Eirini Tougli

How Google is so successful and keep

employees happy.
Google is a well known American multinational technology company, which everyone
admires because definitely it changed our lives, from many aspects . The founders of
the company always operated on the basis of their own strong principles and values
that reflect the culture of the company to date. It was the only company which operated
as modern learning organization ,focusing on people and not on advertising revenues,
as competitive companies did. Their objective was the continuous improvement of
user’s experience, avoiding the pop-up advertising on their search box, because they
thought that would bother their users. The interest on user’s satisfaction and the
decision making based on strong principles was the main factors, which are responsible
for Google’s culture. (Schmitz 2012)

The successful performance of Google cause by its military-like culture and structure.
Google’s culture is characterized by human-oriented cultural values. They take
seriously into their consideration the employees’ happiness, responsibility and well-
being. Google created a unique workplace, which inspires, attracts and motivates the
employees, keeping them happy, with the feel that they are treated well. In 2008 the
company rewarded rightly as number 1 workplace by Fortune magazine. (Schmitz
2012).

Google’s culture promotes learning, teamwork,empowerment and empathy, which lead

to the innovation and change. The company is open to new ideas ,and external
environment. The CEOS think outside the box. Mistakes are rewarded and is taken as
an opportunity for learning. Google encourages all engineers to spend 20% of their
working time on personal projects, considering that this will be beneficial, bringing new
innovative and creative ideas. Google’s strength is owned to its values , focusing on
risk taking, agility and cooperation. (Schmitz 2012).

Google’s structure is also responsible for the success of the company. Google operates
as a horizontal organization with flat hierarchy, emphasizing on process not on tasks.
This practice leads to flexibility , speed and higher cooperation due to its flat hierarchy
. Managers and employees have equality to express their ideas because the company
believes that learning flows up and down, therefore anyone can have a good idea that
may be useful and also managers and employees can learn. The company consists of
several small teams, because teamwork and resource sharing develop systematic
thinking creating the ability to connect the dots among issues and also the problems are
dealt with and solved more easily and efficiently. However, decisions are made in teams
and each problem is solved in small groups, which people influence each other using
rational persuasion and data. (Schmitz 2012).

Google is named as the best corporate culture by Forbes Technology Council. Google’s
employees are loyal, productive and efficiency, not only about their generous perks and
the charity about Silicon valley campus, but they have several more reasons. First of
all, Google understand employees’ needs and give them true flexibility on work
schedule and environment that feel comfortable to work. Employees are free to be
creative , feeling happy with their unparalleled perks. And is well-known that
employees’ happiness is directly related with productivity. It is pioneering the fact that
Google created a fun workplace , appealing workers to spend more creative hours at
work, even on weekends and seems to enjoying it. (Forbes.com, 2019).

Timothy Chaves did his NBA internship at Google, and shares his experience, arguing
that any employee has access to any technological field. Moreover, the company paying
intense attention on hiring process, choosing the best players in field, ensuring that are
not only smart and capable, but they are kind, keeping low profile as well. Google
promotes cooperation, focusing on innovation, permitting to employees have a team of
individuals with similar goals. The hiring process is the most important thing because
people make Google great and they are the mirror image of company’s culture.
(Forbes.com, 2019).

Something that seems very unusual is that Google is a Dog-Friendly workplace. The
company allows to employees to bring their dogs at work environment, as it improves
their work life and make them feel comfortable like home. (Forbes.com, 2019).

At the end of the day, what makes sense is the values which managers and employees
share across the organization. How well people treat each other and the most important
element on people’s relationship is the trust. Above and beyond job performance, what
enhance the creativity and productivity is the trust between employer and employee.
And that makes Google’s culture great. (Forbes.com, 2019).

Google’s innovation culture is inherently linked with the risk taking , experimentation,
and that is why diversify into new fields of advanced technology, such as renewable
energy, mobile computing, cloud computing, internet security and virtualization. so,
anyone could think that Google may face challenges in the next years. But what seems
very challenging is that could face with issues such as antitrust against the firm ,
copyright infringement, acquisition difficulties, disruptive innovations and privacy
concerns. But if the current innovation culture and organizational process of the
company realize the new market’s needs and consumer’s behavior and cooperate with
similar cultures, focusing on how they will maximize the profit, providing innovation
to user’s experience, then Google can succeed in any strategic business
diversification.(Managedecisions.com, 2019).

.
Consequently, i do not feel that Google may deal with any challenge in the future due
to its culture. The company is represented by brilliant employees with values, principles
and personality that they are willing to growth and improve their mindset, forgetting
their ego, because they are guided by their passion for innovation and change instead
of arrogance that many tech giants follow. Also Google has a great culture, because has
a clear and direct mission “To organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible and useful “. As long as, Google is stick to its mission, focusing on best
excellence ,ensuring culture maintenance, I assume that will continue to be successful.
(Forbes.com, 2019).

All the above is including to culture and culture is more powerful than any strategy.
Culture means the way the things are done. when an employee has high performance
or does not ,has much to do with the company’s culture. (Hbr.org, 2019).

But, it is too early to talk about any challenge, but the company seems to remains stable
to the strict code of ethics, to its dominant values, which is the mirror image of its
culture. Google did not change the way that used to deal with the issues over privacy,
copyright and censorship. Did not even introduce new rules in order to please Wall
Street and this is a good sign to anticipate the future.

Works listed

Forbes.com. (2019). Council Post: 13 Reasons Google Deserves Its 'Best Company
Culture' Award. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/02/08/13-reasons-google-
deserves-its-best-company-culture-award/#247698803482 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2019].

Managedecisions.com. (2019). Google & Innovation Culture – Challenges ahead –

Manage Decisions. [online] Available at:
http://www.managedecisions.com/blog/?p=448 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2019].
Hbr.org. (2019). The Ripple Effect of a Great Work Culture. [online] Available at:
https://hbr.org/video/2226822296001/the-ripple-effect-of-a-great-work-culture
[Accessed 4 Apr. 2019].

Schmitz, A., Organizational Behavior, 2012, (http://www.saylor.org/books), Saylor

Academy