Human Resources Management at Google: Revealed!

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February 22nd, 2008 by Geoff

Ever wondered how, despite the success of Google's search engine, how they can afford to employ all the staff that they do? Ever wondered how Google maintain and increase their success they have but always increasing the staff?

Google reportedly have 16,000 staff worldwide, management of these staff can not be easy. To make the most of all these staff, how do you do it? You want to employ quality, but people in management know that the higher the calibre of staff the harder the management associated. It does also involve a different psychological approach.

Google were worth $154 billion in the middle of 2007 and I haven’t seen the recent stats but I am sure this is higher. Google can’t make any money without the sponsored listings, or PPC. Pay Per Click first started on GoTo.com which became Overture and then Yahoo, but Google have made a phenomenal killing from this. Obviously they have the best search engine but they need to have quality sponsored listings to make money. Quality of staff have made this happen and because of it even the cleaners at the Googleplex are millionaires through their shares in the company!

If you ever have the chance to go to Google offices it is an experience. The offices are laid out in such as way you thought you were dining at the Google version of the feng shui Chinese restaurant, the only difference being you are sitting in a Google branded version. Every little detail is focused on the Google brand, like the chairs, the computers, the rooms, wallpaper and the carpets. The funky part, from a visitor’s perspective, is the computer screens on the walls with live Google searches; edited of course!

All the staff are really friendly and really professional. Each one has come from a degree background and has excelled within their search job before coming to Google. Many people across the search marketing industry are sort after by Google and attempts are made to poach them. Google wants to grow with quality of staff so why not. With all these high quality staff coming in this can cause issues. For most new Google employees they come from a background where they are integral part of the company to being very equal with other colleagues. Not good for egos and it does cause an HR dilemma to manage expectations.

If you are an important person with a company then you have to feel important as well. Managing this importance is a difficult management technique for managers but also for HR staff, and there is a lot of psychology involved with it. The main technique is making everyone within the company entrepreneurs, but covered by a protective umbrella. This way the staff can develop, develop the business and get recognition for it. This argument between entrepreneurial versus bureaucratic is a very real dilemma and one which halts the advances the development of many SMEs today.

Google is great for gaining talented staff but nurturing it and making it grow is a very difficult task altogether. The management and HR at Google do need to take a lot of praise as it is because of these leaders that they are where they are today.

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