employees can excel in their own fields to the best of their abilities. Training activities are also aimed at improving the innovation within employees and usual jobs are designed with the same objective. Recruitment Activities Recruitment activities at Google are rigorous and peculiar. Potential employees from a wide range of educational background are invited. Recruitment process involves attracting employees for positions available in the organization. The recruitment process of Google is one of the things that differentiate it from other organization. Employees are attracted that may necessarily not have the academic qualification for the job. Google favors employees who want to create something new and do something innovative. The company is looking for out of the box thinkers who can blend in the culture of the organization. This is how recruitment process is different at Google from conventional firms. Google does not use a hiring company for its recruitment process rather it invites resumes directly from potential employees. Open positions at Google are announced and then people sent their resumes to the company. There are no set requirements given to the applicants meaning everyone who thinks he or she is able can apply for a position in the Google. Job description is provided but no specific requirements are given. The company faces no problems when it comes to attracting employees because it is a great place to work. Every software engineer wants to work for Google therefore the company gets many more applications than the positions it has to fill. The brand name of Google is enough to attract potential employees and this makes the recruitment process somewhat easier. Selection Approach Google got 75,000 applications for 6,000 open positions in 2011 (Mostyn, 2011). This shows how difficult selection procedure is at Google. Selection process involves selecting the best people from the pool of applicants. It is a tedious task to go through all the applications because Google is an extremely famous company. The human resource department has a very tough job to screen out potential employees. The selection approach of Google is aimed at hiring the most innovative minds that can help the company grow. Employees who have capacity to make something new are welcomed at Google. The conventional degree holders from high class universities are not only requirement of Google. It looks for minds that can make a difference. The company has made such name in the industry because of constant innovation. The company is always coming up with new services. From operating systems to web browsers to social networking site, Google has everything and this is because it has a dedicated team. Selection approach of Google is therefore to hire people who can make a difference for the company. Google also uses highly scientific approach to deal with employee selection process by using complex programs that can identify traits that the company is looking for (Rain Maker Group, 2011). The company looks for creativity and growth potential of employees by giving them questionnaires, and then selected employees are called for interviews. The process is no doubt extremely long but it ensures that the right kinds of people are hired by the company. For a growth oriented innovative company like Google it is essential to hire the right kind of employees so that other functions of its human resource management are perfectly aligned with the recruitment and selection process. Performance Appraisal System Performance appraisal system is an important part of human resource policy of any firm. Employees need motivation and growth, and without it firms cannot make employees work in a productive way. It is important for firms to differentiate between employees so that worthy employees can be rewarded for their hard work. Performance appraisal is also important to inform employees about the quality of their work. A firm can only make best decisions regarding the future of employees if they are well aware of their performance and performance appraisal system helps a firm do that. The performance appraisal system of Google is also peculiar with respect to other firms. Google executives are required to submit their goals for the year at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year executives are evaluated on the basis of their achievement of goals (Google Annual Report, 2009). Employees are also evaluated in a similar manner but there are some differences like a committee at Google is responsible for the performance appraisal system. Google’s approach in this regard is commendable. The company is giving employees full liberty to choose their own specific goals and they are evaluated on the basis of their achievements. This show how flexible the work environment of Google is and how the company is favoring its employees to do the right thing themselves. The core business of the company is innovative in nature and this is why the performance appraisal system blends with the business activity of Google. Innovation is not something that can be done by following some specific sets of rules. Google has no choice but to give ultimate freedom to its employees and only then innovative ideas can be generated within the organization. Google is not only driven by its leaders but also by employees. The founders of Google are not the only people who are responsible for innovation in the company. Employees actively play part in innovation process and this is why performance appraisal system of Google is totally justified. It also blends with other function of human resource management like job design, training, and recruitment and selection. Jobs designs that exist in the company are fluid and therefore require a subjective system of appraisal. Training of employees is assessed in their appraisal. Employees are also required to set their own goals at the time they are hired. This complements the job designs that exist at Google. Promotion Systems Promoting employees to higher positions is also important for an organization. After performance appraisal a company has to decide upon the employees that are to be promoted. Promotion to a higher position is just one of the rewards that an employee can get. Financial rewards, in the form of stock options or shares, which are tied to performance, are also given to some high level employees. But promotion serves a very important purpose for an organization as it allows the firm to promote a qualified person to a position of more importance. Employees who are star performers need to be retained in the organization and at the same time they should also be made an example for other employees. This is why promotion system of an organization is an important function of its human resource policy. Google is a technology oriented firm and therefore experience of employees matters a lot. Google wants to put the best employees in the major positions and promotion system allows the company to achieve this. Promotion is not just a way to reward employees but it also helps a firm in deciding upon the people who will, in future, occupy higher positions. It is always better to promote an employee rather than to hire a new employee at the position, given that the skill level of the existing employee is up to the mark. Promotions therefore help Google save costs as well by reducing its reliance on new people on important positions. Google uses algorithm to identify employees that are most likely to leave the company and to promote employees to higher positions within the organization (Morrison, 2009). The company has developed complex mathematical formula to take into account employee performance and make promotion decisions. Google has not yet made the details of its techniques public but the company has been working on a formula for a long time. It is expected from the company like Google to take initiative like this and develop an algorithm to solve its employee turnaround problem and to promote its employees. By knowing how many employees are likely to leave the organization Google can better prepare itself for future hiring. The promotion system of Google is high tech, as expected, and all employee related information is taken into account when promotion decisions are made. It is necessary for innovative companies to promote employees who have a good know how about the business of organization because they can in future guide new employees. Experience employees are also an asset for the company and in order to keep them for a long time an apt promotion system is needed. Pay and other Benefits Google requires its employees to innovate on a regular basis. In order to motivate employees to innovate Google provides many on site facilities to its employees. It is important for employees to relax and only then they can come up with new ideas on a regular basis. Assembly line concept of productivity will not work for Google because physical productivity does not matter much at Google. Fresh minds are required to design new services and products at Google and therefore the company provides many facilities to its employees. The basic salary of employees at Google is quite high, at least in comparison to the industry. The company treats its employees in the best possible way when it comes to perks and benefits. Google often gives surprise bonuses to employees. This serves as a motivation for employees and also communicates that the company cares for the employees. The pay scale is a great motivation for everyone because money matters in the end. An employee can innovate freely only if he or she is aware that he or she will not face financial troubles. Salary of Google employees is also increased periodically on the basis of the company’s performance. The focus of the company’s management is on rewarding employees because Google wants to motivate employees to innovate. Innovation can only prosper if employees are satisfied to a great extent and for that high salaries are required. The company has around 1,000 multimillionaires working for them (Smart Borneo, 2008). This tells the economic condition of employees of Google is quite good. There are a few disgruntled employees too like all companies but most employees are really happy with the way company is running. Employees at Google are also given Google shares as bonuses. This ties the reward with the performance of the firm and motivates employees to work hard for betterment of the company. There are also other benefits that Google employees get for working at the company. There is an office gym, a play area with snooker tables and table tennis, a swimming pool, and restaurants. This makes Google the best place to work for because the environment is amazing. The company wants the employees to work as hard as possible and this can only happen if they are mentally free. These activities help employees regain their focus and dilute their stress levels. These benefits also attract the best minds to the company which is the most important thing to do. Attracting the right kind of people is extremely important in the innovation business and Google is acing in this area. The pay structure and benefits offered by Google to its employees also blends well with the overall business strategy of the company and with its human resource policy. Google wants to empower its employees to do innovate by listening to their hearts. There are no red tapes in the organization. This is why Google needs a compensation system that is tied with the performance of employees. It is important to reward employees but there should be a basis for giving rewards. Google has provided a clear basis for its reward system and that is organizational performance. General Supervisory Style The supervisory style of managers at Google is friendly and participative. Top level managers interact with employees on a constant basis. There are no strict hierarchies that must be followed rather equal treatment is given to employees. Anyone can discuss new ideas about an existing or a new product or service with the top management. It is actually encouraged to come up with something new at all times because it provides the basic fuel for success of Google. Once the company starts to lag in innovation competitors will take its place in no time. This is why participative style of supervision is important for managers at Google. At Google every employee can invest some working hours on a new project which he or she thinks can make a difference. This is the best example for promoting innovation in a company. Employees are the source of new products and services at Google. Many famous projects came up as a result of this program of Google in which employees were given the freedom to innovate according to their understanding. This shows the supervisory style of managers at Google and the broad view of human resource management of the company. The four key elements of Google are mission, innovation, fun, and reward (Towers, 2006). It is fun to work for Google because of the above mentioned perks and benefits it offers. Restaurants, gym, and swimming pool! Who would not like to work for Google? This is the fun part of the supervisory style of Google. But at the same time Google is mission oriented like anything. Performance matters at Google and all pays are tied to the performance of organization. This is why innovation happens at Google. The company is being result oriented and fun loving at the same time. Recommendations There are certain ethical issues that Google face regularly. These are related to pricing of its services and manipulation of Google search engine results. Google sometimes give some links that have its own ads ahead of other links. This is an ethical issue because the company is deliberately using its monopoly to induce people to go on sites that have Google ads on them. Such ethical issues should be resolved because people are very well aware of such practices. The reputation of the company might get affected as a result. Google is also trying to enter the social networking industry through its Google Plus. Such moves should be well thought because failures of services can also damage the image of Google. The company is regarded as the best innovative internet company, sometimes even greater than Microsoft. But this image should be maintained and the company should focus on its core business activity more. Conclusion Google is a well known company and its human resource policy is considered to be one of the best in the industry. The HR functions like training and development, job design, supervisory style, and pay structure all are complementing each other. The focus of the company is on rewarding its employees to the best of their ability. This however is a daunting task and the company should continue to give employees the freedom they require, for only then innovation at Google can continue. References Employee Selection and Hiring Articles. (2011). Rain Maker Group. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.therainmakergroupinc.com/employee-selection/bid/80333/Google-s-Approach-to-Employee-Selection Google Annual Report. (2009). Wiki Invest (Summary). Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Google_(GOOG)/Individual_Performance_Measurement Google Employees Salary Statistics- how much a Google employee is making per year? (2008). Smart Borneo. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://smartborneo.com/2008/04/11/google-employees-salary-statistics-how-much-a-google-employee-is-making-per-year/ Morrison, Scott. (2009). Google Searches for Staffing Answers. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124269038041932531.html Mostyn, Steven. (2011). Google recruitment drive met by 75,000 job applications. The Tech Herald. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201106/6783/Google-recruitment-drive-met-by-75-000-job-applications Original Doodler. (2011). Google Website. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.google.com/doodle4google/doodler.html Towers, David. (2006). An Investigation into whether organizational culture is directly linked to motivation and performance through looking at Google Inc. The University of Birmingham. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://www.towers.fr/essays/culture%20performance%20and%20motivation%20review%20and%20the%20google%20case%20study%20success.pdf Why is Google so great? (2007). Great Place to Work Institute. Retrieved on October 15, 2011 from http://resources.greatplacetowork.com/article/pdf/why_google_is_no._1.pdf Read More