How Google Motivates Its Employees
How Google Motivates Its Employees
How Google Motivates Its Employees
The leadership consulting Firm Bain & Company, audited that Google is 40% more productive than the
average company and not because it focuses on recruiting high performance employees, but because
of its motivation strategies.
Among its proposals, we can find familiar ones, such as facilitating conciliation, being transparent,
contributing to the continuous improvement of its workers through training, etc. And then, they also
carry out some programs only available at big companies like those in Silicon Valley, such as financially
helping employees who want to adopt, offering them a high-quality gastronomic offer in the company’s
canteens or providing the spouse of a deceased employee with 50% of his or her salary during the 10
years following his or her death.
Additional services
To make it easier for employees to reconcile their personal and professional lives, Google offers car
wash and oil change services, bicycle repair shop, dry cleaner’s, gym, massage service or stylist. We
know that with the state of alarm, all of this is more difficult to offer, but have you considered offering
your employees a subscription to an in-home training app so that they stay healthy? You can also give
them a subscription to Spotify so they don’t work alone with only silence.
1. Healthcare Benefits
Google offers its employees medical insurance. Googlers have the option to customize comprehensive
medical coverage for themselves, their spouses, and any dependents they have. With Google health
insurance, basic vision and dental care are already included. This means there's no need for employees
to acquire additional coverage outside of what the company pays for. Whether you’re a contractor,
temp, full-time or part-time employee, you will have access to complete healthcare.
2. Work/Life Balance
Google offers a variety of learning, social, and development programs to help employees achieve a
good work-life balance. They also welcome world-renowned professionals for seminars, talks, and
conferences on a regular basis. The company has a diverse range of people give thought-provoking
and enriching talks to Google employees. The Google employee benefits for a healthy work/life balance
don’t end there! Googlers can also take up to three months off work to pursue interests outside of the
office. Although this time is unpaid and must be committed to specific activities to qualify, Google does
allow for up to three months of ongoing healthcare insurance. Many employees choose to take
advantage of this benefit by donating their time to a community, political campaign, or nonprofit.
3. Parental Leave
People have a legal entitlement to time off when they welcome a new child through childbirth, adoption,
or fostering. Google makes sure that it gives both parents time off at home before returning to work.
Google provides fathers with a 6-week parental leave and mothers with an 18-week parental leave.
4. Paid Time Off
Most salaried employees are entitled to paid time off (PTO), although it is usually limited to sick and
vacation days. Google provides a lot more to its employees, including bereavement leave. Vacation
and sick time, as well as paid holidays, are all included in PTO. The amount of PTO an employee
receives will depend on their job title, the number of hours they work per week, and how long they've
been with the organization.
5. Financial & Retirement Benefits
To ensure the financial wellbeing of its employees, Google provides financial incentives. If an employee
decides to leave the company, they can keep their contributions and matching contributions by rolling
them over or withdrawing them. However, there's a penalty of 10% plus taxes. The company also offers
stock options and Google Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) as a part of its compensation package for
employees.
6. Flexibility
Google uses a hybrid work model that gives employees (in most roles) two work-from-home days every
week. The company also offers four “work from anywhere” weeks per year. Having this type of flexibility
is becoming more and more critical. It gives people a little more control over their schedule and
everyday tasks and admin.
7. Food & Snacks
The free lunches provided on the company's office campuses are one of Google’s most popular perks.
The Google Office Campuses have various cafes, restaurants, and well-stocked micro kitchens that
give free meals to Googlers. Employees at Google are rarely more than 200 feet away from food. They
can also choose snacks to save for later. If free food isn’t enough, employees can also learn how to
prepare delicious dishes with free cooking classes. Google’s goal is to bring different departments
together and allow its employees to meet each other and mingle.
8. Fitness Facilities
With its focus on its employees’ health and wellness, it comes as no surprise that one of the top Google
employee perks is access to fitness facilities. The company has fitness centers at nearly every office.
These gyms provide a variety of activities, including fitness classes, equipment, and swimming pools.
For offices that don’t have onsite fitness facilities, Google pays for its employees’ gym memberships.
This is a great way to keep teams motivated, as working out is proven to relieve stress. It’s also
convenient for employees as it means they can work out at a time that suits them and their schedules.
9. Mental Wellbeing
Google cares about the mental well-being of its employees. It provides employee assistance programs
that are focused on mental health. On top of that, it provides access to mental health apps to help
employees struggling with their mental health. Resources like this show that the company cares for its
people and wants to help in any way it can. This initiative also looks great to prospective employees as
mental health awareness is becoming more and more relevant these days.
10. Onsite Services & Conveniences
Google’s perks and benefits exist to make life better and easier for the whole team. As such, the
company also offers a range of onsite services. One example is the company’s onsite laundromats,
where employees can do their laundry and not have to wait until after hours to do it at home. Google
also offers its employees free haircuts to save them a trip to the hairdresser!
11. Other Incentives
Google has its own gold star system, in which employees are rewarded with massage credits for a job
well done. Employees can also donate their massage credits to coworkers in the spirit of giving. The
merit-based system, and incentives like free meals, games, and services, create a pleasant
environment for Googlers. It encourages employees to come to work happy and motivated every day.
Google has established a reputation as a visionary leader that is always paving the way for other
companies. The tech giant is famed for its generous treatment of its employees, from its opulent
campuses to its excellent work-life balance.
Google is repeatedly listed as the world’s number one company to work for. Clearly Google has
some marvelous benefits for its workers, just as you’d expect with a modern tech company, but can
any company be perfect for everyone? So now, we will look at some of the pros and cons of working
for the most popular employer in the world.
PROS CONS
The money’s great! The competition is brutal.
At Google, the Software Engineers are the best Let’s face it: When you work for one of the biggest
paid employees in the company, on a typical organisations in the world, your employer can
salary of more than $103,000. Even their easily afford to select the best – which makes for a
software interns are some of the highest paid in highly competitive environment. When you work
technology, earning more than $82,000. This alongside some great talent, competition will be
could nearly double once they climb to the pretty much inevitable.
dizzying heights of Senior Software Engineer
level, at $139,000.
The perks are delicious. Learning is self-driven.
Among many other luxurious benefits, Google There is an expectation that you will actively
employees can have three free gourmet meals continue to educate yourself and expand your
every day. The eateries are often individually knowledge as a Google employee. You are
decorated in designer styles, where you can get encouraged to commit to self-improvement as well
healthy breakfasts and lunches – as well as a as expanding your skills. Some might see this as
free dinner if you have to work late. There are an imposition on their time, but it is simply part of
also juice and coffee bars spread throughout the life in today’s ever-changing work environment –
campuses. especially in technology – and many businesses
have adopted a similar culture.
Many Google offices are animal friendly. The Google is known to promote staff as a result
most extreme example is their California office of product launches rather than as a reward for
which makes use of goats to keep their lawns incremental improvements. Of course, in reality,
neatly grazed, but many other offices also most software developers will be involved in code
encourage their staff to bring their dogs to work, improvement and bug fixing, yet the incentive
to improve wellbeing. Another initiative also scheme is not generally geared towards taking that
provides pushbikes to ride around the Google into account.
Campus in an eco-friendly way.
The doctor is in the house. Remote projects migrate to Mountain View.
Google has a highly experienced team of One of the alleged downsides to working on
doctors and nurses on the payroll, who will be development projects in one of Google’s remote
working to help keep you healthy and happy – teams is that flagship products are known to
so maybe you won’t get away with taking a consistently be moved over to Mountain
sickie quite so easily! They also have travel View (Google HQ) eventually. Obviously, if you
insurance and health coverage not only for their have the benefit of getting yourself into Mountain
employees, but families too. View, then you might have a better chance of
moving up through the ranks by working on these
choice projects.
You can eat your own dog food. Supervision is minimal.
Dog-fooding is the concept of internally sharing The limited supervision of individual staff can be a
new technology and developments, often before double-edged sword. While there is a great deal of
releasing them into the wider user community. freedom and minimal unnecessary involvement
Not only does this give Googlers a clear view of from superiors (as long as you get your work
the development roadmap, but it also allows done), some may also experience a lack of
members of staff to contribute to shaping new guidance as everyone is expected to be self-reliant
products by providing feedback. and a self-starter.
Benefits even in death. The tools are unique.
Once it’s all over and you’ve logged out for the As a developer at Google, you will be expected to
last time, Google will still look after you. Your use a set of unique, proprietary systems and
stock options instantly vest, your spouse will toolsets. Although these are highly specialised and
receive half of your salary for another 10 years, efficient, this means that you can basically forget
and there is another $1,000 in benefits for your relying on many of the tools and skills you’ve learnt
children. from previous work experience. Equally, you may
face another challenge when you move from
Google to another employer and no longer have
access to these tools and facilities. Nevertheless,
having Google on your resume does carry its own,
special currency.
As a company Google considers its employees as its biggest assets. Part of the tech giant's success
comes from employees' ability to take risks without feeling insecure or embarrassed. Google is
consistently rated as being a top employer, and the culture it created helps to attract and retain top
talent. The company's work culture is true to its philosophy: “To create the happiest, most productive
workplace in the world.” And that’s how Google company works when it comes to motivating their
employees.