Human Resource Management Strategies at Google - Assignment Example

Human resource management strategies at Google Introduction Google is a leading American company that deals in numerous internet related products and services. The company has experienced a rapid growth within the last few years a feature that continues to portray the company’s effective management of resources. Key among the resources the company manages effectively is its human resource. Google currently has more than forty seven thousand employees thirty percent of whom are women. The employees of the company work in different workstations throughout the world in order to enhance the company’s efficiency of operations (Deckop, 2006). The company has an effective human resource management department that continues to employ various human resource management strategies and theories thereby enhancing the company’s profitability and growth, as has been the case within the past few years as the discussion below portrays. Dessler, (2000) explains that human resource management is a vital management function of an organization often mandated with the maximization of the productivity of the employees in the organization thus enhancing the company’s profitability. Google continues to portray the importance and need for effective management of the human resource owing to their importance in sustaining the profitability and longevity of the company. As such, the company continues to employ varied strategies to motivate the employees besides creating a conducive work environment, one in which the employees maximize their productivity. Human resource management at Google just as in any other company is a policy issue. The company continues to formulate and employ various policies to govern the human resource management with the view to enhancing the company’s profitability. Google’s human resource management department has systems and resources, which it uses to monitor the productivity of the employees. The department therefore deploys such resources appropriately in creating an appropriate organizational culture to incorporate productivity as part of the culture. The company uses both human relations and human resources theories in creating a holistic organizational culture. This way, the company has succeeded in creating a friendly yet competitive working environment. The company focuses on the interests of the employees thereby creating a working environment that accommodates the diversity in the society. The company has a unique organizational culture that unites the diverse cultures of the more than forty thousand employees in over forty countries throughout the world. Human relations versus human resource theories provide a unique understanding of the practice by striving to create a conducive environment for the employees to foster the organization’s productivity (Snell & Bohlander, 2013). Both human relations and human resource practices are vital in the creation of a friendly working environment for the employees. The human relations processes include making the employees feel valued, respected and belonging to the organization. This way, the employees feel responsible for both the organization and its resources. The employees holistically defend the interests of the company. However, the human resource management department must employ specific strategies in order to making the employees have such valuable feelings about the company. Google for example has a unique organizational philosophy. The company’s philosophy portrays the value of the employees to the organization and the value the organization attaches to its employees “To create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world” (Google’s philosophy). The human resource approach to the same asserts that while the employees always want to feel valued and respected, they will always want to make effective and creative contribution to the company’s operations. As explained earlier, employees are resources and must always remain productive. An organization must therefore create an enabling ambiance for the employees to remain productive. This gratifies the employees thus enhancing their motivation. Google is a perfect example of a company creating an enabling and accommodating environment. The environment at Google upholds the value of liberty as the employees try new ideas and implement new products. This way the employees feel appreciated and useful, a feature that enhances their sense of patriotism to the company. Google has a unique working environment, one that rewards employees for trying new ideas and working in their free time. This way, the employees strive to add value to the company by trying new ideas thus creating new products. The company’s twenty percent rule provides the employees with the resources they may require in order to enhance the productivity. Two of the company’s most famous and most profitable products are creations of the employees working on their own ad in their free time thus adding value to the company. The products are Gmail and Google suggest. The two are vita products that contribute to the company’s annual profitability. The company created an environment that appreciates every employee. As such, the employees make suggestions on the company’s products. In turn, the company avails the resources the employees may require in order to virtualize their dreams. This way, the company enjoys a large pol of ideas from the employees most of which it turns into profitable products. The proponents of human relations explain that employees need job satisfaction. This implies that employees have particular needs and desires that they want their employers to provide. When the employer does so, the employees become satisfied thus concentrate on their work a feature that enhances their productivity. In analyzing job satisfaction, human resource approach on the other explains that employee satisfaction is vital in enhancing their productivity. The satisfaction arises from their ability to feel self-direction, their experience and creativity. The work environment must therefore satisfy the employees by availing a maneuverable and equally supportive work environment for the employees. This refers to the satisfaction of both physical and psychological needs of the employees (Aldag & Brief, 1979). Google is an equal employer. This implies that Google recruits its employees based on their intelligence and ability to fit the roles set by the human resource department. The company does not discriminate against its employees based on gender, race, ethnicity and physical disability among many other factors that stratify the society. After recruiting the employees, the organization concentrates in accommodating the employees by creating a conducive environment (Armstrong, 2007). The premises of the company for example are accessible to everyone including the disabled members of the society. Such is a basic provision that ensures that the employees develop a sense of belonging. The disabled employees therefore do not feel discriminated against by either their employer or other employees at the company. Bratton & Gold, (2012) assert that accommodation of the employees is a vital feature often governed by the laws of any country. Additionally, it enhances employee satisfaction thus improving their productivity. As explained earlier, Google recruits its employees from the society regardless of their cultural backgrounds. As such, the company creates a diverse workplace unified by a specific organizational culture. The company provides the employees with the freedom to exercise their religious duties a feature that contributes to their satisfaction. The company has accommodative cultural policies some that enable the employees to dress appropriately without supplanting their religious beliefs and cultural values. Employees at Google therefore dress differently based on their desires and cultural beliefs. However, once at the organization, the company encourages the employees to accommodate each other thereby curbing the prevalent of such social vices as discrimination among other types of abuses. Key among the guiding principles at the company is to make the employees happy. Happiness is always a show of contentment. The company has a team dedicated to evaluating the employees’ contentment with their jobs. Under the management of Prasad Setty, the Vice president of People Analytics and Compensation, the team investigates the work environment with the view to establishing the level of the employees’ contentment with their work and roles at the company. Key among the features the team investigate is remuneration, perks and benefits among many others. This implies that Google understands the role of remuneration as a fact of motivating the employees. The employees have dreams and objectives in life. Competitive remuneration ensures that the employees achieve their dreams and therefore manage their work without regular distractions and stress. Furthermore, competitive remuneration is among the surest ways that make a company retain its employees. Google has numerous competitors including Yahoo, Facebook and Amazon.com among other companies that may require its diverse workforce. As such, the company offers the best remuneration packages to its employees in order to make it impossible for the other competitors to recruit the employees from the company. Among the basic perks Google offers its employees are free meals, free health cover, dry cleaning, video games among other types of entertainment, on site physicians, subsidized massages and gym and swimming pool among many others. Google has the most friendly work environment. The above benefits make the company a self-sustaining institution where the employees can work for more than twenty-two hours in a day without straining. Additionally, they show that the company values its employees thereby creating an environment that enhances the efficiency and productivity of the employees. Efficiency at the work place requires the employees to manage their time effectively. As such, Google provides free meals to its employees and has an on-site physician. The two are basic human requirements that can hamper the productivity of a workforce. With the free meals, the company ensures that none of its employees suffers from malnutrition. Additionally, thus cushion the company from laxities that arise from lowering sugar levels of the body. An on-site physician is equally important since he safeguards the health of the employees thus ensuring that employees remain productive. Key among the theories of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In the theory, Maslow arranges humans needs in five stages, which he explains, must be met progressively. By analyzing the needs, an employer can develop an appropriate organizational culture to enhance the productivity of the employees. The needs begin with the physiological needs, which include such basic needs as food. The second category is the safety needs, followed by belongingness then self-esteem before actualization. Al the five stages are vital in understanding human needs thus developing appropriate working environment for the employees. People work hard in order to achieve the five needs in their order of occurrence. As such, human resource managers must always develop an enabling environment for the employees to progress in life by satisfying their five needs as they occur in life. As explained earlier, psychological needs include food among other basic needs. All of the forty thousand employees at Google have satisfied their psychological needs. The company does not just pay wall in order to enable the employees overcome such challenges but also offers its employees food among other basic services such as t-shirts and other varied costumes to enhance their productivity. This implies that the employees at Google begin by working on their safety needs and above. Such is a vital provision that ensures that the employees can afford to work while still aspiring to achieve more in life. The company tries to provide all the employees with the resources they may require in order to maintain their productivity. Additionally, the company strives to create a seamless environment for the employees to work without considering their varied social classes (Chelladurai, 2006). The social class conflicts are always likely to affect how the employees interact at the company thereby affecting their productivity. This way, the work place at Google is peaceful with the employee interacting both officially and in their unofficial capacities with the view to enhancing the company’s productivity. Frederick Herzberg developed a unique theory of motivation in which he explains the role of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction of employees as basic factors that influences their productivity. Ironically, Herzberg explained that dissatisfaction and satisfaction are not obviously opposing features caused by the same factors. He explains that factors that enhance the satisfaction of employees thus motivating them are different from those that cause dissatisfaction (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). In doing this, he explains that the lack of a motivating or satisfying factor may not always lead to dissatisfaction. As such, he therefore develops unique yet essential factors that enhance employee motivation, which he calls motivators, and factors that likely to cause negative employee attitudes at work. He calls such hygienic factors. The motivating factors according to Herzberg include achievement, advancement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself and potential for promotion among many others. The above factors provide an insight of the factors that employees consider in their quest for satisfaction. People have varied needs but share the desire for relative success. The above factors portray the relativity of the success and satisfaction that an employee may want from his or her employers. The job must always enhance employee satisfaction by provide the basic gratifications of life. A job should not for example stress an employee. This implies that the employees require a friendly environment where their employers acknowledged their effort and often reward them for making an effort thus enhancing the productivity of the company. On the other hand, Herzberg lists several other factors consisting of company policy and administration, relationship among the employees, job security and work conditions among many others as the basic hygiene factors. A bad job condition may arise from the lack of adequate resources to enable the employees to undertake their roles and duties at the company. Such an environment is not only unfavorable but also risky to the life of the employee. Job security is yet another factor that often stresses employees, as they need to secure their financials freedom. As such, an employer must make the employee understand the terms of employment thereby making it easier for the employee to work without the fear of losing his or her job. The relationship among the employees and their supervisors among other managers is yet another phenomenal factor that discourages productivity in an organization. The same applies to the policies and the structure of the administration. An organization must have friendly policies and an equally accommodative administrative structure in order to enhance the employees’ productivity (Gellerman, 1963). As explained earlier, Google understands the essence of employee satisfaction and the role of each of the above factors in influencing the level of employee productivity. As such, the company developed a conducive environment by analyzing the factors that are likely to hamper the productivity of the employees thus ensuring that the company retains its workforce. Google has unique administrative policies that definitely make it the best company to work for in the world. Key among the basic features of its engagement with its employees is the $5000 reimbursement for legal expenses. The company understands the nature of the industry and therefore provides the reimbursement for the employees in order to mitigate any court cases arising from the operation of the employee. Additionally, the company provides its employees with maternity leave of up to 18weeks with 100% remuneration. Such is a fundamental provision that shows Google’s commitment to accommodating its employees regardless of their genders among other demographical factors that may affect their productivity. Google trades on intellectual property and therefore understands that the employees are its biggest assets. As such, the company has administrative policies that value the employees thus developing an enabling environment for the employees to realize their utmost productivity. The company appreciates the essence of transparency among the employees the company encourages the employees to understand the state of the company at every instance. This way, the employees understands the company’s undertakings. After annual surveys among other meetings with the board of directors, the company communicates such vital information to the rest of the employees. This way, the employees understand the state of the company and therefore interact with the company transparently. In such a case, employees feel appreciated and valued by their employers. The essence of patriotism thus influences the employees’ engagement with either their colleagues or any other of the company’s numerous publics. Key among the importance of such a transparent structure is the fact that the employees do not make outrageous demands. An employee would not for example demand a salary that he feels the company cannot afford given the prevailing economic situation of the company. Additionally, Google encourages flexibility at the place of work. The company permits the employees to complete their work at any time given the unique nature of the work. As explained earlier, the company provides various benefits including laundry services, meals and recreational facilities among many others. Such services can therefore sustain an employee within the premises of the organization for as long as they want. Such a structure therefore encourages the employees to work at their own convenient even into the night or early in the morning. An employee can work into the night thereby covering for the few days he or she may be absent from the company. Such friendly terms make the employees appreciate their employers. As such, they spend more time at the company often supplanting their free time. The company creates an ambiance similar to that at home thus eliminating the need to go home especially for unmarried employees. Such basic provisions enhance the productivity of the employees who work at their optimum. Fun is a consistent aspect of work at Google. Employees of Google cannot leave the company to work for any other. The structure of the company crates consolidate workforce, one that exists and operates as a team. The company provides its employees with regular breaks to interact with each other thereby developing their social lives as well. Such opportunities as wall climbing facilities, gym services within the company’s premises, beach volleyballs, pajama days, dress up days, and Halloween party days provide employees with a unique fun filled environment in which they work on a relaxed yet dedicated manner. Such are unique provisions the company uses to enhance the interaction among its employees thus building their social lives. Conclusion Human resource is the primary resource that a company has. 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