Things Your Company Can Learn and Adapt from Google | Work Rules | Lazlo Bock
Are you the one who cares for your employees?
Do you want to see them grow exponentially?
Unable to win their trust and loyalty despite implementing all the employee-focused strategies?
Don’t worry. This video will help you identify your mistakes, revamp your mindset, and come up with a better approach to take your company and employees to the next level.
We will walk you through what’s behind Google’s phenomenal success, what they exactly do and how they do it.
We have gathered all the best and most relevant data from the book Work Rules in which Laszlo Bock shares his perspective.
With Bock’s insight, you can learn what makes Google different and how you and your company can replicate the same winning ideas for enormous growth.
Bock joined Google as the Head of People Operations and saw the company growing from 6,000 staff in 2006 to 60,000 staff in 2016.
In Work Rules, Bock penned down his interpretation of the work rules and philosophies behind Google’s remarkable success.
He sheds light on how Google has developed such a diverse culture, attracts super talent from all across the globe, and achieves tremendous performance.
Bock emphasizes what it means to empower people, hire the best, and engage in continuous improvement.
We have organized those insights into four key categories:
- Build a High-Freedom Culture
- Hire Only the Best
- Manage Performance
- Empower, Learn & Grow
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Building a Great Culture
In any organization, whether big or small, the founder plays an integral role in shaping up the culture.
Because having a bossy and arrogant attitude doesn’t promise anything except for a prominent decline between the boss and employee relationship.
That’s where Google takes a significant edge, as its internal culture produces not just great employees but founders.
The company gives enough freedom to each employee to think creatively and differently.
Always remember that the goal of transforming from good to great starts from the inside.
So, if you want your company to flourish, create a culture that inspires your team and unlock their potential to the fullest.
Manage & Improve Performance
When you think of Performance Management, what’s the first thing that strikes comes to your mind?
Performance ratings and year-end appraisals?
A lot of companies have now become so much dependent on systems and scores to evaluate their employees that they have completely lost their path towards the real goal – to shape behavior and help employees do better.
If you take a look, you will find most of the companies, even big ones, spending so much on buying tools to organize their workflow and evaluate individual performances.
But does it really help in evolving an employee’s behavior?
Not really.
To help your team improve, you need to think way ahead of ratings and rankings.
Bock tells how Google sets objectives and key results (OKRs), measures performances, and uses calibration and peer feedback to ensure fairness.
For example, after the direct managers assign a draft rating, groups of 5-10 managers gather to take a close look at their employees’ ratings together.
This approach reduces individual bias, improves perceived fairness, and sets shared performance expectations.
Hire Only the Best
There are just two key ways to building an exceptional team: hire great people and let them do great work, or hire average people and do everything to make them into 90th percentile performers.
Bock recommends the former – investing your resources on attracting, hiring, and nurturing the right people.
You might find it a bit hard to attract and hire the best talent, but it’s worth a deal as a top performer will do what an average performer will take years to understand.
At Google, Line Managers do not select their own teams.
Once a potential candidate is identified, a separate team takes over the responsibility of selecting the right fit for the job.
These dedicated recruiters understand what to look for in candidates, and are familiar with jobs across Google.
So, if a candidate is not suitable for one job, these recruiters place him for another.
Learning, Empowerment & Growth
There is a lot of talk around concepts like employee empowerment, training, learning, and development.
Bock shares what Google’s perspective and approach are in this area.
At Google, it is based on three things: building a learning organization, empower people, and nudge people along.
Let’s take a broader look at each one of them and what exactly you can learn.
Build a Learning Organization
The majority of training resources are wasted because companies are unable to measure the actual and behavioral change.
If you have experienced the same in your company, then it’s better not to look at training dollars.
Instead, focus on deliberate practice and invest only in courses that are proven to change behaviors and results.
Empower People
Traditionally, we find a lot of managers doing injustice with their designation by asking employees to follow orders.
Google goes just the opposite way by eliminating power and status symbols, decentralizing decision-making, and giving people the freedom to shape their career and make a significant impact.
Nudge People Along
Sometimes, small changes play a crucial role in transforming human behavior.
So, as an employer or manager becoming conscious of the clues and signals, you can greatly influence your employees’ decisions and outcomes.
Google particularly takes care of this aspect so that its people can make better decisions to become healthier, wealthier, and wiser.
That’s it.
Isn’t it easy to achieve growth, promote a progressive culture, and win employee trust and loyalty if you broaden your horizon and start thinking a bit differently?
So, go win it!
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