Submitted to:

PROF. AFREEN PARKAR

GOOGLE INC. |

H.R Practices at Google

Created by:
Sana Khan
Javed Khan
Tanveer Khan
Noaman Sayed
S.K. Rehman

22
18
23
34
46

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
organiz ations

human
within

res ourc es

eff ec tivel y

the mod ern

and f as t pac ed

(Caldwell, Chatman, & O'Reilly,1990).

has

bec om e
bus iness

vital

to

environm ent

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

2.

Google.com

2.1.

Background of the Company

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . g o og l e. 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.

then

divers ifies

into e-mail,

online mapping,

networking,

and video s haring s er vic es .

Septemb er

1998.

It

had

less

than

It

off ic e produc ti vity, s ocial

G oogl e

was

regis tered

in

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 y
2001. 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
a

detail 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
zed

that

bac ked by plenty

of dat a.

Sc hmidt reali

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.
Vision

Organiz ational G oal and

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

trategic partner to the bus iness op erati ons.

2.3.
ironment
Sc hein

Cultural
(1988)

env

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

the

diff erenc es
ess .

between

thos e expl ained

a part

of

the

c ompan ys

succ

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

Type J (Japane se

Type A (typical

Type Z (credi te d

characteristic s

m odel)

Am erican m odel

Am erican m odel)

Com m itm ent

Life c ontract

Short term c ontrac t

Long term c ontrac t

Evalua tion

Slow and qualit at ive

Fas t and quantit at ive

Slow and qualit at ive

Careers

Larg e and not based

Very narrowed and

Mod erately b as ed on

on sp ec ialt y

spec ialt y based

spec ialt y

Control

Implicit and in form al

Exp lic it and form al

Implicit and in form al

Decisi on m aking

Group ed and

Individu al

Group ed and

to em ployees

cons ensu al

cons ensu al

Responsibility

Collective

Individu al

Individu al

Concern for people

Holistic (fi rm and

Narrowed (individual

Glob al (individual at

family)

task s)

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
implic it mec hanis m. There arent an y
5

is

don e

through

inf ormal

and

man ag erial

hierarc hies

employees c omplete
Even

or

man ag em ent

freed om

(Silves ter,

s truc ture,
Anders on&

whic h

gives

Patters on,

the

1999) .

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
en c ourag ed

to

between

the diff erent dep artments . People ar e

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,
6

G 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.
ood

Social G

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
(Pettigrew,

rel ations hips

to

each

other

1979). G oogl e has the inf ormal

and

to

the

outs ide

world

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.
oogle

Human Resource M anagement

in G

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
Anders on,

of

inves tment

invol ved

in

the

proc ess

( Silves ter,

& 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

reveal

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
the organiz ation
hrough

from

the

lead ers

to

organiz ation, req uirem ents of

the

entry-level

empl oyees . T

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
8

sc 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
intervi ews

in

an

inf orm al

c on vers ati onal

styl e,

thes e

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
imultan eous ly,
e,

an

making

empl oyee

the c andidat e f eel valu ed.

s aid,

T he

man ag ers

are rec orded

Highlighting

the

s am

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
funds

its

quest

f or

the

bes t tal ent,

G oogl e whol eh eartedl y

recruiting struc ture, making it a leagu e in its elf . W ith a ratio of ab

out 1 recruiter f or ever y

14 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
innovation
in G oogl es
andidat e

recruiting

func tion

is

the

data -driven

approach

to

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

1
0

the 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

sc

ientif ic, dat a-bas ed

approac h f or s electing the c andidat es has a s ignif ic

ant

rec ruiting

eff ec t on

the

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
and

res pons ibility.

through

on -the-job

acc ordanc e

with

G oogle emph as ized

learning,

the
on

levels

of

empl oyee

lead ers hip

devel opm ent

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
ideas

but

and an atm os phere that not onl y enc ourag es

exp ec ts

the

empl oyees

to

ambitious

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
10

options . 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)

Total Compensation

Fig 1 Sal ary c omp aris on of G oogl es Software engineers with c omp etitors
(in $)

100%
98%
94%
92%

4,958

6,871

96%

14,7
33

4,75

90%

Bonus

88%

Salary

86%
82%
80%

100,417

98,771

84%

97,8
4

84,25

Softwar
e
Engeneer
Software
Engineer
Development

Software
Engeneer

Software
Engeneer

Sourc e: Apple Engin eers P aid B elow -Mark et Salaries ,

h tt p :// ne ws . s o ft p ed i a. c om / ne ws I m ag e/ A p p 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

(Sullivan J ohn) . So strong

aiming

to hire c andid ates

is the work c ulture and

bent upon tec hnol og y s olutions

rath er than tangible

with similar

talents

empl oyee c ommitted

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
11

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, the

12

empl 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,

isc o

W I -Fi

Week , 2005 ).

initiative

giving

all

and

als o their San

Franc

San Franc isc an free Intern et (Bus iness

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

performance

ia

staff

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 ,
HR

practic es

reveal

that

lighting

and

s har ed

room.

G oogl es

the c ompan ys approac h helped in inc reas ing

empl oyee produc tivity. The averag e G oogl e

than $1 million in revenu e eac h year
12

empl oyee

gen erat es

more

(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.

13

2.13. 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 .

14

2.15.
Gaps
system

in

G oogle

HR

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 e
c 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 y
f 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, but
have 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 .
15

2.17.
gap

Div

ersification

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
eek,

of G oogl e s aid (Bus iness W

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

16

skills 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

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 . A12hour 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
entrep reneurial
endent

minds . Employees

initiatives

dec is ion -making

not

s low

down

s hould be enc ourag ed to start indep

and they should have the time and res ourc es to purs ue

new ideas . G oogl e should be c aref ul

ure

does

activities . Although

in

bal ancing

bus in ess

and

pleas

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.

17

Appendices
Appendi x 1 G oogle Inc .
Years

Events

1995
1996
1997
1998

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

Page and B rin s tart ed th eir p artn ership. P agerank was d evelop ed
Back Rub the p recurs or t o th e cont emporary G oog le s earch eng ine
Google was inc orporat ed and moved int o its f irst offic e a garag e in Menlo
Park California
Google moved its h eadquart ers t o P alo A lt o California and lat er t o Mount ain
View
Google 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
Eric S chmidt was h ired as chairm an and was later appoint ed CEO. G oogle
Image 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
Google 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
Google was mad e availab le in 100 languag es
Google 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
Google purchased DoubleClick d at abas e of c onsumers int entions and
behavior. 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
Google purchased You Tube at $1.65 billion, mak ing it th e c ompan ys m os t
exp ensive purch as e t ill d at e
Topp ed Fortunes lis t of B est P lac e t o W ork
Once ag ain vot ed as th e Best Place to W ork b y Fortune
Th e G oogle Trans lator Toolk it , G oogle SMS, S k y Map for Android , new s
earch
features , red es ign Google L abs

1999
2000
2001

2002
2003
2004

2005

2006
2007
2008
2009

Complet ed by the author

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www. g o og l e. c om / s e ar c h?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 l e. c om

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www. g o og l e. c om / ig?hl=en

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . g o og l e. c om / in t l/ en / op t i on s/

20

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . g o og l e. c om / in t l/ en / op t i on s/

21

Appendi x 2 Env ironmental atm os phere in G oogle

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . im p ac t l ab . c om / 2009 / 03 / 01 / wor k in g -for-goog le-h as -it s-advant ages/

Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . im p ac t l ab . c om / 2009 / 03 / 01 / wor k in g -for-goog le-h as -it s-advant ages/

22

Sourc e: h tt p :// s t r e. c o. z a/ up l o ad s / p ost s / 2007 / 4 / 12 /t hu m b s / 1176 406575 _g oog l e_ o ff ic e_ 2. jpg

23

Appendi x 3 Organic c ulture

T om Burns and G .M. Stalk er (1961) Organic Sys tems :
Appr opria te Condi tions
Distri bution of ta sk s
Nature of Indi vi dual task
Who (re )de fine s ta sk s
Task scope
How is task conform ance
ensured
Struc ture of control,
authority a nd
comm unication
Loc ating of kno wle dge
Communic atio n be twee
n
members
o f for
conc
ern
Governa nce
oper
ati ons and w orking
beha
vior
Values

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

Sy ste m
Changing
Cont 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
Th e " realist ic" n atu re of the individu al t as k, wh ich is s een as s et b
y
the
ot al situ
at ion
c oncern
Th et adjus
tment
andofcthe
ontinu
al red efin ition of individual t ask s
through interact ion with others
Th 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 or
sid
as of
being
s omeon et oels
onsib
ilit y) an y t
Th eeways
sp read
c ommitment
the's
e c resp
onc ern
b eyond
echnical defin ition
Net work, Presum ed Communit y of Int erest
Omniscienc 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
Lat eral; i.e. , bet ween p eople of d ifferen t rank, res embling
consu lt ation rather th an c ommand
Informat ion and ad vic e rath er than inst ruct ions and d ec is ions

Commitment to the con cern 's t ask and t o th e "t echnolog ic al ethos "
of
material prog ress and exp ansion is more high ly valued th an loyalt
yImport
and ob
edeienc
Prest ige
anc
andeprest ige at tach t o affiliat ions and expert is e valid in
the indust rial and t echnic al and c ommerc ial m ilieu extern al to the
Sourc e: h tt p :/ / www . v a lu eb as efirm
d m an ag em en t. n et/ m e t h od s _b u rn s _ m ec h an is t ic _ org an i c_ s ys t
em s . h t m l

24

Appendi x 4 Stand ard Rec ruit ing T ools of G

oogle
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 .
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 t
newl 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.

R ecr uit er tr ai ni ng :

AdW ords as a r ecr ui ti ng t ool :

C ont es ts as r ecr uit i ng t ools :

Br ai n-t eas er s as r ecr ui

ti ng t ool s:

Fri end s of G oogl e:

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 e
c andid at es. Bec aus e G oogl e i s r ec og ni z ed as t he m as
t er of
s 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
tr ac
t ops tr
p at
erfeg
orm
y ple aci
t heir
O ne
of tiGon,
oogt l hey
e s at
r ecr
uitit ng
y i er
s tsheb us
of angc 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 t
t 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 ts
ar e i nvi t ed t o t he Mount ai n Vi ew c amp us t o c omp et e f or
US$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
e G oog l es r ecr ui ti ng i s i ts cr eativ e us e of r oadsid e
T he
ot her
billb oard s and m at h t est s pl ac ed i n m ag azi nes t o g ar ner t he
at 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 ard
Sq uar e. T he m at h p uzz l es on t hes e bi llb oard s c hall eng e
mat 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
tTohe
t he
G oogl
si itng
e. t ool is t he f ri end s of G oogl e s ys t em
fi nal
r ecreuit
. T hi s
t 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 y
int 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 e
ind 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

Sourc e: Sullivan J ohn, A look ins ide th e G oogle t alent mach ine,
h tt p :/ / www. hu m an r es ou rc es m ag az ine . c om . au / a rt i c l es / B 1 / 0 C0429 B 1 . a s p? Typ e=60&Categ ory=1223

Appendi x 5 Reas ons to W ork at G

oogle
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 al
d 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 et
you 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 and
p 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 ess
op 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 s
th 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 d
U. 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 s
Go 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
ur
pr 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 a
b ett ler
Bold
y gploace.
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 r
cr 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 eve el
ating
veasn ew
u ct
m. i Il nl ifons
of epheopl
i l l fi
T her
is os puci nnov
h a t hi
a fr pr
ee od
l unc
h saft theratall
act w
av eet w
h em
evnd
eryu seful
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,

h tt p :/ / www. go og le. c om / s upp or t/ j ob s / b in / s t at ic. p y?p ag e = ab ou t. h t m l& ab ou t = t op1 0

Bibliography
A Look Ins ide the G oogle Talent Ma chin e [ online] A vailable at
h tt p :/ / www. hu m an r es ou rc es m ag az ine . c om . au / a rt i c l es / B 1 / 0 C0429 B 1 . a s p ? Typ e =60 & Ca t eg o r y =1
22 3
Bak er Loren, G oog le Rec eives 1,000,000 Job App lic at ions a Year [ on lin e] Available at
h tt p :/ / www. s e arc h eng in e jou rn al. c om / g o og l e - r ec e i v es -100000 0 -job - app l ic at ion s - a y e ar/ 4308
Benefits , Goog le Inc [ onlin e] A vailable at
h tt p :/ / www. go og le. c om . au / s up p ort / j ob s / b in / s t at i c . p y?p ag e =b en e f it s. h t m l
Best g lob al brands for 2008 [on lin e] A vailable at
h tt p :/ / www. in t e rb r and . c om / b est _ g l oba l_b r and s . as p x