A Project Report On HR

Strategies Of Google

Submitted To:
Silpy Gupta
Faculty Of HRM
IBS Mumbai

Prepared By:
Yashal Shah
Vidyalakshmi Sharma
Vishal Jamnani
Sakshi Messey
1 Karia
Dhaval

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sr
No
1
2

3
4
5

Topics

Page

No.
Introduction to HR .
4
1.1
Objectives of the Study .
4
Google.com ..
5
2.1
Background of the company 5
2.2
Goals and Vision ..... 5
2.3
Organization Culture 6
2.4
Organizational Structure
8
2.5
HR as a Strategic Partner of Business........ 9
2.6
Recruitment & Selection
10
2.6.1
How They Decide?............................................................................... 13
2.6.2
Internships
13
2.7
Performance Appraisal
13
2.7.1
Performance Management 14
2.8
Training and Development.
15
2.9
Compensation Structure 16
2.9.1
Perks
& 18
Benefits
2.10
70/20/10 Rule
2.11
Human Resource Planning..
2.12
Best People Practice
2.13
Corporat Social Responsibility..
2.14
Googles Performance via Staff Performance...
2.15
Critics on Hiring Process
2.16
Challenge of Growth
2.17
Gap in Company Nature
Recoomendations and Conclusion.........................................................................................
References...............................................................................................................................
Appendixes...........................................................................................................................
A
Environmentsl atmosphere in Google.
B
Organization Structure..................
C
Organic Culture
D
Standard Recruiting Tools at Google .
E
Reasons to work at Google

18
19
19
20
22
23
23
24
25
26
28
28
29
30
31
32

1. INTRODUCTION TO HR:
Managing human resources effectively has become vital to organizations within the modern
and fast-paced business environment, more so as the economy the world over converge into
a synapse of globally connected and independent sectors aimed at preserving and creating
knowledge rather than products and service alone.
HR development acts as the mentor to its employees guiding, training and educating them
in the way of the industry and the organization. Well trained and competent employees,
who are not able to showcase themselves and their organization to the customers in a more
3

effective manner, help in increasing customer satisfaction and overall clientele, by adding
credibility and reputation to the business, Effective HR planning and development bring
quality and loyal workers who are committed and passionate about the success of their
organization.

1.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

To analyze HRM techniques and methods at Google.

To analyze how employees help a company in differentiating itself from its

competitors.
To analyze how the company attract and retain employees in a competitive

environment.
To analyze the innovative HR practices and the Best Place to Work For culture at

Google.
To understand the Training & Development department at Google.
To get a clear picture of Compensation Management and other perks and benefits

being offered to the employees.

To analyze the future implications of Googles HR practices in the long run.

2. GOOGLE.COM
2.1. BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANY:
Industry: Media
US Employees
Training
Voluntary Turnover
Job Applicants
Headquarters
CEO
Founded
Ticker Symbol
Website

Media: Online Internet Services

5063
120 hours/year
2.6%
2 million/year
Mountain View, CA
Dr. Eric Schmidt
1998
GOOG
www.google.com

Source: http://www.google.com/

Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University in 1995. By 1996, they
had built a search engine (initially called BackRub) that used links to determine the
importance of individual webpages.
Larry and Sergey named the search engine they built Google, a play on the word
googol, the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros. Google Inc. was born in
1998, when Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check for $100,000 to that entity
which until then didnt exist.
Google Inc., the 12 year old technology service provider based in Mountain View,
California, was voted the number one Best Company to Work for in America for the second
year in a row by its employees. It is the biggest brand name in the world today a brand,
which is built upon a culture that is high on trust, low on politics, great at sharing resources
and wealth, and full of meaning and significance.
2.2. GOALS & VISION:
Googles mission statement is To organize the world information and make it universally
accessible and useful. The work culture and employee empowerement philosophy at
Google was apparent from the day the company was launched in 1998.
The founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, wanted to establish Google as a company that
was to be seen as a company run by geeks. The HR Department, in its alignment with the
business strategy of trying to attract the best minds across the globe to work for Google.
2.3. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE:
Schein defines the culture as: The climate and practices that organizations develop around
their handling of people, or to the espoused values and credo of an organization.
Organization culture is a rich description of organizational life.
Schein describes culture as the most powerful and stable force in organizations. Googles
organizational culture can be analyzed thought Ouchis framework. Ouchi studied three
different companys culture and saw that the differences between those explained a part of

the companys success. Depending on his theory it seems that Google Inc. is the type Z US
firm.
Fig 1 Ouchis Framework
Cultural
Characteristics
Commitment

Type

(Japanese Type

model)
to Life contract

(typical Type

(credited

American model)
Short term contract

American model)
Long term contract

Fast and quantitative

Slow and qualitative

employees
Evaluation

Slow and qualitative

Careers

Large and not based Very narrowed and Moderately based on

Control

on specialty
specialty based
Implicit and informal Explicit and formal

specialty
Implicit and formal

Decision Making

Grouped

Grouped

Responsibility

consensual
Collective

Concern for people

Holistic (firm and Narrowed

Global (individual at

family)

work)

and Individual
Individual

(individual tasks)

and

consensual
Individual

Source: Siehl, C. & Martin, J. (1998), Measuring Organizational Culture

Ouchi argues that the culture of the Type Z firms help those to outperform typical American
firms. The main reason it that firms like Google systematically invests in their people and
operations over the long run and so obtain steady and significant improvements in the longterm performance.
Fortune describes Google as the best company in the world to work for. Fortune dint find it
difficult to rate their efficiency or effectiveness. Google does more business than their
competitors and at a lower cost.
Google tries to maintain open culture, in which everyone is a contributor and feels
comfortable in sharing ideas and opinions. For example, employees can have free snacks or
bring their pet at the office or go to the gym and spa salon (environmental atmosphere
illustrated in Appendix A). Employees can benefit from flexible working hours and have
some time for their self-directed projects, which shows the importance of the creativity and
innovation from each and in every department. Moreover control is done through informal

and implicit mechanism. There arent any managerial hierarchies or management structure,
which gives the employees complete freedom.
In their weekly meetings, the Googlers are given the freedom to ask questions directly to
Larry, Sergey and any other executives about any issues in the company. Their offices and
cafes are designed to increase interaction between Googlers within and across teams.
Google boasts some unique cultural aspects:

Local touches like ski gondolas in Zurich, expressing each offices unique location

and personality.
Dogs, lava lamps and massage chairs.
Double rooms with three or four team members. There are few single rooms.
Football, darts, assorted video games, pianos, ping-pong tables, lap pools, gyms that

include yoga and dance classes.

Social groups of all kinds, such as meditation classes, films clubs, wine tasting

groups, and salsa dance groups.

Healthy food at wide variety of cafes, and outdoor seating for sunshine

brainstorming.
Snacks and drinks to keep Googlers going throughout the day.

They build such loyalty from their employees that many of the employees see each other
and the Google management as their family.
Googles organizational culture is very strong. Google hires people that embody their
companys values and feel the same intense desire for unlimited amount of information.
This desire allows the employees to work towards the same goal.
Googles culture is combination of things. It is ethical, customer-responsive, and spiritual.
Google encourages the employees to be creative in problem solving. These employees are
given freedom in their jobs and which they never misuse it. Employees are rewarded for
their individual as well as team accomplishments.
It is this sort of culture that creates individuals that have the desire and the motivation to
stay with a company.

Reinforcing its emphasis on building a healthy work culture, Google hired Stacy Savides
Sullivan as the Chief Culture Office in 2000. Google has managed to present the
combination of a financially successful company offering a highly sought after work
environment. It lays importance on offering a work-life balance by promoting the culture of
flexi-timings for Googlers, breaking the norm of fixed mandatory working hours. Googlers
enjoy the flexibility of working from home while also choosing a convenient time to come
to work.
2.4. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Organizationally, Google maintains a casual and democratic atmosphere, resulting in its
distinction as a Flat Company (See Appendix B). The company does not boast a large
middle management, and upper management is so hands on, its hard to qualify them in
separate category. Teams are made up of members with equal authority and a certain level
of autonomy is maintained. They are highly collaborative culture. There is no top-down
hierarchy.
Googles culture can be also analyzed and defined as an organic structure (See Appendix
C). This type of structure is characterized by flexibility, empowerment and teamwork. This
structure defines well Googles organization as it is non-hierarchical and cross-functional:
there arent any barriers between the different departments.

Executives encourage

employees and managers to work directly with each other, instead of through more formal
channels. Googles open communication contributes to the organizational structure and
their idea policy is one of the most substantial managerial features. Also the top
management leaves their office door open in order for workers to feel free to come and talk
directly. It gives the staff a sense that they contribute to the companys business objectives.
The structure promotes corporate transparency because employees are able to witness and
contribute to the leadership function. As a result, almost every employee has access to
almost any managerial meeting. Googles management realizes that every employee has a
stake in the company and employees in turn feel a responsibility for the outcome of the
companys projects.
Googles methods attract top talent because their management focuses on controlling
through shared vision. Where many companies have bureaucratic and linear controls,
8

Google allows employees to set and maintain their own standards. These open policies
translate into a distinctive corporate structure that inspires good nature and guidance.
Employees love to work at Google, but not just because of perks such as flexible work time
and bonuses, they also love the work that comes from the cross-functional leadership
structure.
2.5. HR AS A STRATEGIC PARTNER OF BUSINESS:
HR department at any organization has a unique challenge it has to ensure that the
employees are motivated and committed to the organization with complete integrity and
honesty. However, at the same time, the HR department has to ensure that the market
dynamics are not adversely affected by the sheer volumes of investment involved in the
process.
HR practices at Google are named People Operations, which is designed to underline the
fact that it is not a mere administrative function, but ensures to build a strong employeeemployer relationship. Googles HR practices clearly reveal the impressive results of the
companys approach, hich help in increasing employee productivity. The HR team is made
up of general HR business partners, internal consultant, line managers, learning and
development, and recruitment teams. They are also specialists in compensation and
benefits, but most of the team members work as general HR business partners and internal
consultants.
The business model strategy of not merely trying, but actually delivering the best solution
has been a benchmark of the work culture at Google. The workplaces and office locations
all over the world are built over sprawling spaces which provide the employees not only
with every possible space for creativity and innovation, but also ensures that the
employees ideas are duly and uncompomisingly studied, worked on, and acknowledged.
2.6. RECRUITMENT & SELECTION AT GOOGLE:
Google gets more than 2 million applications a year. Applicants passing initial screening by
recruiters will be asked to do a phone interview first then round of about five meet-andgreets with mangers and other team members.

Googles spokesman Jordan Newman said, Candidates can wear jeans to interviews. We
want people to feel comfortable because this is really a fun place to be.
Recruitment at Google is the first and foremost step in the overall HR processes. Hiring the
right people is a key HR philosophy at Google the median age of employment at Google
is 27 years, making it the youngest workforce across the industry.
As Google has a monopoly in web based search engine they follow a rigorous and quality
assured process for its internal vacancies. Unlike other IT companies, Google tries to fulfill
its requirements by developing skills in the existing employees. As soon as there is any
vacancy, the HR department tries to find out the suitable existing employees who can be
replaced in the vacant position. If any further knowledge or training is required Google
ensures that the resources undergo proper training and development program before joining
that position.
If HR department fails to identify such skills and talents from the existing employees then
they go for talent acquisition from the market. Before conducting the recruitment and
selection process the management ensures whether the documents describing the roles and
responsibilities are proper or not. For this the HR managers conduct several meetings with
the Head engineers to know the technical requirement, which is expected from the
candidates. The reports cover different aspects like reports to, tenure, compensation
package, scope of responsibilities, and duties, authority, budget, staff team, location,
conditions,

knowledge,

skills,

experience

values,

performance

standards,

problems/objectives, results/priorities, ideal candidate profile.

Then the rest process is covered in three procedural steps:
Suitable Profile Search.
Challenging Interviews and selection process.
On boarding of the candidate.
Suitable Profile Search:
Google is proud of its centralize recruiting team, comprising of hiring specialists, to fill
the companys growing repertoire of job positions. To attract and retain best employees
and to pay more attention to them, Google has created the disruptive approach for

10

recruiting. It has developed a recruiting machine to categorize the jobs for the
recruitment process. This contains details of the entire organization, requirements of
the organization from the leaders to the entry-level employees. Through its branding,
public relations, and recruiting efforts, Google has attracted many professionals from
every industry and university. Google takes measures to change the way the employees
work so as to attract and retain the best employees. It has successfully implemented the
standard best practice tools for recruiting functions (See Appendix D). Known as
People Operations, the HR team at Google employs an Applicant Tracking System,
that enables the recruiter to keep an account of the number of resumes posted on
Googles website, screen them and shortlist candidates for the recruitment process.

Challenging Interviews and Selection Process:

As the company aspires to work only with great employees, it has put in place a
rigorous selection process. Interviewers rank the potential candidates on a scale of 1-4,
with 4 being the highest. Lynn Fox, Googles spokesman said, Our recruiting
organization is the world-class, and weve been pleased with our ability to scale
quickly without sacrificing the quality of our recruits. The shortlisted candidates have
to undergo tough interviews of nearly 4 rounds. Conducted in an informal
conversational style, these interviews evaluate potential hires on their day-to-day
problem solving ability instead of focusing on their previous work experience.
Further, Google is famous for the use of mathematical problems while screening
candidate. These responses are recorded simultaneously, making the candidate feel
valued.
Google is known for its rigorous selection process. They conduct 4-12 round of
interviews and apart from initial 2 rounds of HR interviews, rest all are technical based.
In most of the cases the candidates are asked to demonstrate their technological skills
and other proficiencies. In some cases candidates are made to write what they have
learned in their academics and then a questionnaire is formed and interview revolves
around those questionnaire itself. In some cases candidate made to write a complex
program, the main motive behind is to identify the approach towards solution.

11

In an interview the interviewee is looking for 4 things:

Leadership: They want to know how an individual behaves in different situation in

order to mobilize teams. This might by asserting a leadership role at work, or by

helping a team to succeed without officially being appointed as a team leader.

Role Related Knowledge: They look for variety of strengths and passions. They
also want the candidate to have the experience and a nice background. As well as

the technical skills are also taken into consideration.

How You Think: Here they are least interested about grades. They wants to know
how the candidates think and in what way he approaches the problem and solve it.

On Boarding the Candidate:

The new employees are clustered into groups to understand Googles work culture and
group coordination.
Apart from all this Google follow its distinctive techniques for selection. Google code
jam competition and offering any amount of the candidates ask for finding flaws with
the Googles products.
2.6.1. How They Decide?
They collect feedback from multiple Googlers. Here candidates are assigned different
teams and made to work on different projects. So this is to see how well the candidate
fits into the organization. An independent committee of Googlers review feedback
from all of the interviewers. These committees ensure they are hiring for long term.
Google have spend a lot of time making their hiring process more efficient by reducing
time-to-hire and making proper communication to candidates. Though including
Googlers in the selection process takes longer, its worth it.
2.6.2. Internships:
Apart from recruiting or selecting a candidate, Google also offers Internships for
students. Their Internship program is in all fields i.e. technical as well as Sales, General
and Administrative.

12

The students will be selected on the basis of the interviews. Google take care of the
learning as well as their stay. They provide accommodation facilities and a competitive
stipend. Because they want the experience to be pleasant.
2.7. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:
Google schedules their performance reviews twice a year major one at the end of the year
and a smaller one mid year. The techniques used for Performance Appraisal are as
follows:
3600 Performance: At Google review consists of a self-assessment, a set of peer
reviews, subordinate reviews as well as supervisors.
In the self-assessment, the employees need to summarize their major
accomplishment and their accomplishment since the last review. The SWOT
analysis also needs to be done with respect to the job expectations.
For peer reviews, employees need to choose 3-8 peers and they will review the
employee. Sometimes managers offer peers to write the reviews. The peer review
3 purposes:

They allow you to give direct feedback on the employees quality,

teamwork, etc. and if the peer is not comfortable in sharing the information directly
with the employee they can give feedback to the managers.

They feed into them managers decision regarding their performance rating.

If any employee has applied for promotion, peer review becomes an

important part of the application process.
Even the subordinate reviews are done which helps in knowing how an employee
treats their subordinates and are they helpful.
A supervisor review is done to know are they able to handle the job
responsibility assign to them.

13

2.7.1. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:

In Google they follow more of Performance Management than Performance Appraisal.
Instead of setting goals for them, Googles management helps their employees meet the
objectives that the employees set for themselves. Although Googles management
makes suggestions, employees use metrics that they choose themselves to measure
their progress toward their goals. Supervisors act as managers to ensure that the
employees meet their own goals, but employees see them as leaders because the
employees themselves set the benchmarks.
If any employee is applying for promotion, reasons should be mentioned why should
you be promoted. Such reviews are submitted via an online tool. And during
performance review time engineers take one or two days to write a review.
2.8. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT:
Google employees are given tremendous opportunities to learn and grow. Professional
development opportunities offered to all employees include classes on individual and team
presentation skills, content development, business writing, executive speaking, delivering
feedback, and management/leadership. Global Education Leave Program enables
employees to take a leave of absence to pursue further education for up to 5 years with
$1,50,000 in reimbursement.
Google emphasized on employee development through 0n-the-job learning, training
through classes conducted by higher officials, frequent departmental meetings and lectured
by famous personnel.
An Engineering training group, provides orientation and training classes, mentoring, career
development, and tutorial services all programs built by and for engineers. Google has
also expanded its global learning and development team during the last year and is creating
new leadership development programs to help develop and support Googles future leaders.
In a survey, 92% of employees indicated that they are provided T&D to further them
professionally, and 97% indicate that they are given the resources and equipment to do their
job.
14

The class has three steps: attention training, self-knowledge and self-mastery, and the
creation of useful mental habits. More than 1,000 Google employees have taken the class,
and theres a waiting list of 30 when its offered, four times a year. The class accepts 60
people and runs seven weeks.
It is mandatory for all employees to undergo T&D sessions for a minimum of 120
hours/year, which is about three times the industry average in North America of 43
hours/year. This shows the amount of effort, time and money that Google invests in its
employees to keep them abreast of the professional and technological advancements.
At Google headquarters, employees are offered hundreds of free classes. But one of the
most popular is called S.I.Y or Search Inside Yourself, taught by engineer and Google
employees.
Google offers a special class for new managers and executives where they are taught how
to exert influence in more subtle ways. Even before the formation of GoogleEDU in 2010,
Google would assign promising young product managers career and management coaches
who would teach them how to negotiate better salaries, improve their presentation skills, or
talk through the reasons why someone should or shouldn't leave to found a start-up,
remembers one former employee who left the company in 2007. These programs
engendered a lot of loyalty.
2.9. COMPENSATION STRUCTURE:
Google stands out as being one of the most sought after and yet one of the most
underplaying employers in the industry. Employees are attracted not to the short-term
monetary return from work, but rather to support system that could help them to create
anything. The innovative Stock Option system at Google ensures that all employees get
compensated competitively.
Googles compensation program, also called pay-for-performance, focuses on providing
reward for strong performance as well as training for overcoming weaknesses for
underperformers. This philosophy of Google was applied to all Google employees, and

15

there was an increase in the portion of compensation in accordance with the levels of
leadership and responsibility.
Google typically pays its employees 12% above market. There is an assumption that many
of the employees that work at Google are top performers, this increase wasnt about
performance but more about their commitment to be the very best in terms of
compensation. They wanted to do that across the board not just for certain individuals. In
Googles case it was in addition to their merit process. It was about raising all of their
salaries to levels that exceed at the competition.

Googlers also fetch good salaries. While fresh MBAs are offered salaries between $80,000
and $120,000 per annum, experienced engineers draw an annual package of $130,000 along
with 800 options. According to a research conducted by Glassdoor in 2008, software
engineers at Google draw an enviable compensation package as compared to their
counterparts at Microsoft or Yahoo! (Figure 1)
Fig 2 Salary comparison of Googles Software engineers with competitors (in$)

Source: Apple Engineers Paid Below-Market Salaries

http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Apple-Engineers-Paid-Below-MarketSalaries.png

16

So strong is the work culture and employee committed bent upon technology solutions
rather than tangible compensation. Google became the first company where the Board of
Directors requested for a reduction in salaries and compensation because they felt they
were getting more paid than they needed. All the employees greed, and in 2008-09, the
employees formally demanded a wage cut. During the same period, the turnover was
1.43%.
When low performers are put on performance improvement plans about 25 percent of the
time they improve their performance, 50 percent of the time they move to a different role
within the company that may suit them better and 25 percent of the time they leave.
2.9.1. PERKS & BENEFITS:

Up to $8,000/year in tuition reimbursement.

On-site perks include medical and dental facilities, valet parking, free washers and
dryers, and free breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis at 11 gourmet

restaurants.
Unlimited sick leaves
27 days of paid time off after one year of employment.
Global Education Leave Program enables employees to take a leave of absence to

pursue further education for up to 5 years with $1,50,000 in reimbursement.

Free shuttles equipped with Wi-Fi from locations around the Bay Area to

headquarter offices.
Classes on a variety of subjects from estate planning and home purchasing to
foreign language lessons in French, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin.

2.10. 70/20/10 RULE:

Google came up with a formula for its employee to follow to ensure creativity. Employees
have to divide their time at work into three parts: 70 percent are to be devoted to search and
advertising, 20 percent (1 day of the working week) on a project of their choice, and 10
percent to far-out ideas. Googles competitiveness, this strategy has been working wonders
for the company. As a result employee has come up with application such as Google Talk,
Gmail and also their San Francisco Wi-Fi initiative giving all San Franciscan free Internet.
17

In order to create a learning organization, Google put team member within a few feet of
each other. The result being that everyone shares an office with one or more member of the
team. With every team member being knowledgeable sitting next to each other, knowledge
sharing is a part of life everyday at Google. And with immediate access to the entire team,
Total Quality Management is coordinated within the team.
2.11. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING:
Google hiring process takes from one to four months and it is inconvenient for applicants,
however it is necessary from business performance view. In order to hire new employee
management should approve head count; also staff can only be hired into approved
positions. All new positions must pass through the respective budget approvals for each
area. Additionally, recruitment at Google is not the sole responsibility of the HR team. The
need to hire the right people across the organization becomes the outlook of every
employee, turning Goggle into a recruiting machine. Currently Googles head count has
more than tripled, however managers need time for approval of each position in order to
make the right decision.
2.12. BEST PEOPLE PRACTICE:
Creating a great workplace requires more than a specific set of programs and practices there is no set of required benefits, resources or perks that works for all. Best Companies
develop their own unique cultures in which employees are able to say "I trust the people I
work for, have pride in what I do, and enjoy the people I work with."
There are certain dimensions of how it plays out in the workplace. They are as follows:
Best Practices that Build Credibility:
o Communications are open and acceptable.
o Competence in coordinating human and material resources.
o Integrity in carrying out vision with consistency.
Best Practices that Show Respect:
o Supporting professional development and showing appreciation.
o Collaboration with employees on relevant decisions.
o Caring for employees as individuals with personal lives.
18

 Best Practices that Ensure Fairness:

o Equity-balanced treatment for all in forms of rewards.
o Impartiality-absence of favoritism in hiring and promotions.
o Justify-lack of discrimination and process for appeals.
Best Practices that Develop Pride:
o Employees feel pride in their personal jobs.
o In work produced by ones team or work group.
o In the organizations products and standing in the community.
Best Practices that Support Camaraderie:
o Ability to be oneself.
o Socially and friendly atmosphere.
o Sense of family and team.
2.13. CORPORATE SOCIAL REPSONSIBILITY:
Googles CSR strategy is openly motivated by enlightened self-interest. According Axel
Marrtinez, assistant treasurer for Google, the company invested US$28 million in 240
affordable housing units for low-income families in Boston
Google donated $11.5 million in slave places around the world, it was around 27 million
people to whom Google donated.
On May 12th, 2008, a 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province in Western China,
claiming the lives of tens of thousands. To support the vast and urgent need for material
resources, Google and its employees raised over 18 million RMB (USD 2.6mm) and
donated over 7 million RMB (USD 1.02mm) s worth of free online advertising to
earthquake relief organizations. In early September 2008, Google funded construction of 15
Google Quake Relief Hope Schools in the city of Mianyang in Sichuan province, helping
18,184 elementary and high school students to return to the classroom.
Google is creating a web thats better for the environment. They are using resources
efficiently and supporting renewable power, which means when you are using Google you
are being better to the environment.

19

On a scale of 1 to 100, top-ranked Google scored 80.84. With the exception of Berkshire
Hathaway, consumer-oriented companies made up the majority of the top 20 CSRI
performers
The big picture:
They have worked hard to minimize the environment impact of services. Google uses
less energy than it takes to do a single load of laundry. According to an independent
study, Google uses very little of the world's electricity (less than 0.01%)
Google is first major internet service company to gain external certification of high
environmental standards throughout US data centers.
Efficiency:
Google data centers uses 50% less energy than any other typical data center
Renewable energy:
Google have committed over $1 billion to renewable energy projects
Product:
A business using Gmail decreases its environmental impact by up to 98%. In fact,
small businesses with less than 50 people can save up to 172.8 kWh of energy and
101.6 kg of carbon per user per year by using Gmail instead of locally hosted email.

Google is using cloud-based business services substantially which decreases a wide

range of costsfrom IT infrastructure setup to management through which
organization can achieve substantial energy and carbon savingsranging from 65 to
85%by migrating to Google Apps.

20

Google Apps has enabled the company to reduce operating costs by approximately
$350,000..." thus the people using Gmail decrease its environmental impact by up to
98%.
2.14. GOOGLES PERFORMANCE VIA STAFF PERFORMANCE:
The success of Googles products and services is mainly because of innovation expected by
the company from every employee and 20% time given by the company for the purpose. It
is obvious that the HR activities and policies are actually driving Googles corporate
business success. To encourage creativity and interaction among employees, Googles
office is designed so as to provide colors, lighting and shared room. Googles HR practices
reveal that the companys approach helped in increasing employee productivity. The
average Google employee generated more than $1 million in revenue each year. This helps
Google leverage its workforce productivity, which in turn enhances employee morale.
Googles HR policies and work culture are unique and the managers are allowed to try new
approaches, to make mistakes and learn from failure. The organizations recruiting function
is different from traditional methodology. The companys focus is on reducing recruiting
cost and increasing the success of the organization by hiring good performers who have the
capability to become top performers. Google acknowledges that talent management plays a
significant role in its success. Google is considered by many personnel as the best place to
work mainly because of its fun at work and various notable reasons (See Appendix E).
According to management experts from Wharton University, All the perks provided by
Google mean business. Peter Cappelli, Management Professor and Director of the Center
for HR at Wharton said, These benefits help companies recruit people who are willing to
spend almost all of their time at work. Googles main aim is to achieve several goals such
as attract the best knowledge-workers, help the employees work long hours by feeding
them gourmet meals on-site, handling other time-consuming personal chores and to remain
as Googlers for longer period of time.
2.15. CRITICS ON HIRING PROCESS:
Googles recruiting function is innovative, there is no formal, well communicated
recruitment strategy. Although, nearly every candidate at Google commented on its slow
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screening, recruiting, and interview process. Several posts on Why Google Employees
Quit suggest that hiring process in Google is very long, time-consuming and annoying.
Logan, former employee of Google posted I experiences the same painful hiring process
all of you did. The reputation of Google is why I worked there for three and a half year. I
took pride in where I worked and the work I was doing. I knew I could get paid more
elsewhere but the caliber of people to my left and right was amazing. I learned a lot and
have benefited from the time I spent at Google.
There are lots of similar complains about hiring process and it is true that Googles hiring
process is time-consuming, both for employees and for Google.
2.16. CHALLENGE OF GROWTH:
As Google continues to grow bigger, it faces the continual challenge of being able to handle
successfully its open and fun-filled work culture. Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of
Legal Studies and Business Ethics at Wharton University said, Google has done a
remarkable job in growing from a small, private company to a 15,000 person organization
in just a few years, without killing its startup-like innovation culture. But, analysts are
concerned that as the company grows, it is difficult for it to provide the same financial and
other incentives for its employees. Googles meteoric growth also poses a threat to its
intimate team culture and its ability to handle creative conflicts among Googlers. Further
Google struggles to keep its culture away from the shackles of bureaucracy while being
able to stimulate its employees. Avoiding organizational lethargy from creeping in while
constantly launching new products is also not an easy feat to accomplish. Hornsey believes
that overcoming its growing pains is the biggest challenge faced by HR at Google
(Business Week, 2005). She added, so many companies have started off very innovative,
creative and vibrant, but have then failed and become bureaucratic. Its always a danger
when you grow.

2.17. GAP IN COMPANY NATURE:

The nature of work at Google undergoes constant changes, hence few employees are able to
achieve the task for what they were initially hired. It is also opined that this may hinder the
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performance management function. Because every hire has been extensively screened and
Google believes, All employees have high potential and if someone fails, Google
managers take the attitude that theyre to blame, not the employee.
Googles unconventional work culture has stirred many debates. A 12-hour working day
has become a norm at Google, owing to its wide array of employee benefits.
Further, its recruitment approach, where candidates grades are preferred over prior work
experience has also emerged as a matter of concern. Gross asserts, Some people would
argue that working at Google is more exciting, but Google employees are working
incredible hours.

3. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION:

Much of the companys success has been based on the fact that they have been more
flexible and forward thinking than its competitors such as Microsoft and Yahoo. Managing
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growth with the collegiate atmosphere of the company is essential to sustain its success in
the future. Google has built a culture where a well chosen elite accommodates flexibility,
shifting roles and above all else, urgency. As Google grows in size and strength, it is a
challenge to maintain the pace of innovation and convey a sense of empowerment to
Googles engineers and product managers. There is a risk of the organization losing its
dynamism and becoming more bureaucratic.
Employees should be encouraged to start independent initiatives and they should have the
time and resources to pursue new ideas. Google should be careful in balancing business and
pleasure activities. Although providing freedom to engineers might attract talent and
encourage innovation, but the company should not deviate from its core business strategy
which directly affects the revenue.

4. REFERENCES:
A Look Inside the Google Talent Machine [online] Available at
http://humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/B1/0C0429B1.asp?Type=60&category=1223

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Baker Loren, Google Receives 1,000,000 Job Applications a Year [online] Available at
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-receives-1000000-job-applications-a-year/4308/
Barney J.B. (2002), Gaining And Sustaining Competitive Advantage, Prentice Hall, 2nd Edition.
Benefits, Google Inc [online] Available at
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=benefits.html

Deal, T. & Kennedy, A. (1982). Corporate cultures. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Fletcher Sarah, Google: Recruiting and Developing Top Talent [online] Available at
http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin?id=164515
Getting into Google [online] Available at
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=gettinggoogle.html
Google, Inc. Company history [online] Available at
htttp://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Google-Inc-Company-History.html
Iyer Bala and Davenport Thomas H., Reverse Engineering Googles Innovation Machine,
Harvard Business Review, April 2008
Lashinsky Adam, Life Inside Google [online] Available at
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0701/gallery.Google_life/8.html
Corporate Social Responsibility [online] Available at
http://www.google.cn/intl/en/about/company/responsibility/

Strategic Analysis of Google [online] Available at

http://www.slideshare.net/josh633/strategic-analysis-google
Sullivan John, Google Continues to Innovate In Recruiting and Candidate Assessment
[online] Available at
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http://www.rer.net/articles/db/95872408130C40EC8AD8B3FF0975D145.asp
Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker (1961) Organic Systems [online] Available at
http://valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_burns_mechanistic_organic_systems.html
Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google [online]
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html&about=top10

100 Best Companies to Work For [online] Available at

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2008/jobgrowth/
The Google Approach to Employee Selection [online] Available at
http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/recruitment-extra/2010/09/14/the-google-approach-toemployee-selection/
Performance Reviews At Google [online] Available at
http://www.quora.com/How-are-performance-reviews-done-at-Google-What-are-they-used-for
Workforce Education Program [online] Available at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404577466852658514144.html
HR Strategic Planning Google [online] Available at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13286610/Strategic-HR-Planning-at-Google-Inc

5. APPENDIX
Appendix A Environmental atmosphere in Google

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Source: http://www.impactlab.net/2009/03/01/working-for-google-has-its-advantages/

Source:http://www.impactlab.net/2009/03/01/working-for-google-has-its-advantages/
Appendix B Organizational Structure

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Source: http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/google

Appendix C Organic Culture

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Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker (1961) Organic Systems:

Organic Organization Form/Management System
Appropriate Conditions

Changing

Distribution of tasks

Contributive nature of special knowledge and experience to the common

task of the concern

Nature of Individual task The realistic nature of the individual task, which is seen as set by the
total situation of the concern
Who (re) defines tasks

The adjustment and continual redefinition of individual tasks through

Task scope

interaction with others

The shedding of responsibility as a limited field of rights, obligations

and methods
How is task conformance
The spread of commitment to the concern beyond any technical
ensured
Structure

of

definition
control,
Network, Presumed Community of Interest

authority

and

communication
Locating of knowledge

Omniscience no longer imputed to the head of concern; knowledge about

the technical or commercial nature of the here and now may be located

Communication

anywhere in the network

between
Lateral

members of concern
Governance for operations
Information and advice rather than instructions and decisions
and working behavior
Values

Commitment to the concerns task and to the technological ethos of

material progress and expansion is more highly values than loyalty and

Prestige

obedience
Importance and prestige attach to affiliations and expertise valid in the

industrial and technical and commercial milieu external to the firm

Source:http://valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_burns_mechanistic_organic_systems.html
Appendix D Standard Recruiting Tools of Google
Employee referral

Googles referral program is without any industry leading

features, but the company s strong brand coupled with

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high enthusiastic workforce makes up for weaknesses in

College recruitment

the program.
Google hires a large no. of PHDs on the premise that enjoy
exploring areas that no one else has explored. To accomplish
this, they have developed a network of direct relationships
with over 350 professors at major schools. It also has an

Professional networking

outstanding internship program.

Google also effectively uses networking groups like Linkedin

Recruiter training

and other live professional events to recruit top performers.

Google is one of only a handful of companies that requires
most newly hired recruiters to go through extensive recruiter

training prior to starting.

AdWords as a recruiting toolGoogle uses its own search tool to find passive candidates.
They attract top performers by placing their own job ads that
appear when certain keywords are typed into a search.
Contents as recruiting tools One of Googles recruiting strategy is the use of a contest to
identify and attract top software engineers.
Brain-teasers as recruiting
The other Googles recruiting is its creative use of roadside
tools

billboards and math tests placed in magazines to garner the

Friends of Google

attention of math and programming wizards.

The final recruiting tool is the friends of Google system. This
tool creates an electronic email network of people that are
interested in Google and its products but not necessarily
interested in working for the company.

Source: Sullivan John. A look inside the Google talent machine,

http://humanresourcesmagazine.com.au/articles/B1/0C0429B1.asp?Type=60&category=1223

Appendix E Reasons to Work at Google

Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google
Lend a helping hand
Life is beautiful
Appreciation is the best motivation
Work and play are not mutually exclusive
We love our employees, and we want them to know it.
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Innovation is our bloodline

Good company everywhere you look
Uniting the world, one user at a time
Boldly go where no one has gone before
There is such a thing as a free lunch after all
Source: Top 10 Reasons to Work at Google,
http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html&about=top10

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