Google: Employees Feel Proud & Admired, Satisfied Needs - Essay Sample

Introduction

Google is one of the most visible and important companies in the world, its name is highly recognized and its reputation makes employees feel important, admired, and confident that their work brings great things for the company. This is how the internet giant, day after day, is in charge of further promoting the recognition of its brand and immediately satisfying the needs of its employees, who are the raw material of the company. Employees not only feel proud to be part of Google, but about 99% also enjoy the special benefits that the organization offers in its efforts to keep the talent of its employees being part of the organization, maintaining a free work rhythm in which distracters such as internal cafes, bowling alleys, dry cleaners, nap rooms, free food, and other benefits are offered that foster collaboration and make the organizational climate much more pleasant. Google's leadership style and organization culture and climate are the foundational base of the company's success.

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Fundamentals of Leadership

Companies that give employees greater decision-making power and who choose to have people work in wide-ranging environments do better. This is the people management model on which Google is based, the company that was voted as the best company to work in the United States from 2011 to 2017 in the ranking made by Fortune magazine (Fortune, 2017). In the words of Laszlo Bock, a once vice president of Human Resources at Google, author of the book "The new formula for work", this style is based on the fact that the manager does not focus on administering rewards and punishments but on solving problems and stimulating his team . Google chooses to consider people to be essentially good and treats them as owners (Staley, 2016).

For a long time, Google-owned an unusually flat corporate structure organized around functions and business units. In this sense, when someone wants to do something within the company, they must secure the support of very specific people who may not be within their reach and here comes to carving a great skill and it is communication. Communicating smoothly with others is vital for "Googlers" who yearn to become leaders and the best thing is that one team up with the person who is his/her inspiration and this will help the employee move forward to meet his goals (Geis, 2015). A good leader inspires others and gives his subordinates orders that emerge from the most absolute humility.

Among the great advantages that Google has, in addition to prestige, recognition, and success, is that it has many benefits for its employees. Google is known for its incredible leadership strategies and for managing its staff impeccably. It favors participation in sports; it has games rooms, free snacks, massages and a host of benefits that make it anyone's dream. This Google way of working does not relieve employees of their responsibilities (Travica, 2015). The employee realizes that he has many benefits and needs to show that he has the competence and productivity to stay there. The professional can choose whether he prefers to work at an office desk or sitting on a puff, as this does not represent a lack of commitment to his tasks. The company also has a calendar with different schedules for employees, such as a pajama party, a mustache or a Hollywood theme - all to promote team integration. The result of this is that employees value individual autonomy and the possibility to discuss ideas regardless of hierarchy. This freedom is also present in the employee's sphere (Geis, 2015). Each has the right to spend 20% of the time on their project. Google also offers benefits for employees of all positions. Among them are health plans, profit sharing, and company shares.

Communication and Leadership

Language has captivating power to inspire people and achieve ambitious goals, and great leaders know how to communicate (Lewis, 2003). "Make the impossible possible" is one of the most famous phrases of Larry Page, the co-founder of Google. Google teaches its leaders to master the art of storytelling (to which they must print their style) to inspire others and help them connect with the mission and vision of the company (Finkle, 2012). To maintain the motivation and interest of employees, Google applies quite outstanding loyalty and leadership strategies. These can also be adopted by an SME.

Find a moral mission. There is nothing worse than a worker who does not have the motivation or find meaning in his work. For this reason, Google decided to instill a moral mission in the functions of each one. There is nothing more motivating than working towards a goal.

Above all, communication. If Google stands out for something, it is for the incredible communication it has with its employees. Transparency is one of the great values of Google. From the first day one starts working there, it provides the employee with confidential information. Google ensures that it makes its employees feel that they can be trusted. It makes employees feel like a valuable part of the company.

Fixed style. Google believes that if one has a way of working, then it is better sticking to that than having twenty different methods. Continually changing the leadership strategy makes employees frustrated and less motivated.

Google employees have the autonomy to choose the best time for them to arrive at the company. The exception occurs in specific situations, such as on scheduled meeting days. The company also offers a varied menu of free snacks consisting of bread, fruits, juices, and yogurts. It also provides games space for the employee to be able to relax between one activity and another (Geis, 2015). This is a free environment in several aspects, as the employee has the autonomy to decide when to start or finish a task. If he realizes that he has performed the important demands for the day, he can leave without a predetermined time.

Organizational Culture and Climate

A strong organizational culture, consolidates the brand, companies that think about aligning their external and internal brands are considered successful. A company that invests its efforts not only in the external client but also in maintaining a pleasant organizational climate with its collaborators will almost immediately generate an increase in reputation and brand (Lussier & Achua, 2012). Google's culture is based on the people that make it up. Employees' hiring is done with highly creative, intelligent and determined people, the organization values talent more than experience. The employees of Google, despite having so many things in common when working in the company, relate to each other in an environment of diversity where hundreds of languages are spoken and reflect an intercultural panorama at the international level. There are several keys to Google's organizational culture that help maintain a productive organizational environment with happy and proactive employees ( Geis, 2015).

Creativity. Google teaches its employees how to solve problems innovatively and also highly encourages the exchange of ideas so that employees can learn from one another. Problem solving and creativity are consistently developed among employees.

Positive work environment. In the Google offices, the corporation provides its employees with everything to make them feel good during their working hours: recreation areas with sports courts, pool tables, dance halls and areas with massage chairs.

Professional and personal growth. The vast majority of employees are in search of improvement that is why constant training is important. Google also applies this key, ensuring that its employees can grow professionally. As Google's CEO or manager, one should always be in search of personal and professional growth of the team. The manager can schedule training, talks, and courses with experts that make an impact on their organization.

Well-fed employees. In each headquarters, they have areas where they serve a wide variety of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all completely free, as well as a cafeteria with soft drinks, juices and coffee, cereals, chocolates, fruit and a wide selection of healthy snacks. Employees are well fed at all times.

The 20% rule. The organizational environment Google is more than a typical office. Employees can stay at headquarters to carry out joint activities and celebrations regularly. They are supposed to dedicate 20% of the work time to personal projects. Such projects have resulted in the development of big works such as the creation of Gmail; it was a personal project of one of Google's employees. Google bought Gmail from its creator (one of their employees) and put him in charge of the project.

Google's organizational culture has a lot to teach about people management. The company has a differentiated process of hiring and training the teams and gives the employee more freedom to choose their period of work. However, freedom in the environment does not mean a lack of responsibility. All employees need to fulfill their tasks and show a professional commitment, but that does not stop them from taking breaks for snacks or playing a game of video games.

High Performing Teams

Google believes in the power to give employees freedom, but it also tracks the results of each one. The company is guided by the idea that "great is not enough". Employees need to do more and better. The innovation and the interaction between the teams is what allows carrying out more and improving the existing tools (Belfo & Sousa, 2011). Creation should also be a focus for employees, who need to understand people's common problems and create tools to make it easier. That was how the spell checker came about. An engineer identified that the search engine generated better results when the word was spelled correctly. Then, the team developed a more intuitive tool for the user. Besides requiring innovation from employees, a people committee is responsible for monitoring the performance of professionals. The grades obtained to serve as a basis for the company to offer increases, promotions or bonuses.

Google has specific values that are embedded in the way teams work. Innovation is its main pillar and this drives creative processes. Therefore, professionals know from the beginning what the company's mission and values are, to avoid any doubts in the performance of demands. Google's organizational culture values the exchange of information between people. The job matters less than the ability to collaborate and influence others. For this reason, meetings are held frequently to promote relevant votes among employees (Finkle, 2012). This exchange of information creates a more democratic and transparent process and allows employees to understand what happens in the direction of the company. Google values employee participation and socialization. Therefore, it has relaxed environments and spaces for snacks. This strengthens the ties between the teams and increases participation in the company's projects. Thematic parties are also a way of integrating people and promoting engagement on behalf of the community.

Employees are always willing to learn more and share information, and the main focus is the result: customer success. As stated previously, the company has a games area for its employees, snacks available at any time and freedom to promote a dialogue. The team's productivity is closely monitored with performance evaluation tools. The company's main focus is to bring excellence in its processes and results.

Problem Management and Decision Making

Nowadays in companies that want to achieve success, the practice of the authoritative boss who orders is no longer used, decisions must be made in conjunction with our work teams, for this, productive meetings must be held in...