Introduction
The Google Company is an American-based technology giant founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998 while pursuing their Ph.D. at the University of Stanford. The organization diversified its business, offering internet services and products such as Google Search, cloud computing, online advertisement technologies, Chromebook, Chromecast, and Android OS. In recent years, Google Inc. has opened more offices in various parts of the world to seize new market niches. This trend has attracted many potential employees from diverse cultural orientations. This paper provides an insight into how Google Inc. uses its human resources to position itself in a competitive internet services industry. It delves into the various ways in which the company taps the power of human resource management for the promotion of more efficient operations.
Thriving in an overly competitive industry, Google Company is known for setting a higher standard of human resource management than rival companies. The software technology giant uses the PiLab, a unique feature that helps conduct applied experiments to establish the aptest way to manage people while maintaining productivity at both personal and corporate levels. The tool helps check employee health by reducing their calorie intake at eating facilities. Besides, it has a retention algorithm that enhances the likelihood of determining those employees who are likely to increase turnover rates (Shrivastava et al., 2018, p. 4). The company adopts this unique approach to enhance how it handles human resources to boost its competitiveness in online businesses. It also uses exclusive analytics to address diversity issues. The recognition of employee differences plays a vital role in hiring, retaining, and promoting them for successful organizational growth.
Thus, the overall position in evaluating Google Inc.’s focus on its welfare and productivity can be rated among the top companies offering internet services, including Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. The company strives to maintain efficient and effective operations management, especially those that touch on employees’ personal development (Shrivastava et al., 2018, p. 6). It has also instituted special measures and mechanisms unidentifiable by rival companies to leverage its competitiveness in the industry.
Google Inc. offers similar services to Amazon, Apple, and Facebook. Various surveys indicate that the company had hired over 94,000 employees by March 2018 (Shrivastava et al., 2018, 3). Women accounted for 31% while the rest comprised males. Based on ethnicity, whites dominated the human resource at 56%, 35% were Asians, and the remaining percentage was shared among employees from diverse cultural backgrounds. Women assumed 20% of technical roles and nearly 25% of their leadership positions (Shrivastava et al., 2018, p. 5). Therefore, Google Inc.’s HRM structure is categorized into six tiers based on employee experience.
Human Resource Management at Google Inc.
Human resource management is a critical area that gives Google Inc. its power to thrive in the software industry. The company leverages HRM practices to gain a competitive advantage in the provision of internet-based technology services. The company’s objectives are aligned with its mission to establish convenient and universal accessibility of the world’s data. The achievement of this goal calls for pushing the limits of the available technologies to provide fast, accurate, and easy-to-use services, improving the search for information among internet users. Freshness, relevance, and speed are critical factors that guide the delivery of the best search results. As such, recruitment is aimed at selecting and retaining the most productive and competitive workforce.
Although Google Inc. is rated as one of the best four companies, it faces several obstacles that interfere with its operations in the HRM department. According to Manzoor et al. (2019), the employees’ challenge pressure from the hiring process, the rapid growth of staff, and the need to fulfill financial benefits (p. 2263). Shrivastava et al. (2018) argue that employee pressure is an enormous issue in Google Inc.’s HRM department (p. 4). The company appraises workers’ performance based on numbers, implying that group productivity is highly regarded. At the same time, Shrivastava et al. (2018) reveal that the technology giant has many employees, allowing them to work for shorter time frames (p. 3). Due to limited time, the working environment is not favorable for the employees to maximize their productivity; hence, most human resource functions are left hanging between supporting the company’s strategy and creating a fair work environment.
Limited financial benefits create another challenge for the organization, which affects the HRM department. During the recruitment process, the HR aims at recruiting individuals who will not demand high pay cuts that the company cannot afford. What is more, the company’s benefits upon retirement motivate the employees to retire at an early age, leaving the HRM team with the massive task of finding a perfect replacement from the thousands and millions of the applicants. It is worth noting that the HRM team takes a long time to hire new employees, which can be directed towards other productive activities. Early retirement also negatively affects the HRM team’s functions since trained employees stop working before unleashing their full impact potential.
The HRM department is also affected negatively by the company’s restrictions regarding selecting employees. Google Inc. prefers individuals who believe and acknowledge the importance of teamwork, are brilliant in their services and can work in an intense and goal-oriented environment. However, going by the organization’s desired traits and the number of applicants it receives, it becomes a challenge finding the exact person who satisfies the above requirements.
Using Human Resources to Drive Competitive Advantage at Google Inc.
Personnel management policies help companies to improve employee productivity and satisfaction. According to Ulrich et al. (2008), human resource management practices geared towards improving firms’ competitiveness are paramount to achieving success in the twenty-first century (p. 833). Many business organizations nowadays pay much attention to the HRM department as it has emerged as the backbone of every company’s success. Despite continuous and relentless efforts to advance their human resource management departments, no technology firms have been beneficial, like Google. For many years, Google Inc. has shown clearly that for its success, it depends solely on innovation in all its management aspects. Through the HRM department, the company has ensured a workforce-centered culture that helps empower its employees. The section has been effective and fruitful in promoting its core tasks by recruiting and retaining outstanding capabilities.
Google Inc. strives to establish an ideal workplace, offering numerous training opportunities for its diverse teams across all departments. In the recent past, Elrehail et al. (2019) argue that Google has become famous for its friendly environment, which offers the workforce an opportunity for expanding knowledge (p. 136). Attaining such standards has been possible through continuous efforts and tireless work done by its HR sector. Despite having a good reputation, the company still requires more apt and flexible HRM practices (Shrivastava et al., 2018, p. 3). Following a need to maintain a reputable public image, the HRM department has embarked on a plan to maximize care and assistance, allowing workers to undertake duties with increased motivation and dedication. Therefore, Google’s HRM department is charged with many responsibilities for the smooth running of the firm’s core activities. The duties and practices are discussed below.
To begin with, it is responsible for both the recruitment and staffing of the company. The organization receives two million or more applicants every year, with thousands of people sending applications to a particular vacancy. This number makes hiring top talent challenging. With this number of applicants, Shrivastava et al. (2018) reveal that Google Inc. collaborates with external recruiters to choose the best candidates (p. 5). The outsourced assessment team hired for the exercise exceeds four hundred qualified evaluators. According to Google Inc.’s 2009 statistics, the company had employed more than four hundred external employers to help in the selection process, while in 2012, the number was twenty times more than that of 2009 as the recruiters were much beyond 8000 (Shrivastava et al., 2018, p. 5).
Besides staffing the company, Google Inc.’s HRM also focuses on ensuring that the recruited individuals are talented and culturally attuned. As argued out by Elrehail et al. (2019), diversity inclusion is paramount to any firm; hence, Google Inc. strives to achieve cultural compatibility to offer equal opportunities to people from different parts of the world (p. 134). What is more, the HRM department’s success can only be measured by the extent their services ensure that the company achieves its goals and objectives. In line with this argument, it is right to say that effective selection, retention, and employee recruitment are crucial in ensuring an organization’s success, just as it is in the Google Company.
Despite being charged with the mandate of recruiting and staffing of the company, the HRM department at Google Inc. encourages cooperation among its departments. Moreover, Ulrich et al. (2008) assert that Google’s HRM engages other departments in their recruitment process to promote diversity (p. 834). This strategy is crucial for organizations, especially those that have achieved international expansion. Based on these propositions, the company’s HRM is seen as enhancing and promoting cultural compatibility, critical determinants of success.
Another HRM practice evident in the company is caring for equity and equivalent probabilities of progress and development for all employees. In doing this, the department engages in performance management. At the same time, underperformance also receives its equivalent downside. Rewarding employees is a way of motivating them to work extra hard and help them succeed (Manzoor et al., 2019, p. 2263). When employees are not motivated, some may decide to quit their job while others may choose to retain their position though they will not be as productive as they could have been if they were motivated.
The Google Company acknowledges the impacts of employee motivation on organizational performance and constantly engages its HRM in this program. Reviews are based on a 360-degree response program, ensuring that appointed HR officers accomplish employee appraisals from each sector. Apart from motivating workers and rewarding excellent performance, a good company should ensure hired employees are assigned tasks that best suit their interests. Besides, employees should be given equal opportunities to learn new skills in their areas of specialization continuously. Recognizing each individual’s contribution is critical to the company’s success since it makes workers gain a sense of belonging (Siddapur, 2016, p. 6). Such a strategy has led to the success of many companies worldwide, including Google Inc. As a healthy HRM practice, organizations should be encouraged to emulate the technology giant in a bid to gain a competitive edge. Google Inc.’s approach to employee management applies to many companies that have an enormous workforce.
Conclusion
Human resource management is vital for the establishment and maintenance of a proper operational framework for any organization. Valuable HRM practice has been demonstrated in the success of the Google Corporation. Nonetheless, various internal and external factors related to public relations, compensation, and legislation interfere with HRM’s successful implementation. Google Inc. has adopted several ways to ensure that its workforce enjoys a favorable environment that will expand their knowledge beyond the organization. For instance, the company develops its personnel through training programs that enrich new skills in novel internet-based technologies.
Although such plans are aimed at the organization’s success, they also encourage personal growth as employees learn alternative tactics to solve the software industry’s issues. This HRM practice has increased employee retention as they appreciate the company’s efforts to enrich their skills and knowledge. Talent acquisition at Google Inc. contributes to its continued success in the technology industry. Nonetheless, finding, enticing, engaging, and hiring first-rate employees remains challenging for the organization. Therefore, there is a need to devise more apt personnel management policies that promote talent development within the organization.
References
Elrehail, H., Harazneh, I., Abuhjeeleh, M., Alzghoul, A., Alnajdawi, S., & Ibrahim, H. M. H. (2019). Employee satisfaction, human resource management practices, and competitive advantage. European Journal of Management and Business Economics, 29(2), 125-149.
Manzoor, F., Wei, L., Bányai, T., Nurunnabi, M., & Subhan, Q. A. (2019). An examination of sustainable HRM practices on job performance: An application of training as a moderator. Sustainability, 11(8), 2263. Web.
Shrivastava, S., Nagdev, K., & Rajesh, A. (2018). Redefining HR using people analytics: The case of Google. Human Resource Management International Digest, 26(2), 3-6.
Siddapur, L. (2016). Values of human resource management in the twenty-first century: a theoretical standpoint. SJCC Management Research Review, 6(1), 1-12.
Ulrich, D., Younger, J., & Brockbank, W. (2008). The twenty-first-century HR organization. Human Resource Management, 47(4), 829–850. Web.