Google is one of the most
well know corporations in the world today, leading the frontier in innovation
technologies. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that Google’s success in
the market depends on innovation.
As such, a high degree of
employee motivation is of paramount importance. In order to foster a highly
productive and creative work environment Google has employed a unique and
‘out-of-box’ management strategy.
Google has taken
conscious efforts to create a very informal work environments for its
employees. A formal environment limits the horizons of a creative mind. In
Google, the employees are not required to wear formal clothes. There is no
strict dress code that they have to follow. The work meetings take place by the
pool side instead of a conference room. The objective behind all this is to
make the employees feel comfortable and relaxed when they are at work which in
turn results in a more active participation of employees in decision making.
Google employees are
motivated by the fact that they believe their work has a positive impact on the
lives of others. "My work is used by lots and lots of users,"
wrote a Google developer advocate working in the Mountain View headquarters.
"It's cool stuff that makes people happy."
A research study by
Google showed that people can stay productive for extended periods of time if
they have easy access to food. In fact employees at Google are not allowed to
be more 100m away from food. Google takes pride in serving unlimited amounts of
high quality food. Some of the cafes onsite offer fully plated meals of healthy
organic food which is completely free of cost. Refrigerators stay stocked with
cold juice at all times and their employees can grab it whenever they want.
In order to create a stress
free environment, Google designs their offices in a very unique fashion. Google
has left behind the conventional features to one might expect to find in an
office. While they have stairs to reach a higher floor, the only way to get
back down is sliding down through a slide!
Think about this; ‘You,
an employee at Google are having a bad day at work for some reason, and you
decide to get a cup of coffee from the coffee house that is one floor below you
and the only way to reach it is sliding down a slide. Will you still be having
a bad day after that?!’
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| Slide at Google Office in Zurich, Germany |
Google also understands
the stress of new parents. Google’s new maternity policy gives new mothers, who
have been a Google employee for more than a year, six additional weeks of paid
leave to bond with their baby. New fathers get less paid leave but as they can
take up to 7 weeks of paid time off during the baby’s first year, everybody’s
smiling. Google also has fully equipped day care centers with skilled
professionals. So in a situation that both parents are working, the employees
can simply bring their children along with them and leave them at day-care
centers which are generally located within the office itself. This way the
parents get to be with their children without having to quit their job.
Google attributes its
success to its employees and rightfully so. Google understands that their
success lies with employees that possess the ‘Theory Y’ type personalities.
Google has put a lot of effort in creating a work environment that would
enhance the ‘Theory Y’ traits in its employees thus enabling them to unlock
their true potential. Google’s current position in the market itself speaks
volumes on how effective their management strategy has been.
Sources:
-Amol Bhoir
TYBcom
Bussiness Management (2015-16)
