H.R Practices at Google

Created by:Sana Khan22Javed Khan18Tanveer Khan23Noaman Sayed34S.K. Rehman46H.R Practices at GoogleGOOGLE INC.|Submitted to:Prof. Afreen Parkar2014

Our employees, wh o call thems elves G ooglers, are everyth ing. W e hope to recru it man y m or e

in the futu re. W e will reward and treat th em well.

Larry P ag e and Serg ey Brin, Found ers of Goog le

1. Introduction

Man aging human res ourc es eff ec tivel y has bec om e vital toorganiz ations within the mod ern and f as t pac ed bus iness environm ent(Caldwell, Chatman, & O'Reilly,1990). Human Res ourc es spec ialis ts ar e

more important in business s trategi es tod ay wh ere mark et is dyn amic and chang eable.

1.1. Objectiv es of the study

T o an al yz e HRM tec hnique and meth ods

T o an al yz e how empl oyees help a c ompan y in diff erenti ating its elf from its c ompetitors

T o an al yz e how c omp ani es attract the b est -knowl edg e workers and ret ain empl oyees in a c omp etitive en vironm ent

T o anal yz e the innovati ve HR prac tic es and the 'Bes t Plac e to W ork For' c ulture at G oogl e

T o an al yz e the f uture implic ati ons of G oogles HR practic es in the long run

3

2. Google.com

2.1. Background of the Company

Sourc e: http:// www.g oogle.c om/

G oogl e (illustrations of the c omp an y web site pres ent ed in Appendi x 1 ) is a c ompan y that was c onc eptualiz ed in a dorm room by two Stanf ord Univers ity c ollege s tudents , 24-year-old Larry Pag e (Larry) and 23 year old Serg ey Brin (Brin), in 1996 (Iyer &Davenp ort, 2008 ) and has morphed into on e of the great es t tec hnologic al powerhous es in oper ation today. It then divers ifies into e-mail, online mapping, off ic e produc ti vity, s ocial networking, and video s haring s er vic es . G oogl e was regis tered in Septemb er 1998. It had less than 20 empl oyees and was ans wering 10,000 s earc h queries eac h day. A year later, the number increas ed to 60 million queries a day (c omp an y webs ite) . Till 1999, G oogl e had no s ys tem f or gen er ating s ignif ic ant revenu es . The c omp an y mad e s ome mon ey b y lic ens ing the s earc h s ervic e to other s ites . Under pres sure from the board to get prof ess ion al help, the f ounders recruited Eric Schmidt in earl y2001. Schmidt was s urpris ed to disc over that every Friday the f ounders s hared

G oogl es progress with all the empl oyees and on occ as ions they inc luded adetail ed financ ial revi ew (Vog elstein & Burke, 2004). He requested Brin and Page to disc ontinue the prac tic e but s oon realiz ed that the meetings were ingrain ed in G oogl e's c ulture and united the s taff . In a 10 -pers on man ag em ent meeting to discuss ways to gen erat e revenu es , Sc hmidt f ound that eac h pers on had a vi ewp oint bac ked by plenty of dat a. Sc hmidt reali zed that G oogl e empl oyees loved to talk it out, jettis oning hier arc hy, business s ilos and layers of man ag em ent f or a flatt er, networked structure wh ere the guy with the bes t dat a won (Ben Elgin, 2005).

2.2. Organiz ational G oal and Vision

G oogl es miss ion s tat em ent is T o organiz e the world inf ormation and mak e it univers all y acc ess ible and us ef ul (G oogl e.c om). The work c ulture and employee emp owerm ent philos oph y at G oogl e was app arent from the day the c omp an y was launc hed in 1998. T he f ounders , Larry Pag e and Sergey Brin, wanted to es tablis h G oogl e as a c omp an y that was to be s een as a c ompan y run by the geeks (Las hins ky Adam) . T he HR Departm ent, in its alignm ent with the business strat eg y of trying to attrac t the best minds across the glob e to work f or G oogle, has s inc e always aim ed to bec om e the s trategic partner to the bus iness op erati ons.

2.3. Cultural env ironment

Sc hein (1988) def ines the c ulture as: T he c limate an d practic es that organiz ations devel op ar ound their handling of peopl e, or to the es pous ed valu es and cred o of an organiz ation. Organiz ation c ulture is a ric h desc ription of organiz ati onal lif e ( Barney, 2002).

Organizati on c ulture impacts the strategi es , motivati on levels and the s truc ture of an organiz ation. Sc hein (1996) desc ribes it as the mos t powerful and s tabl e f orc e in organiz ations .

G oogl es organiz ation al c ulture c an be an al yz ed thought O uc his fram ework

(1943). O uc hi studied three diff erent c omp an ys c ulture and s aw that thediff erenc es between thos e expl ained a part of the c ompan ys succ ess .

Depending on his theory it s eems that G oogle Inc. is the typ e Z US f irms.

Fig 1 O uc his fram ework

Cul tural

characteristic sType J (Japane se

m odel)Type A (typical

Am erican m odelType Z (credi te d

Am erican m odel)

Com m itm ent to em ployeesLife c ontractShort term c ontrac tLong term c ontrac t

Evalua tionSlow and qualit at iveFas t and quantit at iveSlow and qualit at ive

CareersLarg e and not based

on sp ec ialt yVery narrowed and

spec ialt y basedMod erately b as ed on

spec ialt y

ControlImplicit and in form alExp lic it and form alImplicit and in form al

Decisi on m akingGroup ed and

cons ensu alIndividu alGroup ed and

cons ensu al

ResponsibilityCollectiveIndividu alIndividu al

Concern for peopleHolistic (fi rm and

family)Narrowed (individual

task s)Glob al (individual at

work )

Sourc e: Siehl, C. & Ma rt in, J. (1998), Measuring Org aniz at ional Cu lture

Ouc hi argues that the c ulture of the T ype Z firms helps thos e to outp erf orm typic al Americ an firms. The m ain reas on it that firms like G oogle s ys tem atic all y invests in their people an d op erati ons over the long run and s o obtain s tead y and s ignific ant improvem en ts in the long-term perf ormanc e.

G oogl e tries to retain its employees and evalu ate them in a quantitative but als o qualitative mann er. In f ac t, the c omp an y mad e its work en viron m ent c ol orf ul and vehic les the im age of a fun plac e to work through what it propos es (Siehl & Martin, 1998) . For example, empl oyees c an have f ree s nac ks or bring their pet at the offic e or go to the gym and spa s al on (en vir onm ental atm os phere illus trat ed in Appendix 2) . Employees c an ben ef it from f lexib le working hours and have s om e time f or their s elf -direc ted proj ects whic h shows the importanc e of the c reati vity and innovation from eac h and in ever y dep artment. Mor eover c ontrol is don e through inf ormal and implic it mec hanis m. There arent an y

5man ag erial hierarc hies or man ag em ent s truc ture, whic h gives the employees c omplete freed om (Silves ter, Anders on& Patters on, 1999) . Even thought empl oyees c an mak e their own dec is ion if s omething is wrong on a product t o rec tif y it dec is ions ar e us ually occ urring in groups and bas ed on the principles of full inf ormation s haring. Plus , the c onc ern f or peopl e goes beyond the individual at work and ext ends to the individu als inter ests , hobbies , beli efs etc .

G oogl e c ultur e c an be als o anal yz ed and def ined as an organic struc ture (See Appendi x 3) . This typ e of structure is c harac terized by flexibility, emp owerm ent and team work (Siehl, & Martin, 1998) . This s truc ture def ines well G oogles organiz ation as it is non -hierarc hic al and cross -func tional: there arent an y barriers between the diff erent dep artments . People ar e en c ourag ed to get invol ved in other activities then their own. Als o the top man ag ement leaves their offic e door open in order f or work ers to f eel free to c om e and talk directly. Moreover empl oyees emp owerm ent and the d ec entralization of power c an b e noted (Steven, Brad &Suc iu, 2004). G oogl ers are reward ed f or their hard work in an extrem el y rel axed en vironm ent that enc ourag es creativit y through s oc ial events s uc h as roller hoc key. This permits on e to m eet ever yon e and stay as a team. O rganizati on c ulture als o aff ects the beh avi ors of work groups and teams . W ork groups are not nec es s arily teams a team is a work group that has a pers on ality of its own ( Las hins k y Adam) this is wh en memb ers c ollab orat e and ass ume an identity of their own as a unit. G oogle ad opt ed an a s tructure that c ame s eem c onf us ing to s om e in matters of c ontrol or dec is ion making but it is working very well. It permitted them to meet s ucc ess an d have less an employee turnover.

Reinf orc ing its emphas is on building a healthy work c ulture, G oogle hired Stac y Savides Sullivan as the Chief Culture Offic er in 2000.G oogl e has man ag ed to pres ent the c ombin ation of a f inanc ially s ucc essf ul c ompan y off e ring a highl y s ought af ter work en viron ment (Lashins ky & Vog els tein2004) . It lays importanc e on off ering a work-lif e balanc e by prom oting the c ulture of flexi -timings f or G oogl ers , breaking the norm of fi xed m and ator y working hou rs. O wing to this,

6G oogl ers enjoy the f lexibility of working from hom e while als o c hoos ing a c onveni ent time to c om e to work. In addition, f ac ilities inc luding day c ar e c ent ers and medic al f ac ilities allow G ooglers to bal anc e their prof ess ion al and pers onal c ommitments (Bus iness W eek, 2005).

2.4. Social G ood

A s oc ial s ys tem is a c ompl ex s et of human relati ons hips interac ting in man y ways . W ithin an org anizati on, the s oc ial s ys tem inc ludes all the peopl e in it and their rel ations hips to each other and to the outs ide world (Pettigrew, 1979). G oogl e has the inf ormal c orporat e mott o Dont be Evil, whic h reminds its empl oyees that c ommitment to be ethic al is part and parc el of being a lead er at G oogl e. 99% of the empl oyees indic ate that, Man ag em ent is hon est and ethic al in its bus iness prac tic es (Ben Elgin, 2005 ). T he s tandards of c onduc t that G oogl e employees adh ere to c onc ern internal bus iness practic es (res pec ting eac h oth er, protec ting c onf identialit y, prot ecting G oogl es ass ets, etc ), extern al relations with c ustom ers and partners , and the impac t on of G oogl e's work on the larg er s oc iet y (G oogl e Sol ar Pan el Proj ect, 2009) . T he beh avior of on e memb er c an have an impac t, either direc tly or indirectly, on the beh avi or of others . Als o, the s ocial s ys tem does not have bound aries ; it exc hang es goods , ideas, c ulture with the en vironm ent ar ound it.

2.5. Human Resource M anagement in G oogle

HR dep artment at an y org anizati on has a unique c halleng e it has to ens ure that the employees are motivat ed and c ommitted to the organiz ation with c omplete integrity and hones ty. However, at the s am e time, the HR dep artment has to ens ure that the mark et dyn amics are n ot ad vers el y aff ected by the s heer volum es of inves tment invol ved in the proc ess ( Silves ter, Anders on, & Patters on, 1999 ).

HR prac tic es at G oogl e ar e nam ed Peopl e Oper ations , which is des igned to underline the f act that it is not a mer e adminis trative func tion, but ens ures to build a strong employee- employer rel ations hip. G oogl es HR prac tic es clearl y

7reveal the impress ive res ults of the c ompan ys a pproac h, whic h help in increas ing employee produc tivity (J os ey, 2005). T he HR team is made up of gen eral HR bus iness partners , internal c ons ultants, line man agers , learning and devel opm ent, and recruitment teams. They are als o s pec ialis ts in c omp ens ation and benef its, but most of the team memb ers work as gen eral HR bus iness partners and internal c ons ultants .

2.6. Googles Human Resource Practices . Selection and Recruiting

Rec ruitment at G oogl e is the f irs t and f orem os t step in the overall HR proc ess es . H iring the right peopl e is a key HR philos oph y at G oogl e the medi an ag e of empl oyees at G oogl e is 27 years (Mullan ey, 2004), making it the young est workf orc e across the industry.G oogl e is proud of its c entralized rec ruiting team, c om pris ing of hiring spec ialis ts , to fill the c omp an ys growing rep ertoire of job positions . T o attrac t and ret ain best empl oyees and to pay more att ention to them, G oogl e has creat ed the disruptive approac h f or rec ruiting. It has devel op ed a recruiting mac hine to c ateg oriz e the jobs f or the rec ruitment proc ess (Ellie Levens on,2003). T his c ontains det ails of the entire organiz ation, req uirem ents of the organiz ation from the lead ers to the entry-level empl oyees . T hrough its branding, public relati ons, and recruiting eff orts , G oogl e has attrac ted man y prof ess ion als from every indus try and university. G oogl e takes meas ures t o chang e the way the empl oyees work s o as to attract and retain the best empl oyees (J udy Mc Carter, 2003). It has s ucc essfully implem ented the s tandard bes t prac tic e tools f or recruiting f unctions ( s ee Appendi x 4) .Known as Peopl e Oper ations , the HR team at G oogle empl oys an Applic ant Trac king Sys tem (ATS), that en ables the recruiter to keep an acc ount of the number of res umes pos ted on G oogl es W ebs ite, s creen them and shortlis t c andidat es f or the rec ruitment proc ess .

As the c omp an y aspires to work only with great empl oyees , it has put in plac e

a rigorous s elec tion proc ess . Inter vi ewers rank the pot ential c andidat es on a

8sc ale of 1 4, with 4 being th e highest. Lynn Fox, G oogl es s pok es wom an s aid, O ur rec ruiting organiz ation is world -c lass, and we ve been pleas ed with our ability to sc al e quic kly without s acrif icing the quality of our rec ruits . T he shortlisted c andidat es have to undergo a tough inter vi ew of nearly f our rounds. Conduc ted in an inf orm al c on vers ati onal styl e, thes e intervi ews evalu ate potenti al hires on their day-to-day probl em s ol ving ability ins tead of f oc us ing on their previ ous work exp eri enc e (Bak er Lor en). Further, G oogl e is f am ou s f or the us e of mathem atic al probl ems while sc reening c andidat es (Mills Elinor , 1999). Thes e res pons es are rec orded s imultan eous ly, making the c andidat e f eel valu ed. Highlighting the s am e, an empl oyee s aid, T he man ag ers who inter vi ewed me wer e genuin ely inter ested in me as a pers on. They were taking notes . O ne even mad e a c up of c off ee f or me ( A Look Inside the G oogle T al ent Mac hine). The rec ruitment proc ess , a highly ardu ous f eat, c om es to an end onl y when it is finally appr oved by Pag e. Addition all y, t he c omp any als o evaluat es c andidates on their G oogl eyn ess , ability to work in G oogl es flat organiz ation al struc ture and their knac k of working in s mall teams . Valuing intelligenc e and creati vity, G oogle als o pays c los e att ention to the ac ad emic rec ord o f applic ants instead of their work exp eri enc e (Fletc her Sarah) . T o avoid any c ompromis e in their quest f or the bes t tal ent, G oogl e whol eh eartedl y funds its recruiting struc ture, making it a leagu e in its elf . W ith a ratio of ab out 1 recruiter f or ever y14 empl oyees (1:14), G oogl es HR has em erged as one of the bes t -f unded rec ruiting func tions am ong product -bas ed organiz ations (A Look Inside the G oogl e T al ent Mac hine).

2.7. Innov ations in G oogles recruiting process

The recruiting team of G oogl e develop ed creati ve approac hes and res truc tured the rec ruiting tool to deli ver a targ eted rec ruiting mess ag e. T he new innovationin G oogl es recruiting func tion is the data -driven approach to c andidat e

ass ess ment (Las hins ky Adam) . T he c omp an ys new ass ess ment tool reli es on an alg orithm to identif y c andidat es acc uratel y, s o as to matc h or res embl e with their existing top perf ormers . The alg orithm evalu ates the pot ential s ucc ess of

9the c andidat es and this innovati ve f unc tion rec ognizes and res ol ves the maj or drawb ac ks in the ass ess ment meth odol ogi es that rel y on ac ad emic grad es , SAT sc ores , degrees from top sc hools, prior indus try exp erienc e and s ubjec tive inter vi ew res ults. G oogl e mad e a signif ic ant s hift from the tradition al approac h in terms of rec ruitment to new inn ovati ve approac hes that prevented press ure of bus iness loss es , laws uits or trad e unions (Mullan ey, 2004). T he trans ition from the c om m on intuition approac h to a sc ientif ic, dat a-bas ed approac h f or s electing the c andidat es has a s ignif ic ant eff ec t on the rec ruiting team thus attracting more numb er of new c andidat es to G oogl e.

2.8. Compensation Structure

G oogl e stands out as being on e of the most s ought af ter and yet on e of the most underpaying employers in the industry. However, the HR s trateg y f its perf ec tly with the business mod el and vis ion at G oogl e wh ere empl oyees are attrac ted not to the s hort term mon etar y returns from work, but rath er to the s upport s ys tem that c ould help them c reat e an ything (J os ey, 2005).

G oogl es c omp ens ation progr am, als o c all ed pay-f or-perf orm anc e, f oc us es on providing reward f or s trong perf ormanc e as well as training f or overc oming weakn ess es f or underperf orm ers . This philos oph y of G oogle was applied to all G oogl e employees , and there was an increas e in the prop ortion of c omp ens ation in acc ordanc e with the levels of lead ers hip and res pons ibility. G oogle emph as ized on empl oyee devel opm ent through on -the-job learning, training through class es c onducted by higher offic ials , frequent dep ar tmental meetings and lec tures by f am ous pers onn el. G oogl es moti vati on mec hanis ms adopt ed f or empl oyees invol ve rapid dec is ion -m aking and an atm os phere that not onl y enc ourag es ambitious ideas but exp ec ts the empl oyees to produc e (Sc hoenb erger, 2004 ). At G oogl e, empl oyees ideas are tak en into c on s ider ation and approved f or implem enting whic h enh anc es employee c reativit y and boo s ts empl oyee moral e. Additionall y, G oogl ers als o f etc h good s alaries . W hile f res h MBAs are off ered s al aries between $80,000 and $120,000 per annum, exp erienc ed engineers draw an annual pac kag e of $130,000 along with 800

10options . Acc ording to a res earc h c onducted by G lass door (a c ar eer and workpl ac e c om munity) in 2008, s of twar e engin eers at G oogl e draw an en vi able c ompens ation pac kag e as c omp ared to their c ounterparts at Micro s of t or Yah oo! (Figure 1)Fig 1 Sal ary c omp aris on of G oogl es Software engineers with c omp etitors (in $)

11100%

98%

96%

Total Compensation94%

92%

90%

88%

86%

84%

82%

80%

14,733

97,84

Software

6,871 4,958 4,75

98,771 100,417 84,25

Bonus

Salary

EngineerEngeneer SoftwareDevelopment

Software

EEngeneer Softwarengeneer

Sourc e: Apple Engin eers P aid B elow -Mark et Salaries ,http://news.s oftp edia.c om/newsIm age/App le -Engin eers-P aid-B elow-Mark et -Salaries -2.png

Using this blend of s alar y and perks emb edd ed in an exc iting work c ulture, G oogl e has em erged as an employm ent brand, diff erentiating its elf from other organiz ations aiming to hire c andid ates with similar talents (Sullivan J ohn) . So strong is the work c ulture and empl oyee c ommitted bent upon tec hnol og y s olutions rath er than tangible c omp ens ation that G oogle bec am e the firs t c ompan y wher e the Board of Direc tors requ es ted f or a reduc tion in their s al aries and c omp ens ation bec aus e they f elt they wer e getting paid more m on ey than they need ed. All the empl oyees agreed on the s entiment, an d in 200 8 09, theempl oyees f orm ally dem and ed a wag e c ut thems el ves. During the s am e period, the turnover was 1.43% (W illoc k Rob).

2.9. 70/20/10Rule

G oogl e c am e up with a f ormula f or it employee to f ollow to ens ure creativit y. Employees have to divid e their time at w ork into three parts : 70 perc ent ar e to be devoted to s earc h and ad vertis ing, 20 perc ent (1 day of the working week) on a projec t of their c hoic e, and 10 perc ent to f ar -out ideas (B en Elgin, 2005). G oogl es c omp etitivenes s, this s trat eg y has been working w onders f or the c ompan y. As a res ult empl oyee has c om e up with applic ation s uc h as G oogl e T alk, G mail, and als o their San Franc isc o W I -Fi initiative giving all San Franc isc an free Intern et (Bus iness Week , 2005 ). In order to creat e a learning organiz ation, G oogl e put team memb er within a f ew f eet of eac h other. T he res ult being that ever yon e s hares an offic e with one or more member of the team. W ith ever y team member being knowledg eabl e s itting next to eac h other, knowl edg e s haring is a part of lif e ever yda y at G oogle. And with immedi ate acc ess to the entire team, T otal Q uality Man ag em ent (Q uali ty and Integrat ed System) is c oordinat ed within the team. In addition to physic al proximity, eac h G oogl er e-m ails a s nippet onc e a week to his work group describing what he has don e in the last week Acc ording to Eric Sc hmidt. W ith the s nippet ever y empl oyee s har es the problem and s olution that he/s he c am e up with.

2.10. Googles performance v ia staff performance

The s ucc ess of G oogl es products and s ervic es is mainl y bec aus e of innovati on exp ec ted by the c omp an y from every empl oyee and 20% time given by the c ompan y f or the purpos e. It is ob vi ous that the HR ac tivities and polic ies ar e ac tually driving G oogl es c orpor ate business s ucc ess. T o en c ourag e creativit y and interac tion am ong empl oyees, G oogl es offic e is des igned s o as to provid e c olors , lighting and s har ed room. G oogl es HR practic es reveal that the c ompan ys approac h helped in inc reas ing empl oyee produc tivity. The averag e G oogl e empl oyee gen erat es more than $1 million in revenu e eac h year

12(Fletc her Sarah, 2008). T his helps G oogl e lever ag e its workf orc e produc tivit y, whic h in turn enh anc es empl oyee moral e. G oogl es HR polic ies and work c ulture are unique and the man ag ers are all owed to try new appr oac hes, to mak e mis tak es and learn from f ailure. The organiz ations rec ruiting func tion is diff erent from tradition al method ol og y. T he c ompan ys f oc us is on reduc ing rec ruiting c os t and increas ing the suc c ess of the organiz ation by hiring good perf orm ers wh o have the c ap ability to bec om e top perf ormers (Iyer Bala and Davenp ort T hom as H, 2008) . G oogle ac knowledg es that talent man agem ent plays a signif ic ant rol e in its succ ess . G oogle is c ons idered by man y pers onn el as the bes t plac e to work mainl y bec aus e of its f un at wor k and various not able reas ons (s ee Appendi x 5).15 G oogl e c omp etiti ve ad vantag e is of c ours e it employee. Even though G oogl e has c reat ed a c ollegi ate atm os phere wher e empl oyees are allowed to dress c as uall y and have f un at work plac e, acc ording to man agem ent exp erts from W harton Univers ity, All the perks provid ed by G oogl e mean bus iness. Peter Capp elli, Man ag em ent Prof ess or and Director of the Center f or Human Res ourc es at W harton s aid, T hes e ben ef its help c omp ani es recruit people wh o are willing to s pend alm ost all of their time at work. Steven E. Gross, a glob al lead er at Merc er Human Res ourc e Cons ulting, US, s aid,G oogl e, with its vas t array of ben efits , is trying to diff erenti ate its elf from other c ompani es that want to hire p eopl e with the s ame talents .G oogl es main aim is to ac hieve s ever al goals s uc h as attract the best knowl edg e-workers, help the empl oyees work long hours by f eeding them gourmet m eals on -s ite, handling oth er time-c onsuming pers onal c hores and to remain as G ooglers f or a long er period of time.

2.11. Googles G aps

G oogl e is well -known as a great empl oyer and maj ority of its rec ognition h as c ome as a res ult of HR progr am s and ideas . However there are s om e gaps in the HR prac tic es of G oogle.

132.13. Critics on hiring process

G oogl es recru iting f unc tion is innovati ve; there is no f orm al, well -c ommunic ated rec ruitment s trat egy. Although , nearly ever y c andidat e at G oog le c omm ent ed on its s low sc reening, recruiting, and inter vi ew proc ess (Mic hael Ritc hie, 2008 ). Several pos ts on W hy G oogle Employees Q uit sugges t that hiring proc ess in G oogl e is very long, time-c ons uming and ann oying. Current employee of G oogl e (anon yms ) M y hiring proc ess bac k in 2007 was, like s om e of yours , s omewh at drawn out, and I was mad e to c ontrac t f or almos t 4 months bef ore being hired, but G oogle gave m e a c hanc e, and I gave G oogl e a c hanc e. And Im s o glad. Log an, f orm er empl oyee of G oogl e posted I exp erienc ed the s am e painf ul hiring proc ess all of you did. T he reputation of G oogle is why I work ed ther e f or three and a half years . I took pride in wher e I work ed and the work I was doing. I knew I c ould get paid more els ewh ere but the c aliber of peopl e to my lef t and right was am azing. I learn ed a lot and have ben ef ited from the time I s pent at G oogl e.There ar e a lot of s imilar c ompl ains ab out hiring proc ess and it is true that

G oogl e hiring proc ess is time-c ons uming, both f or empl oyees and f or G oogl e.

2.14. Disclaimer

G oogl e hiring proc ess takes from on e to f our month and it is inc on veni ent f or applic ants , how ever it is nec ess ar y f rom bus iness perf ormanc e vi ew. In order to hire new empl oyee man ag em ent s hould approve head c ou nt; als o s taff c an onl y be hired into approved pos itions . All new pos itions mus t pass through the res pec tive budget appr ovals f or eac h area. Addition all y, recruitment at G oogl e is not the s ol e res pons ibility of the HR team. T he need to hire the right peopl e permeat es ac ross the organiz ation, bec oming the outl ook of ever y empl oyee, turning G oogl e into a recruiting mac hine. Currently G oogle s head c ount has more than tripled (G oogl e Hiring like its , 1999), however manag ers need time f or approval of eac h pos ition in order to m ak e the right dec ision .

142.15. Gaps in G oogle HR system

G oogl e is lac king in its ability to trac k the on -the-job perf orm anc e of new hires . The number of temp orar y and c ontrac t employees in the recruiting func tion at G oogl e is high. T he unwillingness to give perm an ent job s immedi atel y to rec ruiters may reduc e G oogles abilit y to get exp erienc ed recruiters . G oogles emph as is on attrac ting youngsters might hurt its ability t o at trac t mor e s eni or and exp erienc ed p ers onn el (Vogels tein & Burke, 2004) .2.16. Challenge of growth

As G oogl e c ontinues to grow bigger, it f ac es the c ontinual c halleng e of being

abl e to handl e succ essfully its open and f un-f illed work culture. Kevin W erbac h, ass is tant Prof ess or of Legal Studies and Bus iness Ethics at W harton Univers ity s aid, G oogle h as don e a rem arkabl e job in growing f rom a s mall, privat ec ompan y to a 15,000-pers on organiz ation in jus t a f ew years , without killing its startup-like innovation c ulture. But, an alys ts are c onc erned that as the c omp an y grows, it is diff ic ult f or it to provid e the s ame f inanc ial and other inc entives f or its empl oyees. G oogl es met eoric growth als o pos es a threat to its intimate t eam culture and its ability to h andle creati ve c onf lic ts am ong G oogl ers. Further,G oogl e struggles to k eep its c ulture away from the s hac kles of bureauc rac y while being able to s timulat e its employees . Avoiding org anizati on al letharg y from creeping in while c ons tantly l aunc hing new produc ts is als o not an eas yf eat to acc omplis h. Horns ey beli eves that overc oming its growi ng pains is the biggest c halleng e f ac ed b y HR at G oogl e (Bus iness W eek , 2005). She add ed, So m an y c ompani es have s tarted off ver y innovative, creati ve and vibr ant, buthave then f ail ed and bec om e bureauc ratic . Its always a d anger when you grow. Highlighting the s am e, G oogl e's human res ourc es c hief has s ai d the runaway succ ess of the f ast -growing intern et c omp an y is gen erati ng its own s et of peopl e man ag em ent probl ems .

2.17. Div ersification gap

In c as e of diversif ic ation, G oogl e had trouble in rec ruiting talented loc als in its

South Asian op erati ons, a board member of G oogl e s aid (Bus iness W eek,

2005). In partic ular, the venture c apitalis t cited a s hortag e of web develop ment

15skills s uc h as knowl edge of J avaSc ript and Ajax (As ync hron ous J avaScript and XML), the web des ign tec hnol og y us ed in the lates t gener ation of webs ites like G oogl e Maps and Flic kr. Middle man ag ers als o ar e in s h ort supply. He added, I know firs thand that we ve had a bit mor e of a c halleng e trying to hire engin eers f or G oogl e in Bang al ore c omp ared to other parts of the world.

2.18. Gap in company nature

The nature of work at G oogl e undergoes c ons tant c hanges , henc e f ew empl oyees are able to ac hieve the tas k f or what they were initiall y hired. It is als o opin ed that this may hinder the perf ormanc e man agem ent f unction. Bec aus e ever y hire has been ext ens ivel y screen ed and G oogle believes , All empl oyees have high pot ential and if s omeon e f ails, G oogl e man ag ers tak e the attitude that theyr e to blam e, not the empl oyee.G oogl es unc on vention al work c ulture has stirred man y deb ates . A12-hour working day has bec ome a norm at G oogle, owing to its wid e array of employee ben ef its. Pet er Cappelli, man ag em ent prof ess or at the W harton Business Sc hool s aid, Thes e ben ef its help c omp anies to recruit peopl e wh o are willing to s pend mos t all of their time at work (Bus ines s W eek , 2005)Further, its recruitment appr oac h, where c andidat es grad es are pref erred over prior work exp erienc e has als o em erged as a matt er of c onc ern. Gross () ass erts , Som e peopl e would argue that working at G oogle is more exc iting, but G oogl e employees are working incredibl e hours .

3. Recommendations and conc lusion

Muc h of the c omp an y's s ucc ess has been bas ed on the f act that they h ave been more f lexible and f orward -thinking than its c omp etitors s uc h as Micros oft and Yahoo (Ben Elgin, 2005). Man aging growth with the c oll egi ate atm os phere of the c omp an y is ess ential to s us tain its s ucc ess in the f uture . G oogl e has built a culture where a well -c hos en elite acc om mod at es flexibility, s hifting rol es and, ab ove all els e, urgenc y. As G oogl e grows in size and s trength, it is a c halleng e to maintain the pac e of innovation and c onvey a s ens e of empowerm ent t o

16

G oogl es engin eers and produc t man ag ers . T her e is a ris k of the org anizati on los ing its dyn amis m and bec oming more bureaucratic . Mic hael Ritc hie (2008) ad vis ed, G oogle s hould ens ure that teams rem ain relati vely s m all s o that bureauc ratic dec is ion -making does not s low down entrep reneurial minds . Employees s hould be enc ourag ed to start indep endent initiatives and they should have the time and res ourc es to purs ue new ideas . G oogl e should be c aref ul in bal ancing bus in ess and pleas ure activities . Although providing freed om to engineers might attract tal ent and enc ourag e innovation, but the c ompan y s hould not deviat e from its c ore bus iness s trategy whic h direc tly aff ec ts the revenu e (Mullaney, 2004). Addition all y, while G oogles willingness t o launc h bet a versions of new produc ts at an al arming pac e exc ites engineers , they need to f oc us on s eeing the larger bus iness implic ations and the ris k to the brand.

19

Appendices

Appendi x 1 G oogle Inc .

YearsEvents

1995Th e founders S ergey Brin and Larry P age m et at St an ford Univers it y

1996Page and B rin s tart ed th eir p artn ership. P agerank was d evelop ed

1997Back Rub the p recurs or t o th e cont emporary G oog le s earch eng ine

1998Google was inc orporat ed and moved int o its f irst offic e a garag e in MenloPark California

1999Google moved its h eadquart ers t o P alo A lt o California and lat er t o Mount ainView

2000Google t eamed up with Yahoo! for p rovid ing G oogle g enerat ed s earch res ults. To cater t o th e glob al s earch us ers, G oogle was mad e availab le in a variet y of langu ages lik e French, G erman and Spanish

2001Eric S chmidt was h ired as chairm an and was later appoint ed CEO. G oogleImage S earch, a new feature th at m ade millions of ph ot ographs and graphic pictures availab le at th e clic k of a mous e, was added

2002Google achieved fin ancial suc cess and joined h ands with AOL. Fu rth er, G oogle bagged a 3 -year d eal with A sk J eeves, its ad vers ary s earch engin e, for $100 million to provide text -b as ed ads

2003Google was mad e availab le in 100 languag es

2004Google announc ed its first IPO. G oogle mad e its way t o its p resent headquarters, Mount ain View. G oogle tun ed its attent ion t owards anoth er lucrat ive t errit ory, e-m ails. G oogle ent ered int o th e s oc ial n et work ing forum using Orkut, en abling us ers t o s ign up, search and c onnect with friends

2005Google purchased DoubleClick d at abas e of c onsumers int entions andbehavior. G oogle exp anded its g lob al pres enc e b y ent ering S wed en, Brazil, Mexic o and Ch in a. G oog le purch as ed DoubleClic k for $3.2 b illion, th wart ing Mic ros oft s intent ions

2006Google purchased You Tube at $1.65 billion, mak ing it th e c ompan ys m os texp ensive purch as e t ill d at e

2007Topp ed Fortunes lis t of B est P lac e t o W ork

2008Once ag ain vot ed as th e Best Place to W ork b y Fortune

2009Th e G oogle Trans lator Toolk it , G oogle SMS, S k y Map for Android , new s earchfeatures , red es ign Google L abs

Complet ed by the author

Sourc e: http:// www.g oogle.c om/s earch?client=op era& rls =en&q=g oogle&s ourc eid =op era&ie=ut f -8&oe=ut f-8

Sourc e: www.g oog le.c om

Sourc e: http:// www.g oogle.c om/ig?hl=en

Sourc e: http:// www.g oogle.c om/int l/ en/ options/

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Sourc e: http:// www.g oogle.c om/int l/ en/ option s/

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Appendi x 2 Env ironmental atm os phere in G oogle

Sourc e: http:// www. impact lab.c om/2009/03/01/working -for-goog le-h as -it s-advant ages/

Sourc e: http:// www. impact lab.c om/2009/03/01/working -for-goog le-h as -it s-advant ages/

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Sourc e: http://st re.c o.z a/uploads/p ost s/2007/4/12/thumbs/1176406575_google_ offic e_2. jpg

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Appendi x 3 Organic c ulture

T om Burns and G .M. Stalk er (1961) Organic Sys tems :

Orga n ic O rg an iz at io n F o rm / Man age me n t Sy ste m

Appr opria te Condi tionsChanging

Distri bution of ta sk sCont ribut ive n ature of sp ec ial knowledg e and exp erienc e t o th e common t ask of the c onc ern

Nature of Indi vi dual taskTh e " realist ic" n atu re of the individu al t as k, wh ich is s een as s et b ythe t ot al situ at ion of the c oncern

Who (re )de fine s ta sk sTh e adjus tment and c ontinu al red efin ition of individual t ask s through interact ion with others

Task scopeTh e sh edding of " resp onsib ilit y" as a limit ed field of rights, ob lig at ion s and meth ods (problems may not be p ost ed up wards, d own wards orsid eways as being s omeon e els e's resp onsib ilit y)

How is task conform anceensuredTh e sp read of c ommitment t o th e c onc ern b eyond an y t echnical defin ition

Struc ture of control,authority a nd comm unicationNet work, Presum ed Communit y of Int erest

Loc ating of kno wle dgeOmniscienc e n o long er imputed t o th e h ead of th e conc ern;knowledge ab out th e t echnical or c ommercial natu re of th e here and now m ay b e loc at ed an ywh ere in th e n et work

Communic atio n be twee nmembers o f conc ernLat eral; i.e. , bet ween p eople of d ifferen t rank, res emblingconsu lt ation rather th an c ommand

Governa nce for oper ati ons and w orking beha viorInformat ion and ad vic e rath er than inst ruct ions and d ec is ions

ValuesCommitment to the con cern 's t ask and t o th e "t echnolog ic al ethos " ofmaterial prog ress and exp ansion is more high ly valued th an loyalt y and ob ed ienc e

Prest igeImport anc e and prest ige at tach t o affiliat ions and expert is e valid inthe indust rial and t echnic al and c ommerc ial m ilieu extern al to the firm

Sourc e: http:// www. valu ebas edman ag ement.n et/methods_bu rns_mech anis tic_ org anic_s yst ems.html

27

Employee referral:Googles referral prog ram is with out an y industry leading features , but the c ompan ys st rong brand c oupled with it s highly enthusiast ic work forc e m ak es up for weakn ess es in th e prog ram.

Colleg e recru itment:Google hires a larg e number of PhDs on th e premise that they enjoy exploring areas that n o on e els e h as exp lored. To acc omplish this, th ey h ave d evelop ed a net work of direct relat ionsh ips with over 350 profess ors at major sch ools. In addit ion, Goog le has an outs tand ing int ern ship prog ram th at has a very h igh con vers ion rat e t o p erm anent hires.

Pr of essi onal net w or ki ng :G oogl e al s o eff ec ti v el y us es netw orki ng g r oups l ik e Li nk edi n and ot her li v e pr of es si onal ev ents t o r ec r ui t t op p er f or m ers .

R ecr uit er tr ai ni ng :G oogl e i s one of onl y a hand f ul of c omp ani es t hat r eq uir es m os tnewl y hi r ed r ecr uit ers t o g o t hr oug h ext ens iv e r ecr ui t er tr ai ni ng pri or t o st ar ti ng.

AdW ords as a r ecr ui ti ng t ool :G oogl e us es i t s ow n G oogl e s earc h t ool t o fi nd p as siv ec andid at es. Bec aus e G oogl e i s r ec og ni z ed as t he m as t er ofs earc h, i t s not s urpri si ng t hat t hey uti li z e t hei r ow n s earc h t ool t o fi nd t op c andid at es wi t hout ac tiv e r es um es . In addi ti on, t hey at tr ac t t op p erf orm er s b y pl aci ng t heir ow n j ob ad s t hat app ear w hen c er t ai n k eyw ord s ar e t yp ed i nt o a s ear c h

C ont es ts as r ecr uit i ng t ools :O ne of G oog l e s r ecr uiti ng s tr at eg y i s t he us e of a c ont es t t o identi f y and at tr act t op s of tw ar e eng i neer s. T he G oog l e C od e J am , as t hey c all i t , i s a gl ob al onl i ne s of tw ar e w ri ti ng c ont es tt hat c an at tr ac t ov er 7, 500 p eopl e eac h year . T he t op 25 f i nali s tsar e i nvi t ed t o t he Mount ai n Vi ew c amp us t o c omp et e f orUS$50, 000 i n p riz es as w ell as a c hanc e t o w or k at G oogl e. T he c ont es t is p ow er ed b y T opC od er, a v end or t hat help s m anag et he c ont est and sc or e t he wi nners .

Br ai n-t eas er s as r ecr ui ti ng t ool s:T he ot her G oog l es r ecr ui ti ng i s i ts cr eativ e us e of r oadsid ebillb oard s and m at h t est s pl ac ed i n m ag azi nes t o g ar ner t heat t ent i on of m at h and pr ogr ammi ng wiz ards . G oogl e has p l ac ed brai nt eas er bi llb oard s i n t he Si lic on Vall ey and b y H ar v ardSq uar e. T he m at h p uzz l es on t hes e bi llb oard s c hall eng emat hem at ic s- ori ent ed p eop l e and g et t hem t hi nki ng . Alt houg h t hey d o not sp eci fi c all y m enti on G oogl e, t he b illb oard p uzz l e does ev ent ual l y l ead i nt er es t ed p ar tic ip a nts t o t he G oogl e si t e.

Fri end s of G oogl e:T he fi nal r ecr uit i ng t ool is t he f ri end s of G oogl e s ys t em . T hi st ool c r eat es an el ectr onic em ail netw or k of p eop l e t hat ar e int er es t ed i n G oogl e and i ts pr od uc ts b ut not nec es s ari l yint er es t ed i n w or ki ng f or t he c omp any. By si g ni ng up t hes eind ivi d uals and t hen p eri od ic all y s endi ng t hem em ails ab out t he fir ms pr od uc ts and ev ent s , G oogl e c an b ui ld a r el ati ons hip wi t h t hous ands of p eopl e t hat l ik e t he fi rm .

Sourc e: Sullivan J ohn, A look ins ide th e G oogle t alent mach ine,

Appendi x 4 Stand ard Rec ruit ing T ools of G ooglehttp:// www.humanres ou rc esmag az ine.c om.au/ articles/B1/0C0429B1.asp? Typ e=60&Categ ory=1223

T op 10 R eas ons t o W ork at G oogl e

Lend a helpi ng hand. Wi t h m i l l i on s o f vi si t or s ev ery m on th , Go ogl e h as b ecom e an essenti al p art of ev ery d ay l i fe - l i ke a go od f ri end - con n ecti n g p eopl e w i th th e i nf o rm ati on t h ey n eed to l i v e g r eat l i ves.

Li f e i s b eaut if ul. B ei ng a p art o f som ethi ng t h at m att er s and w or ki n g o n p r od u ct s i n w hi ch yo u can b el i ev e i s r em ar kabl y f ul fi l l i ng.

Appr eci ati on i s t he b es t m ot iv ati on so w e'v e cr eat ed a f un and i n spi ri n g w or ksp ace yo u'l l b e gl ad to b e a p art of, i n cl udi n g o n - si t e d o cto r an d d ent i st; m assag e and yo g a; p rof essi on ald ev el opm ent o pp or tu ni ti es; on - si t e d ay car e; sho r el i n e r un ni n g tr ai l s; an d pl enty o f sn acks to g etyou th r ou gh t h e d ay .

W ork and pl ay ar e not m ut uall y exc l usi v e. I t i s p o ssi bl e to co d e an d p ass t h e p u ck at th e sam e ti m e.

W e l ov e our emp l oyees , and w e w ant t hem t o k now i t. G oo gl e off er s a v ari et y of b en efi t s,i ncl udi n g a choi ce o f m edi cal p r og r am s, com p any -m at ch ed 401( k) , st o ck opti o n s, m at er ni ty andp at er ni ty l eav e, and m u ch m or e.

Innov at i on is our bl ood li ne. Ev en t h e b est t echn ol ogy can b e i m p rov ed. W e see en dl essop po rtu ni ty to cr eat e ev en m or e r el ev ant , m o r e u sef ul , and f ast er p ro du cts f or ou r u ser s. Go ogl e i sth e t ech nol ogy l ead er i n o rg ani zi n g th e w o rl d s i nf orm ati on .

G ood c omp any ev er yw her e you l ook. G oo gl er s r an g e f r om f o rm er n eu ro sur g eo n s, C EO s, an dU. S. p uz zl e ch am pi o n s to al l i g at or w r estl er s and f orm er -M ari n es. N o m att er w h at th ei r b ackg ro un d sGo ogl er s m ake fo r i nt er esti n g cub e m at es.

U nit i ng t he w orld , one us er at a ti m e. P eopl e i n ev ery cou nt ry an d ev er y l an gu ag e u se o urpr od u ct s. A s su ch w e t hi n k, act , and w or k gl ob al l y - j u st o ur l i ttl e con tri b uti on t o m aki ng t h e w orl d ab ett er pl ace.

Bold l y g o w her e no one has g one b ef or e. Th er e ar e hu nd r ed s of ch al l en g es yet t o sol v e. Y ou rcr eati v e i d eas m att er h er e and ar e w o rth expl o ri ng . Yo u 'l l h av e t h e o pp or tuni ty t o d ev el o p i nnov ati ve n ew pr od u ct s t h at m i l l i ons of p eopl e w i l l fi nd u seful .

T her e is s uc h a t hi ng as a fr ee l unc h af t er all . I n f act w e h av e t h em ev ery d ay: h eal thy , yum m y , and m ad e w i th l ov e.

Sourc e: Top 10 Reas ons to W ork at G oogle,

Appendi x 5 Reas ons to W ork at G ooglehttp:// www.goog le. c om /suppor t/j obs/b in/st at ic.p y?pag e= about.htm l& ab out= top10

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Bak er Loren, G oog le Rec eives 1,000,000 Job App lic at ions a Year [ on lin e] Available athttp:// www.s earch engin ejou rn al. com /g oogl e - r ec ei ves -1000000-job - appl ic at ion s- a- year/4308

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Best g lob al brands for 2008 [on lin e] A vailable athttp:// www.int erbr and.c om /best_g l obal_br ands. asp x