GOOGLE WORK CULTURE

ASHA PRIYA GOUDGITAM INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENTGITAM UNIVERSITY

Origin of GOOGLEGoogle began in March 1996 as a

research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ph.D. students at Stanford working on the Stanford Digital Library Project .

The SDLP's goal was “to develop the enabling technologies for a single, integrated and universal digital library.”

They started looking actively for potential partners interested in licensing their search engine technology.

Larry and Sergey contacted many people including friends and family. One of the people they got in touch with was David Filo (Filo), the founder of Yahoo, a leading portal.

Filo complimented them for the 'solid technology' they had built, but did not enter into any agreement with them. Instead, he encouraged them to start their own company.

Help came in the form of a faculty member from Stanford University who introduced them to Andy Bechtolsheim

GOOGLES MISSIONGoogle’s mission statement and corporate

culture reflect a philosophy that you can “make money without doing evil” and that “work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun”. These beliefs dominate life at Google. The official mission statement of the company is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

In 2006, Google was selected by MBA students as the ideal place to work. In 2007 and 2008 Fortune Magazine named Google the Number 1 employer in their annual 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Recruitment

Sergey and Larry also focused on recruiting people with the right frame of mind. They were themselves personally involved in the recruitment process. In order to attract high performing candidates, Google posted top ten reasons to work for Google on its website .

Google recruited people with diverse skills and qualities . While recruiting, Google attached a lot of importance to academic excellence as revealed in grade scores in SAT and other graduate exams. To get an interview call from Google, a person had to be from a top-ranking university...

Innovations at Google

Google management also focused on encouraging innovation and creativity at the workplace.

It realized that to maintain its growth, the company had to come out with new products/features.

The company faced problems on how to tap ideas that could be turned into successful products Said Silverstein, "We always had great ideas, but we didn't have a good way of expressing them or capturing them." To overcome the problem, Google set up an internal web page for tracking new ideas...

Google's Organizational Culture

Google had an informal work culture at Googleplex (its headquarters). Both Larry and Sergey wanted to make Google a fun place to work. Reflecting their beliefs, the Googleplex was decorated with Lava Lamps and painted in the bright colors of the Google Logo

Googlers were allowed to bring their pets in to the workplace, and were themselves provided with free snacks, lunch and dinner prepared by a celebrity chef Charlie Ayers. The Googleplex had snack rooms offering Googlers cereals, gummi bears, cashew nuts and other snacks along with fruit juices, soda and cappuccino..

Google is a high-energy, fast paced work environment.

While the dress code might be “casual” the company attracts and retains some of the brightest minds in the technology industry.

There is a work hard, play hard atmosphere. The Google Mountain View, CA headquarters “the Googleplex” is a campus-like environment. There are workout facilities, a café, well stocked snack rooms, and a dorm like environment

one of the coolest programs at Google is the 20% time program.

All Engineers at Google are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them.

Not only does this keep Engineers happy and challenged, its also good business

some estimates put half of all new product launches can be directly attributed to projects that came from the 20% time program.

10 REASONS TO WORK IN GOOGLE Lend a helping hand. With millions of visitors every month,

Google has become an essential part of everyday life—like a good friend—connecting people with the information they need to live great lives.

Life is beautiful. Being a part of something that matters and working on products in which you can believe is remarkably fulfilling.

Appreciation is the best motivation, so we've created a fun and inspiring workspace you'll be glad to be a part of, including on-site doctor and dentist; massage and yoga; professional development opportunities; on-site day care; shoreline running trails; and plenty of snacks to get you through the day.

Work and play are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to code and pass the puck at the same time.

We love our employees, and we want them to know it. Google offers a variety of benefits, including a choice of medical programs, company-matched 401(k), stock options, maternity and paternity leave, and much more.

Innovation is our bloodline. Even the best technology can be improved. We see endless opportunity to create even more relevant, more useful, and faster products for our users. Google is the technology leader in organizing the world’s information.

Good company everywhere you look. Googlers range from former neurosurgeons, CEOs, and U.S. puzzle champions to alligator wrestlers and former-Marines. No matter what their backgrounds Googlers make for interesting cube mates.

Uniting the world, one user at a time. People in every country and every language use our products. As such we think, act, and work globally—just our little contribution to making the world a better place.

Boldly go where no one has gone before. There are hundreds of challenges yet to solve. Your creative ideas matter here and are worth exploring. You'll have the opportunity to develop innovative new products that millions of people will find useful.

There is such a thing as a free lunch after all. In fact we have them every day: healthy, yummy, and made with love.

BENEFITS

Health care for you and your family, plus on-site physician and dental care at our headquarters in Mountain View, California and our engineering center in Seattle, Washington

Vacation days and holidays, and flexible work hours Maternity and parental leave, plus new moms and dads are

able to expense up to $500 for take-out meals during the first four weeks that they are home with their new baby

Google Child Care Center, just five minutes from Google headquarters in Mountain View

Back-up child care helps California parents when their regularly scheduled child care falls through

Free shuttle service to several San Francisco, East Bay, and South Bay locations

Fuel Efficiency Vehicle Incentive Program Employee discounts Onsite dry cleaning, plus a coin-free laundry room in the

Mountain View office

A Critique of Google's Culture

Many analysts feel that Google's zero per cent employee turnover rate during the dotcom boom, was a testament to its salubrious organizational culture.

But not everyone was convinced that Google had got it right in terms of its work culture. They felt that company's culture was not set to manage its growth.

A 12-hour working day had become norm at the company. Google's recruitment process was also criticized by analysts.

It was pointed out that Google had become too narrow in its recruitment by focusing only on the academic records and graduate ranks of the applicants rather than on experience. Commenting on the recruitment process, one Googler said, "If you've been at Cisco for 20 years, they don't want you." But the management defended the recruitment process saying that they valued intelligence and brainpower more than experience...

Work Culture at Google  Google s mission statement and corporate culture reflect a

philosophy that you can make money without doing evil and that work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun.

  Every employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears

several hats.

Treating employees with respect from day 1, feedback at every path, allowances for paternity/maternity leaves, generous vacation policy etc..

No Googler hesitates to pose questions directly to Larry or Sergey in the weekly all-hands meetings.

Googlers tend to be happy-go-lucky on the outside, but Type A at their core.

� Page & Brin focus on creating a university environment within

the office

Freedom at Work  Quality of Work life is aimed at Google by providing Freedom

to flex work hours to accommodate family life while still meeting organisational goals; freedom to have a healthy work-life balance; freedom to do things differently and so on..

  Time & Freedom to Innovate: criteria of building innovation

into management.  Presenting Ideas Before Hierarchy -Google believes that

ideas and innovation can come from anywhere. Physical spaces like shared offices, long café tables, and break-out areas are specifically designed so ideas tossed around during casual conversation could become one of the next big projects for the company.

  Freedom from Worries -The part-time degree program

provides the option of financial assistance and necessary time away from work to successfully complete a degree

Professional massaging equipment and masseurs available.

Onsite dry cleaning, plus a coin free laundry room in the Mountain View office

Google Child Care Center, just five minutes from Google headquarters in Mountain View

Back-up child care helps California parents when their regularly scheduled child care fails through

Free shuttle service to several San Francisco ,East Bay, and South Bay locations

Break rooms packed with a variety of snacks and drinks to keep Googlers going.

Five onsite doctors, free of charge

Recruitment and Selection� Up to 8 rounds of interviews for each Position

Expect a mix of intelligence and enthusiasm in employee

prospective   Globally diverse workforce  Google's U.S. workforce is 32% female, higher than

many other technology companies.  Non Performance of Employee is regarded as�Recruiters fault 

Training and development

Minimum of 120 Hours of Training per year 

This provides competitive advantage Growth path for every Individual

Free to choose any type of training for self development:

  

Monetary benefits:

  Education Reimbursement Plan:Up to $8,000/year in tuition reimbursement for pre-approved, work-

relevant courses� Global Education Leave program:Enables employees to take a leave of absence to pursue further

education for upto 5 years and $150,000 in reimbursement.� Stock Options:hold them or sell the stock transfer (sell) their options to a financial

institution through a competitive bidding process.� Take-out Benefit:Allows new parents to be reimbursed for up to $500 within the first 4

weeks that they are home with the baby.� Fuel Efficiency Vehicle Incentive Program:It provides a$5,000 rebate to employees purchasing hybrid cars.

Employee employer communication at google

Treating employees with respect from day 1,  taking f eedback at every path.  No Googler hesitates to pose questions directly  to Larry

or Sergey I n our weekly all-hands meetings.  Regular surveys and internet blogs  Two-way communication  Google is known for having an informal corporate

culture

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