Case
Studies
In the corporate
sector where human resource is becoming like oxygen to companies
it is important to take care of them in every way you can. This
section will treat you with articles about time tested companies
and what they do to keep their employees happy. May be you can
benchmark with them...?
What’s
so special about Google?
It’s
an accomplishment to have your workforce intact by the end of
the year. Especially when employee turnover rate is soaring
sky-high in dotcom companies, this rare distinction is worth
the mention. Global businesses on the brink of expansion, the
IT boom and the likes have contributed to the high rate of employee
turnover. Surveys reveal that the top-priority issue is recruiting
and retaining quality employees and employee turnover costs
money. One effective way to cut down on costs is to make employee
retention a high-priority issue.
The
California-based dotcom company- Google, flaunts a zero percent
employee turnover rate. Google gets about a 100 resumes a day,
despite the fact that it hardly advertises. It is the most popular
search engine today and has over a hundred employees. Says Stacy
Sullivan, one of the 5 HR professionals at Google that the company
believes in having compensation consultants to co-ordinate compensation
programmes and benefits for the employees.
Google
shares its secrets and tricks of the trade to help other businesses
around the world. Here are some highlights.
The
place to be
Workplace
is a fun-place to be, is Google’s philosophy. Founders
Larry and Sergey came up with a number of attractive packages
and perks to enliven the atmosphere. A week long vacation apart
from a three-week sick time based on need was one such offer.
The reason for this says Stacy Sullivan is “We wanted to
be over-competitive. And most people seem to like the separation
of vacation and sick time”.
Fringe
benefits include massages, weekly hockey matches with subsidised
kits provided for by the company. Google encourages out-door
activity in order to create a fabulous work environment that
everybody wants to be a part of.
Food
for thought
Gourmet
lunches are another attraction at Google, and this is a part
of their employee relations regime and not another ‘employee
retention’ technique. The cost is not a concern, because
Google feels it pays off. It helps techies bond with their non-technical
colleagues.
The
company does not go by the amount of time put in by the employee
but by the end result. You can leave home early provided you
put in the needed amount of effort (sometimes late in the night)
at home.
Strategy
score
Employees
at Google get a whopping $2000 for every employee referral that
works. The ‘buzz’ created by Google accounts for around
100 resumes sent to the company everyday. Despite the fact that
half of the resumes are for technical positions Google emphasised
on recruiting women with a technical background. For this the
management enlisted the cooperation of five women’s societies.
Another
unique method of recruiting is that Google believes in advertising
in movie theatres instead of newspapers! Google also has four
persons who came as summer recruits and never returned to complete
their Ph.D.
New
employees are always welcome and Google has never stopped recruiting.
It has lost only two employees over the years and the employee
satisfaction is phenomenal.
Google
doesn’t have a retention plan; it does not need one!
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