Human Resources .. Best places to work - Assignment Example

100 Best Companies to Work For: Google [INSERT HERE] [INSERT YOUR HERE] March 30, 100 Best Companies to Work For: Google “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” (qtd. in Google, 2011c). Google’s mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Google, 2011a). Ranked the fourth best place to work by FORTUNE Magazine in 2011(Great Place to Work Institute, 2011), Google has grown significantly since its inception in 1996.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Stanford University graduate students, started Google with the intent to automatically rank individual web pages. The search engine, initially named “BackRub,” was not formalized into the wildly popular company, Google, known today (Google, 2011a). When the company was first created, in what the founders describe as a small garage in Menlo Park, CA (Google, 2011c), search capabilities were only available to users in English. However, in recent years, the computer science students, and their thousands of employees and more than 40 offices globally, have developed a number of web applications and advertising programs, allowing them to offer dozens of widespread services and products in several different languages (Google, 2011a).

The Google headquarters, called the Googleplex, is now located in Mountain View, CA, and is referred to as a campus, due its massive size and number of amenities. Employees describe the campus as a curious, creative, and very diverse community. All of the company’s imperative business functions are located at the Googleplex; departments include Human Resources (HR), Communications, Legal, Sales, and Finance (Google, 2011c). Management and employees alike agree that transparency is the key to the cohesiveness within the company’s working environments.

Google’s philosophy, in that respect, is that “all voices matter and Googlers enjoy a variety of opportunities to share information and voice questions and opinions” (Google, 2011c). One example of the transparent environment the company describes is the “TGIF” meeting conducted each Friday by Page and Brin in one of the campus’ eating facilities, Charlie’s Cafe. Google employees from all levels are invited to learn about the company’s latest information and ask any questions they can come up with of the founders or any other executive (Google, 2011c).

This business philosophy has proven to encourage creativity and innovation, helping to keep Google projects constantly improving. Google focuses its recruiting efforts on finding individuals the hiring managers feel are “smart, amazing people who foster an environment of collaboration and fun” (Google, 2011d). Google managers favor a potential employee’s ability over past experiences as part of their aggressive inclusive hiring strategy (Google, 2011e). The company is highly focused on the environment in which its employees function.

Harassment of any kind, in any form—visual, verbal, and/or physical, is identified by Google’s HR team as unlawful. Any incident or report is thoroughly investigated and the harassers are dealt with immediately, to the full extent of the company’s strict HR policies on the subject (Google, 2009). Google is a rare company that thrives on its diverse workforce; in fact, they claim to celebrate and support being different. The company recognizes the benefit such support and a positive work environment has on employees, Google products, and the community, in general (Google, 2011b).

The likely reason Google appears as fourth on the FORTUNE Magazine 100 Best Places to Work list, is because the company is intentionally different. The organization has successfully bred empowerment and leadership within each of its employees at all levels of hierarchy. The founders, executives, and management teams within the organization have made respect and development a top priority, and thus, have been rewarded with a solid foundation of loyal, dedicated employees who operate with good judgment and uphold the highest standard of integrity (Google, 2009).

References Google. (2009). Code of conduct. Retrieved from http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html Google. (2011a). Corporate information. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html Google. (2011b). Google celebrates diversity. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/corporate/diversity/index.html Google. (2011c). Google Mountain View. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/uslocations/mountain-view/index.html Google. (2011d). Let's work together.

 Retrieved from http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/ Google. (2011e). The Google culture. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html Great Place to Work Institute. (2011). Best companies list. Retrieved from http://www.greatplacetowork.com/what_we_do/lists-us-bestusa.htm