Human Resource Practices of Google - Case Study Example

Motivation Theory Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 31st August 2012 Executive Summary This paper analyzes the human resource practices of Google with an aim of finding out how these management practices have contributed to Google superior performance in the market. Organization’s employees are the first starting point for marketing activities of any company in the present competitive business environment. A company that is able to sell itself to its employees and motivate them to bring out the best of their abilities in their work lays a strong foundation for success in the marketplace. Employees are particularly important to service organization like Google. The analysis of Google’s human resource practices found out that Google’s organizational culture contributes immensely to the success of the company as it aims at ensuring its employees utilize all their skills. Google’s human resource practices are very successful and would be of great benefit to any organization that adopts them. To improve other organizations employee relation the following recommendations were made: Organizations should ensure they utilize the full ability of their employees. Responsibility at work should reflect the skill level of the employee. Hiring practices should be aimed at achieving a diverse workforce. Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 2.1 From a motivational theory perspective, what seems to explain Google’s Success? 5 2.2 What do Google’s hiring practices and job design principles reveal about its organizational values? Evaluate their contribution to Google’s success? 7 3.0 Practical implication for management 9 4.0 Conclusion 10 5.0 Reference List 11 1.0 Introduction Organizational behaviour has been associated by many researchers with the positive or negative performance of an organization. Motivational theories of organizational behaviour call for human resource practices that promote the enjoyment of work for employees, the freeing up of the workplace and a free run for innovation. Organizations that continually ensure their workers are highly motivated reap their just reward as they perform excellently in their respective markets. Google one of the most successful technology company is one of the organization that has adopted an organizational culture that can be regarded as liberating to employees. Google uses a HR strategy that regards to as ‘disorganization’ that allows their employees to enjoy themselves while working at the search engine and to remain innovative while serving the organization’s clients. This papers analyzes the human resource practices of Google and relates it to the theories of organizational behaviour (OB) suggested by scholars on the subject. The paper applies Hertzberg two factor theory of motivation and McGregor’s theory to Google’s organizational philosophies to find if indeed it is motivation that makes Google the best in its service industry. 2.0 Critical and Theoretical Analysis. 2.1 From a motivational theory perspective, what seems to explain Google’s Success? Motivation in organizational studies can be defined as the enthusiasm workers have towards their job. Motivation can thus be termed as a positive feeling towards ones job where you an individual feels obligated to contribute more to an organization in term of commitment, creativity and energy (Herzberg 1968). According to motivated workers contribute immensely to the positive performance of a firm and similarly Google claims it exceptional performance is due to its effort to motivate its workers. Google has success in motivating their employees can be explained by Hertzberg two factor theory of motivation. Each of the factors defined by the theory as hygiene factors of motivation in Google’s human resource management practises (Herzberg 1968). First, the management policy of Google allows more authority to be spread across the organization as the employees are free to sour to new limits exemplified by the philosophy ‘go where no man has gone before’ . Secondly, Google hired Schimdt one of the most competent supervisors in the industry to lead and Google has benefited significantly from his leadership style that focuses on good educational background rather work experience as Google prides itself in moulding its own workforce that fits its organizational goals. Getz (2009) notes that organization led by individuals who are ready to free up workers to take initiative are record better performance by constantly making sure their workers are motivated. Third, Google offices have one of the most ambient work environments among technological companies and it ensures workers are comfortable and their feel their status in life is high as the environment reflects working for one of the most important company in the world. From the cases study it is clear Google motivates its employees by offering attractive salaries that makes Google a very attractive employer. Google’s proclamation that it cares for its employee and that it cares for them shows the employees can be confident the firm will retain their services and thus there are no feelings of Job insecurity among the workers of Google. Google thus has been able to make sure their workers are not dissatisfied of their work and work environment at Google. However, Herzberg (1968) notes that the presence of hygiene factors is not a guarantee that a firm will achieve exceptional performance. He proposes that for a firm to successfully market it internally motivating factors must also be present in the firm. Google has realized the motivating factors as part of their organizational culture the ten philosophies of Google show that everyday there is new challenge work and workers are encouraged to tackle challenges they have not yet encountered. Recognition for its workers contribution to the firm’s award recognized by the philosophy that states that Google believes “Appreciation is the best motivation”. Halepota (2005) notes there are two types of management styles in organizations that affect the motivation of employees and thus the final performance of firm. The first style comprises of theory x manager who believe people intrinsically hate work and cannot be trusted while a theory Y manager believes people intrinsically want to do a good job. Google management style fits into theory Y as Google organizational behaviour promotes employee empowerment and teamwork (Latham and Pinder 2005, pp 56). Unlike theory Y management Google encourage their workers to be critical thinkers and come up with creative solutions in their everyday tasks at Google. The Latham and Pinder (2005) proposes Job enlargement and job enrichment as the two motivation practices that an organization can co-operate into its organizational culture to ensure it workers remain motivated. At Google Job enrichment is found in the company’s philosophy of providing employees with opportunities and challenges where they can apply their innovativeness and creativity (Bruursema, Kessler and Spector 2011, pp. 97). Google Philosophy that states “innovation is our bloodline” reflects an organization that is ready to provide its employees with a job that is stimulating and recognizes each employee’s unique talents and leverages for the success of the organization. Therefore Google’s success can be owed to the management approach of the company. Google theory X management style encourages initiative taking by the firms employees meaning none of the employees is not satisfied by his job. By encouraging their employees to go where no human has ever been Google makes sure none of their employees would get the perception their skills are not being fully utilized by the firm. 2.2 What do Google’s hiring practices and job design principles reveal about its organizational values? Evaluate their contribution to Google’s success? Google’s hiring techniques and their organizational culture has played an important role in the success of their company. Commitment is one of the key roles that employees have that makes a continuous growth and making sure that every customer who visits their site has maximum personal satisfaction (Bernoff 2010, p. 100). This is enabled by the company employing variety of employees who have different capabilities in handling different issues. Their success is also attributed to giving clean work to the world. By this the company concentrates on giving legal information like giving relevant advertising to the public hence in their values they aim at making clean financial income that is not necessarily made through using evil deals. In giving customer satisfaction, Google makes sure that it spreads its information in a variety of sources such as images, and using all Microsoft applications. This taps a lot of income compared to other search engines that give out information in a single application. Diversity of employees has also contributed to the company’s success as it has made sure that information in the websites is given in different languages hence it shows appreciation of different cultures. In many cases, organizations do not give employees freedom to be who they are but in Google’s values, one does not necessarily have to be serious by putting on a serious face by putting on a suit (Bernoff 2010, p. 100). It is believed that it depends on the perspective one is going to have in dealing with their work therefore team work is much emphasized rather than how one is going to be dressed in the workplace. Finally for Google to be that successful, they are not satisfied at the point of being good but they believe that being good is a challenge that makes them to want to be the best. By this, there is a variety of interaction among employees who come together to innovate different ideas and they aim at giving quality to the world at large (Alwen 2003, p. 153). Google hiring practices and job design principles shows that their organizational values particularly depend on how the world is changing. This is supported by the way they hire their employees as they prefer conversational interviews. This makes this company a little bit different from other companies that deal with phone interviews. By having face to face interviews the company can assess how one can handle or welcome challenges in a practical way. Google also upholds leadership values as since their jobs are flexible, on can be offered an opportunity to lead the others at a particular time (Bernoff 2010, p. 100). To make the Google team succeed, one must practice being a leader even if they are not appointed as one officially. In their hiring process, they look for people who are broad minded and portray various skills and talents to offer in the job environment. Unlike most other employers, Google does not concentrate on the academic levels that an individual reached but rather look at how a person can use their knowledge whichever level it is to critically think about any issue at hand. In their values, Google aims to create a variety of solutions that have related meanings hence in hiring; they present a question and provide suggestions on how to go about solving it. Success is also another core value in this organization. In hiring, Google makes sure that they find people to work for them who have a vision of being successful. It is said that this is the only online service company that continues to succeed due to its broad based services. Google acts as connectors between information and people hence offer a helping hand to people practicing different levels of research hence it provides a wide pool of information (Alwen 2003, p. 153). Google has made innovation to be part of their daily requirement. In their organizational culture, employees should aim at having various kinds of innovation at the customers disposal hence provides a wide variety of options to Google users. Variety is what Google looks for. In their hiring strategy Google selects from a wide variety of people not considering their ethnicity of their country of origin. By this, the company embraces a global working relation that employees find it interesting to work with different and diverse talents. Unity is one of the core values upheld by this company. By providing the services online, it creates a platform where everybody around the world can access information hence 3.0 Practical implication for management Managers continue to be reminded everyday of how is important to convert employees into loyal disciples of the company. Google is a good example of firm that has excelled in developing an organizational culture that takes into account the motivation of their workers. The success of Google should encourage other managers to bring their human resource management practices in line with those suggested by Herzberg two factor theory of motivation. Google HR success brings the Kick in the ass style of leadership characterised by theory X managers into further disrepute as it shows a clear and successful alternative in theory Y management which does not de-motivate workers (Xenikou and Simosi 2006). Google’s organizational culture seeks to utilize the full ability of their employees which other organizations should strive to achieve too. To ensure that their organization can emulate Google’s success organization should make sure their job environments have all the hygiene factors but additionally they should design jobs in the organization so that motivators are also present. It follows then that top management should take the following steps to enrich the jobs of their employees; Google’s organizational culture seeks to utilize the full ability of their employees which other organizations should strive to achieve too. The responsibility that a worker has should correspond to his level of skill or like Google challenge the workers level of skill. Organizations should use hiring practices that promote the inclusion of people from diverse background to take advantage of their varied skills. 4.0 Conclusion Google has shown a firm can achieve phenomenal success by developing and maintaining an organizational culture that focuses on motivating employees to become the best they can be for the benefit of the company. By making sure Google’s environment has all the hygiene factors namely; Google human resource process has excelled in giving Google competitive advantage in their industry sector and also in the Job market. By ensuring their recruit the best talent in the market Google enables innovation continues to strengthen Google’s position as the top search engine in the world. 5.0 Reference List Alwen, P 2003, Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurialism in a Value-Driven Organization, Leadership & Management in Engineering, vol. 3, No. 3, pp.153. Bernoff, J 2010, Empowered, Harvard Business Review, 88, 7/8, pp. 94-101 Bruursema, K, Kessler, S, & Spector, P 2011, 'Bored employees misbehaving: The relationship between boredom and counterproductive work behaviour', Work & Stress, 25, 2, pp. 93-107. Getz, I. 2009, Liberating Leadership: How the Initiative-Freeing Radical Organizational Form Has Been Successfully Adopted, California Management Review, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 32-58. Halepota, H 2005, 'Motivational Theories and Their Application in Construction', Cost Engineering, 47, 3, pp. 14-18. Herzberg, F 1968, "One more time: how do you motivate employees?” Harvard Business Review 46, 1, pp. 53–62. Latham, G. P., Pinder, C. C 2005, Work motivation theory and research at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 56 Issue 1, pp.485-516. Xenikou, A. and Simosi, M 2006, Organizational culture and transformational leadership as predictors of business unit performance, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 21,no. 6, pp.566 - 579 Read More