Google is one of the biggest search engines in the world.

It started off with a

simple search engine and has diversified into many other areas. I am choosing
Google for this assignment because it is one of the best companies out there
which is not only a great place to work for but is also a great trend setter.

Introduction

Google’s HR objectives are to make sure that their employees are more productive. The
Google HR strategy has been planned in a manner where it ensures that Google employees
come up with better tools to make a better tomorrow. Google has spent a large amount of
capital to ensure that they get the best HR resources. They believe that investing in HR in the
short term will lead to long term benefits. Google has invested in a top of the line research lab
which will help them achieve their search goals. Google also wants to promote their state of
the art ad system which will allow them to reach out to a majority of marketers around the
world.

The thing about Google is that they are quite laid back in a lot of ways. They are proud of
what they have done and what they want to achieve. This is one reason why they have no
issues with themselves being branded as geeks as it is a matter of pride for them. Google’s
strategy is that it has one of the best HR departments in the world. The HR department has
played a huge role in the success of the organization. Their employees are as committed to
Google as the founders are because of their genuine love for innovation. Google’s main
mission statement is that its employees focus on creativity and innovation while having
access to the perfect mix of information and resources for their work. Google values its
employees a great deal and that’s why its main strategy is to focus on creating new human
capital and retaining those employees. It is important for the employees to be loyal, honest
and maintain their integrity within the organization. Google has allotted a huge chunk of its
budget for recruiting employees. It has been estimated that Google has a ratio of 1 recruiter
for around 14 employees.

Recruitment and Selection

Google is one of the most diverse places to work at as it has people of different
backgrounds working there. Google is one of the biggest recruiters in the market
because it is always in the need for new employees. It has the lowest turnover
rate for an organization and is able to retain its employees for a longer period of
time. It is estimated that Google receives more than 1500 cvs a day as it is one
of the hottest places to work for. Google’s main goal is to get employees who
can adjust in a culture which is full of collaboration, innovation and openness.
External Recruitment

The main bulk of the employees come to Google via External recruitment.
Google advertises for most of its jobs through the internet or on other job
websites. Google uses the traditional methods of using professional recruiters to
hire new employees. They also have special links with universities to recruit the
best of their talent through an internship program. They are able to get the best
talent before other people spot them. Google also uses its own job site to recruit
employees as well as going to Job fairs to recruit people. They have also used
innovative ways such as linked in to find prospective candidates online.

Internal Recruitment

There are a number of jobs at Google which can’t be filled by external

candidates. It is easier to choose a candidate from within the organization as the
cost will be lower and it will take less time for the position to be filled. Employees
can find out about job listings within the corporate intranet or through notice
boards or through word of mouth publicity at work. They can also be nominated
by their peers or managers for certain open posts.

Selection Methods: Phone Interview and On Site

The selection process at Google is such that prospective candidates are short
listed before they are to be interviewed. They are subjected to a phone interview
to determine their technical skills and proficiency as well as to see if they should
be brought in towards the next round of face to face interviews. If the candidate
is successful he/she is evaluated on site to test the core skills and see if he/she is
competent. This is also followed by another round of interviews. The prospective
candidate is interviewed by both the management as well as potential co
workers.
Google PEST Analysis

Political

Google has faced a lot of pressure from the European Union in regards to their
data protection policy in the past. Google has been known for keeping its data
retention policy which has gotten them into a lot of trouble. The EU is known for
its stringent measures and fought a long legal battle with Google over its data
retention policy. The British government also condemned Google for their
product Google Earth. Google Earth was known to have picture of a lot of place
including the SAS headquarters. Google has also gotten into trouble with the
Chinese Government for refusing to their censorship policy after complying with
it for a long time. The Chinese Government put a lot of pressure on Google after
which they decided to end their operations in the country and to move out.

Economic

The Economic Downturn brought about a big challenge for all organizations
around the world. it is said that despite Google’s growth and its rapid expansion
it was still not recession proof. There were layoffs at Google during the recession
but it only affected those workers who were contractual part time workers and
were still not high as their competitors such as Microsoft. Google had fired
hundreds of employees during the start of the economic downturn. The numbers
were estimated to be around 10,000 during the end of the economic downturn.
This did not mean that Google cut down on any of the benefits it gave to its
employees but just found other ways to cut corners so that the productivity of its
employees would not be affected.

Social

Google gives its employees unlimited time off for sick leave, 27 days of vacation
time, free medical and dental facilities on-site, access to a gym, car wash and
bank. They also provide free meals three times a day. They also pay special
attention to employees who are in the family way by giving them plenty of time
off when they are expecting a baby. Expectant mothers are given 18 weeks of
post maternity leave while male employees can get up to 7 weeks paternity
leave.

Technology
There have been a lot of advances in technology in the recent years. Google has
to fight to keep up with the new advances in Technology which makes the
environment quite competitive. They have to invest in new server technology
and come up with new technology which will not make them irrelevant. The more
they invest in new technology the more people they will need to service their
needs. Google has to rely totally on its technology to be able to recruit people.
They have one of the best solutions which help them evaluate the right
candidate. It uses an algorithm to check and see which of their internal
employees services are in need of a promotion in order to retain his/her.

Ethics and Diversity

Google has a very strong work ethic policy and has also drafted a very practical
code of conduct. It also does not allow for any back handed comments as it has
forbidden employees from reporting violations of the code of conduct. This
ensures that everyone follows the code of conduct and no one creates problems
for others. The upper management at Google listens to its employees a lot and
values their opinion. There is an open door policy at Google where any employee
can discuss any matter with their manager without any fear as the environment
is very friendly. They have their own ways of dealing with problems at the
company and making it easier for employees to resolve problems.

Google has a great diversity program where employees can build their skills and
raise their knowledge requirements. They have one of the best work
environments where employees are expected to keep a great atmosphere which
prevents them from being harassed, intimidated and discriminated against. Their
policy also states that all employees are employed on the basis of their
qualifications and merit. According to the Google Equal Opportunity Employment
Statement, no one is to be discriminated or harassed especially on the basis of
race, colour, religion, veteran status, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy status,
sex, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, mental or physical
disability, medical condition, sexual orientation or any other characteristics
protected by law.

Competition

There is a lot of competition between Google and other companies when it

comes to salaries and working hours. Salaries at Google are comparatively less
than than what they pay at Yahoo and Microsoft while the working hours are
nearly the same for everyone. These entire tech companies make their
employees work a lot but then give them plenty of benefits. Working hours at
Yahoo and Microsoft are more than 40 hours per week though they do get paid
for overtime and are compensated with other benefits at work. These
organizations do not put any pressure on their employees but they manage to
get their work done even if they have to put in more hours.
There is no such thing as competition amongst Google employees as it does not
bode well. Collaboration is encouraged amongst employees as this will lead to
more productivity. Employees are given access to tools such as blogs,
collaboration tools such as google talk as this will allow for more integration
across the organization. They have also come up with casual events where they
come up with previews of the forthcoming events of the week. Employees are
encouraged to ask any questions they like so that they can learn more about the
organization. The employees of Google play a big role as they can determine
what policy is to be made later if they do not agree with something. The spirit of
collaboration amongst Google employees is so high that employees use each
other as guinea pigs during the product development process. The products are
tested internally amongst employees to see what their reactions are before they
are rolled out to the public. This allows the developers to get feedback from their
peers so that they can make changes to the design before they roll it out.

Shamrock Model

The Shamrock Model states that an organization consists of three parts such as
the core permanent employees, subcontractors and flexible workforce. Google
has a big workforce out of which the permanent (core) members contribute the
most to it. They are also allowed to work flexibly within the organization. The rest
of the workers within the workforce are the temporary workers and contractual
workers who have no real worth within the company. They can become core
members if Google sees a bit of promise within them. The permanent employees
are the foundation of the company as they contribute the most towards it. The
part time workers are still considered to be part of the work force but then do not
put in as many hours as their counterparts.

Hard and Soft Model

Google has not faced any hard times but then they did suffer a slight slump in
their sales. For all what it has done with all the benefits they need to make sure
that their employees are doing their best work. The economic woes of the globe
make them get the best out of their employees. They are not indispensable at
this time and they can easily be replaced by another if the quality of the work is
not done properly. This is why most of the employees work overtime to make
sure that they are able to achieve their goals. In these tough times no one is able
to feel secure and will do anything to keep their jobs safe. It is not a time for
anyone to relax and enjoy themselves

The economic problems of the world are easing away slowly. There were also
good times at the company when they encouraged their employees to be more
productive and gave them more freedom to do their work. Google employees are
given plenty of time to develop their own projects within their working hours.
They are given the license to innovate and develop new projects. If the
employees are happy enough they turn to be more resourceful and end up
coming up with better work. Google works better by taking the approach of
giving them some breather space so that they do not burn out and contribute
something new to the world. Encouragement from the top level of the hierarchy
makes them feel better and more secure.

Google Retention Policy

Herzberg Model

Herzberg’s theory of motivation says that corporations should reward its

employees to motivate its employees. Employees are motivated when they are
rewarded with achievements, recognition and responsibility. This is also linked
with the hygiene theory which states that if a salary, company policy and
working conditions are good then it will motivate them more. It is not necessary
for the hygiene factors to be there to motivate an employee but an absence of it
will bring negative effects.

Training and Development

Google utilises the Herzberg model to motivate and reward its employees. They
spend a lot of money on training and development for its employees. They
believe that if they invest the right amount of money in their skills they will be
able to learn and prosper intellectually. Employees are given opportunities to
take classes in building up skills such as presentation skills, management skills,
writing skills, etc. They have also been given the opportunity to take up foreign
language classes for no charge. This is a great way to reward them by giving
them more responsibility.

Google has made it mandatory for its employees to go through training and
development for a minimum of 120 hours a year. This helps Google employees
further their skills professionally and allows them to learn about new professional
and technological developments. They do not want anyone to be left out in the
learning process.

Motivation

The upper management at Google wants its employees to experiment and come
up with new innovative ideas. Google Engineers have been encouraged to spend
around 20 percent of their time coming up with new products and offerings
which could make a difference in the way things are done. The company
supports its employees in a big way by giving them time to innovate. Google is
an ethical company and makes sure that its business practices do not break any
laws. They make sure that the employees do not break any rules imposed by the
company. Google employees are supposed to respect each other, protect the
secrets of the company and not harm the company in any manner.

Rewards

The best thing about Google is the fact that everyone wants to work for it even
though they don’t pay as much as other employers within the same industry.
Google only attracts those employees who are not money minded as they have
been given the ability to innovate and utilise the great support system offered by
Google. Google gives them plenty of benefits so that they don’t have to worry
about a lot of stuff. Employees don’t have to worry about their future mainly due
to the generous stock option scheme which makes it better for the company due
to its rapid growth

Google pays great attention to the health of its employees as it hosts an annual
health fair with free services such as blood pressure checkups, cholesterol
testing, blood tests, eye exams, flu shots, etc. It also has a program for its
employees where they give them up to 5k dollars in cash back if they switch to a
hybrid vehicle which is great to save the environment.

The employees are given good salaries along with bonuses, salary, equity grants
and additional bonuses through the Google employee referral program. They
also get plenty of employee discounts, free Google goodies as well as subsidies
on their travel costs.
Benchmarking

Google is a company which likes to assess its current situation by spending time
evaluating its performance on a quarterly basis. The senior management gauges
the company performance and uses it as a basis of coming up with new
objectives for the next quarter. The strategic management also allows its
employees to ask questions about where the company is headed and how it can
increase its performance. Another way of gauging the performance of the
company is to constantly subject its employees to anonymous surveys which ask
them for their reactions on various subjects. The data gathered from these
surveys allows Google to tailor their programs and adjust them according to the
needs of the employees. These results are discussed internally and efforts are
made to improve working conditions if they are lacking somewhere.

Job Satisfaction

One of the biggest threats faced by Google is the fact that they can suffer from
brain drain which would affect their long term plans. If Google loses its
employees slowly it will not be able to compete. Google has tackled this problem
with the help of a retention technique which allow s it to retain its key
employees. They have worked out an algorithm which allows them to take care
of the problem. The algorithm sorts through employee feedback history,
performance reviews, pay and promotion history. This allows them to to find out
which of its employees is more likely to quit. It is crucial for Google to prevent its
main assets from leaving their organization. It is a death wish for them to lose
their most able engineers, designers, developers, executives to a rival. This is
one reason why they constantly evaluate their employees and subject them to
formal review processes. As mentioned above Google has been spending a lot of
time and money on these ventures.

Google does not believe in overworking its employees and offers them a proper
balance in their work and life so that they do not burn out. Employees are
offered options where they can work flexible hours, work part time, and work
from home (provided their job functions allow them). It also has a unique system
where employees are able to donate a portion of their vacation time to their
peers in case of any emergency.

Google has benefitted a lot from the 20 percent off time to employees for their
personal projects as it has led to successes such as AdSense, Orkut, Gmail and
Google News. It should also be noted that the revenues to be generated from
these ventures are miniscule as compared to the revenues they make from their
search engine and ad revenues.

Conclusion
Google has one of the best HR strategies planned by any organization. They
should be lauded for their efforts to make a change in the lives of people and to
treat their employees like valuable assets and human beings. Their HR policy can
be strengthened if they give their employees a bit more flexibility and not allow
them to burn out. Their employees are not forced to work long hours but then
the working conditions are so good that they have to give back a bit of
themselves to their work. Google needs to re evaluate how it makes people
work at its premises. Employees should be allowed to have some time to them.
There should be a policy where employees have to take time out to relax and
enjoy some quality time by them. The only thing which is missing is proper
career counselling or guidance. Employees would need some sort of guidance to
see what sort of career path lies ahead for them. It wouldn’t make any sense for
them to go about unguided. Google does not pay a good salary but pays good
salaries. This is in sharp contrast to Microsoft which pays better salaries, gives
career advice and gives good benefits as well. They need to make sure they pay
a good salary so they can retain talent instead of them jumping ship. They have
made a good effort in ensuring that employees remain happy and they do give
long term benefits to their employees. Their recruitment methods are very tough
as they only want the best to come in. They can tweak that in some areas so
they can get some who may not be able to prove themselves initially but can do
a good job in the long term.

Bibliography

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(Accessed on the 18th of April 2010)

2. Anurag Gupta; 2005; Design Education: Tradition and Modernity; Treating

Employees as Customers: A Human Resource Equity

3. Keith H. Hammonds; 2007; How Google Grows... and Grows... and Grows

4. Ann Mirel; 2008; Development and Strategies for Human Resource Development;
4 – 8;

5. Millward Brown Optimor; 2008; Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ’08;
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1. Herzberg, F. 1968, "One more time: how do you motivate employees?”

Harvard Business Review, vol. 46, iss. 1, pp. 53–62

2. Handy, Charles. 1989, Shamrock Model The Age of Unreason. Century

Business

3. PESTLE analysis history and application, (2009) CIPD

4. A look at the Google Talent Machine,

http://www.hrleader.net.au/articles/b1/0c0429b1.asp Accessed on the
20th of April 2010

5. Bruno Giussani; 2006; Google nonsearch: more buzz than hits, but it
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