Google Inc (document en anglais)

Introduction

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”

Google Inc is the world’s best known brand according to several sources. Google Inc, founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin two young men freshly graduated from the Michigan University. The company expended very quickly and went from 8 employees in 2000 to over 53000 in 2013 . The company’s culture and HR policy are very famous worldwide thanks to its new way of approaching things and rewarding employees.

Google Inc was voted The Best Company To Work For in many countries over the past years thanks to its HR practices and keeps expending through innovations coming from the minds of very involved employees call Googlers, and also thanks to its acquisition strategy.

Its current CEO, Larry Page makes sure that its employees are committed and motivated in the company’s development by bringing them an innovative workplace and advantages that guarantee their well-being in the company.

In this paper, we will see closer the Human Resources practices in the company to understand better the success of Google Inc.

Strategy and HR planning

Google’s business model is mainly based on advertising, but the company had to diversify its activities due to the increasing external competition for online advertising. Google is more and more focused on innovation through the products and applications it offers. They count on an aggressive acquisition strategy to diversify their activities and generate new businesses for Google on the long-term perspective. Google has bought 122 companies and patents since 2001, which permitted them to offer new services like Google Earth, Gmail, Google Analytics and many others.

"We try very hard to find the right people, people who will fit in with the Google culture, because we believe that if you can hire the right people, then everything else just flows from that."

HR planning is a tool that Google uses to forecast the needs of the company. It permits them to forecast how many and what kind of employees they need, but also to identify the strengths and weaknesses in each field to solve problems. Such a company has to face different challenges, like retaining current employees from leaving to competition, motivate its employees so they accept and achieve the challenging tasks Google has planned for them.

Google’s success is closely linked to its HR strategy that made it the dream place to work in. Creativity and innovation are the most important things in the company, but to be able to innovate, the company needs the best employees on the market. Google managed to attract them thanks to its strong culture and reputation among its workers. Their policy is to offer employees everything they need so they can focus on their job in the best conditions. The informal structure of work setting, the training and development programs for each employee to be able to learn and grow, or the policy of unlimited sick leave are some of the incentives that attract the elite in the company.

The median age of employees at Google is 27 years old, a generation known for its volatility and their ‘’infidelity’’. Google’s turnover is very low (4.3% voluntary turnover ) which is a gain of time and money, but also a proof of the well-being of employees in the company.

Google created its own recruiting software that is in charge to research keywords in the hundreds of résumés they receive every day. But the company needs people who fit with its culture, and that’s the reason why 400 executives are specialized in interviewing and selecting the best profiles for the company. The company is willing to wait several months or years to find the candidate that best fits the company’s culture.

Examples of Google HR practices:

- One day per week is dedicated to develop its own ideas for each employee

- Paid holidays: 3 weeks the first year, 4 weeks from the 4th year, 5 weeks from the 6th year

- Massages, bankers and doctors available on-site

- Child care

- Swimming Pool

- 1200 employees became millionaires after Google went public thanks to their stock-options

- Free bikes

- Possibility for an employee to offer their vacation to any eligible fellow in case of emergency

- …

Organizational Alignment & Agility in the company

The strong culture of Google makes the company’s alignment easier to define as each employee is hired because they fit to this culture, which ensures the well-being of the company as everybody is going the same way.

"My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they're having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society,"

All employees are focused on the development of their company, because Google gives them the means to do it. Google launched TGIF, a weekly meeting to introduce to employees the week to

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