Perception of Human Resource Management in Google Inc - Case Study Example

Individual Project Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction HRM (human resource management) refers to the practices, policies as well as the systems that influence the employees, attitudes, behavior as well as performance. HRM plays an essential role when it comes to creating positive employee behavior as well as attitudes which supports the organizational strategy. Nowadays a great number of companies have the tendency of recognizing that fact that employees are essential to success of the employees since through the effective utilization of the resource mainly results in a competitive advantage and at the same time optimizes the value of the shareholders. This paper sets out to critically analyze the HRM function of Google. This will be done by offering a brief history and background of Google. This will be followed by a clear description of the HR department within the organization this will include when it was set up, the sub-divisions it contains, the role that HR plays and effectiveness as well as the wider organization perception of HR. This will be followed by a technical description of the department this section will entail constant comparisons between the actual versus theory. There will also be a discussion of whether the HR function within the organization plays a strategic role as defined by theory. There will also be discussion of steps that will be taken to enhance the effectiveness of the HR function within the organization. Discussion Background of organization Google Inc. is termed as an American multinational technology that specializes in internet related products and services which includes online advertising, search, cloud computing and software. A great amount of the company profits are derived from the AdWords which is an online advertising service that places advertising nearer to the search results (Google Inc 2016a). The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The company was founded in 1998, afterwards the undertook an initial public offering which took place on 19th August 2004 and then moved their headquarters in Mountain View in California and it was nicked the Googlepex (Google Inc 2016b). There were numerous concerns that the Google IPO would likely change the culture of company. As a result of the concerns, the founders tackled the concerns with the aim of maintaining the culture of the company. The mission statement of Google from the start revolved around the concept of organizing the globes information and at the same time makes it universally useful and accessible they also have an unofficial slogan which is “Do not be evil” (Google Inc 2016a). In October 2015 it was replaced and the current phrase states that “Do the right thing”. However the commitment of Google is usually put into doubt and this is mainly as a result of various actions as well as behaviors which in a great way tend to contradict their statement (Google Inc 2016a). Detailed description of the department The Human resource department at Google was set up so as to maintain the company’s unique culture the company designated the Chief Culture Officer and the person designated the role acted as the director of Human resources. The director of human resource develops and at this same time maintains the culture and come up with ways of keeping true to the core values that acted as the basis of the company since it was founded. Google was founded on a flat organization and had a collaborative environment (Mills 2007). The people in organizations are the ones that carry out a great number of activities that are necessary in an organization. Therefore the managers and the HR professionals have an essential role to play of organizing the employees and this will enable them to effectively perform the allocated tasks. In this regard the employees need to be viewed as assets as opposed to costs to the organization. The HR department at Google plays an essential role in that it enhances commitment in the organization. The HR professionals at Google usually come up with ideas as well as strategies that help in increasing the employee commitment to the organization. This includes the very aspects of making use of the recruitment process and matching the employees with the right positions and this is done suing the qualifications. Once the employees have been hired they are committed to their jobs and at Google one feel challenged to perform even better than the others and be innovative (Claver-Cortes et al. 2012). Another role of the HR function at Google plays is ensuring that there is effective employee training programs and performance management. All this is aimed at maximizing the human resource capabilities at Google. In this regard, appropriate need analysis is applied to come up with training programs that are aimed at supporting a workforce that is innovative. The training programs and the results generated are also evaluated to ascertain that they are at par with the human resource needs at Google. Goggle also has a finely tuned performance management practice which includes performance planning and this addresses the corporate objectives for HRM (Derose 2013). Another role that is played by the HRM at Google is building capacity. The HRM team in an organization plays a vital role in developing a competitive advantage and this mainly involves the building of the capacity of the company to ensure that it offers unique services and goods to their customers. In respect to these Google not only focuses on hiring of talents but at the same time it ensures that it retains them and help them to grow and stay committed to the organization for a long period of time. Through a committed workforce Google is able to strive to greater heights since the employees feel as part of the organization and thus they term the success of the organization as their success too. Another role of the HRM at Google is that it ensures that there is collaboration. The managers and the HR professionals tend to collaborate to develop the skills of the employees (Derose 2013). For instance, the HR professionals advise the managers as well as the supervisors in how to assign the different roles in the organization to them employees. This enables the organization to adapt successfully to the environment. This role that is played by the HRM department at Google tend to e effective in that the employees in all departments shows high level of collaboration and it has been key to the success of the organization over the years. When it comes to the HRM function at Google they have really revolutionized it. A major perception of HR at Google is that there is a new for a new kind of people management. The extraordinary success that have been achieved by Google and other companies such as Apple has enabled the businesses to view and take notice of the fact that there are newer and merging ways through which corporations can achieve greatness. This new path way relates to continuous innovation. Continuous innovation fails to take place until organization can make strategic shift and focus more on great people management (Merkle 1980). The strategic focus is most essential in people management since innovations come from people and organizations fails to maximize the innovations when they fail to recruit and retain innovators. Another perspective is that there is a need for managers to make accurate people management decisions. Additionally, the HR function at Google is termed as people operations and the decisions related to people management at the organization are mainly guided by people analytic team. Google is also replacing the 20th century subjective decision making. Technical description of the department There are two major types of HR and they are soft and hard HR. Google makes use of soft HRM and in this regard the company which make use of these approach views their employees as the most valuable resource additionally the employees are viewed as individuals and their needs are catered for (Merkle 1980). In this regard, Google has built the reputation of being good employers. In this regard, Google offers their employees with diverse as well as interesting jobs as well as the opportunity to develop their skills. Additionally, in regard the soft HRM notion, Google offers a pay and conditions that are attractive and it also ensures that the employees working under them are given regulars training and all this is aimed at honing their skills as well as enhancing the promotion prospects of the employees. Additionally, through the soft HR strategy, Google had developed a workforce that is creative. It is crucial to note that the two approaches that is hard and soft HR are academic in nature since in the real business world the HR departments and managers normally makes use of elements of the hard and soft HR (Merkle 1980). Google can also be said to be making use of transformational HR. transformational HR usually takes a step back from the daily routines and tend to focus on the strategies aimed at aligning the HR management with the organizational goals and this mainly involves the extension of the traditional role of the HR. The transformational HR expands role of the HR into management and thus it makes it as an effective tool that business can make use of to develop the various business interests and growth. This is what Google have done over time. Through this, Google have turned the HR management into a force that assist the organization in attaining their business objectives and at the same time instill those objectives into the employees. Through this the HR professionals at Google have created value for the organization in general. Additionally, Google operates in the current business world which has changed rapidly as a result of the advances in technology, emergence of a customer base that is more informed and this required a wide range of choices and there is also global and intense competition (Mondy, Wayne & Bandy 2014). Thus, by making use of transformational HR Google have remained competitive in its respective industry. Based on Dave Ulrich there are four HR roles which includes the HR business partner, change agent, employee advocate and the administration expert. In relation to Google the HR role is that of acting as the change agent. Based on this the HR team at Google participates in change management teams and they also take responsibility to communicate the changes internally and they always strive to gain the trust of the employees (Bock 2011). Also when acting as the change agent the HR at Google plans for training sessions for the employees and this helps the employees greatly in that through the training they can acquire new competencies and skills. The table below shows the SWOT analysis of the HR department at Google Strengths Weaknesses High number of staff High quality of employee Strong and committed HR staff Good working environment Performance issues Great number of HR initiatives Opportunities Threats Attain new talents Expansion of the already existing products Uncertainty in the market place Competition The reporting structure in a company refers to the authority relationships that are in place in an organization that is who reports to whom in the company. The success of Google over the years can be attributed to the effectiveness of the organizational structure (Alvesson 2012). The organizational structure at Google is not in any way conventional. The theory that exists supports that there is a strong alignment between the organizational structure and organizational culture can eventually lead to the success of an organization. Google can be said to have a cross-functional organizational structure which is a matrix organizational structure which have a certain degree of flatness. Thus, the organizational structure at Google has three major characteristics that is flatness, function-based as well as product-based. Google makes use of function as the core basis of grouping their employees this is evident in that product management team, sales operations team and the engineering and design team (Panmore Institute 2016). Google also makes use of products to group their employees for example those developing the nexus devices and those working under the fiber business. Google have a flat organizational structure which can also be termed as the reporting structure and this means that the employees at Google, groups or team can avoid the middle management and go ahead and report to the CEO. Additionally the employees have the freedom to meet and share their information and ideas between teams (Panmore Institute 2016). Does the HR function at Google play a strategic role? To a great extent I believe that the HR function at Google plays a strategic role. The strategic role of HR is to strengthen the relationship between the employers and the employees. However there seems to be more than what people can really see when it comes to achieving these. Through the strategic role the HRM at goggle have ensured that they focus on the long term issues that may affect the employees and also play a role in the creation of an organizational culture that can easily adapt to change. The HR function at Google plays a strategic role in that it ensures that the employees are well trained to take up future positions and enhance succession planning. In enhancing the relationship between the employee and the employers Google have ensured that they offer good and competitive salaries, training, safety, benefits as well as tackling the employee development (Bock 2011). Steps to enhance effectiveness of the HR function A major step that Google need to put in place to enhance the effectiveness of the HR function is that they need to take a positive and transparent approach when it comes to communication. In this regard the HR professionals at Google need to ensure that there is open communication in the entire organization at all times. Additionally, Google need to invest in the right kind of technology. This is based on the idea that with the various technological advancement that have taken place all aspects of the human capital management can now be enhanced and at the same time strengthened through the use of available technology (Croteau & Bergeron 2001). Conclusion From the above discussion it is clearly evident that HRM plays an essential role when it comes to creating positive employee behavior as well as attitudes which supports the organizational strategy. HR professionals have an essential role to play of organizing the employees and this will enable them to effectively perform the allocated tasks. Google have a new perspective in regard to people management and this has ensured there continued success over the eyras. To enhance the effectiveness of the HR function is that they need to take a positive and transparent approach when it comes to communication and also make use of available technology to strengthen all aspects of the human capital management. References Alvesson, M 2012, Understanding organizational culture, Sage, California. Bock, L 2011, What's the Google approach to human capital?, viewed 4 September 2016, http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/whats-google-approach-human-capital Claver-Cortes, E, Pertusa-Ortega, E & Molina-Azorin, J 2012, ‘Characteristics of organizational structure relating to hybrid competitive strategy’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 65, no.7, pp. 993-1002. Croteau, A & Bergeron, F 2001, ‘An information technology trilogy: business strategy, technological deployment and organizational performance’, Journal of Strategic Information System, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 77–99. Derose, C 2013, How Google Uses Data to Build a Better Worker, viewed 4 September 2016, http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/how-google-uses-data-to-build-a-better-worker/280347/ Google Inc 2016, Google for work, viewed 4 September 2016, https://www.google.com/work/hr.html Google Inc 2016a, Our history in depth, viewed 4 September 2016, http://www.google.com/about/company/history/#2004 Merkle, J 1980, Management and Ideology, University of California Press, Los Angeles. Mills, E 2007, Google's culture czar, CNet, viewed 4 September 2016, http://www.cnet.com/news/meet-googles-culture-czar/ Mondy, M, Wayne, R & Bandy, J 2014, Human resource management, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, England. Panmore Institute 2016, Google’s Organizational Structure & Organizational Culture, viewed 4 September 2016, http://panmore.com/google-organizational-structure-organizational-culture Read More