Posts Tagged ‘company’
I find it hardly surprising that Google has been voted as the nations best company to work for in Australia. That’s according to the BRW (Business Review Weekly Magazine) great Places To Work For survey. Out of the 100 or so positions they had available here at the Sydney headquarters, they received a whopping 19,475 applications (figures from BRW magazine April 30-June 3 2009 Edition). The US magazine Fortune’s have a list of 100 best companies to work for and the Google parent company in the states also topped that in 2007 and 2008. What makes them so great so that they are listed as the best company to work for?
Its basically one simple thing. They realize that their employees are their greatest asset! Without loyal and motivated employees, they may as well turn off their servers and retire. The perks that employees get are a benchmark which other companies are now trying to achieve. Obviously Google have the funds to be very generous to their employees like staff can nominate a fellow employee for a bonus of $175 for accomplishments as a thank you for a job well done. And that’s uncapped now as to how many times an employee can receive that.
Their office setup is also somewhat of a benchmark. They have bean bag meeting rooms and micro kitchens to sit around and discuss issues over a drink or two and lots of little nooks and crannies around the office to escape for awhile to think and relax on comfortable sofas etc. Sounds awesome doesn’t it?
What about your office? Is it anything like Google’s? I dare say that on one hand most other companies cannot afford such luxuries for their employees and on the other hand, they can but wont. Managers really need to get it through their heads that their staff are really their best asset and they need to look after them. A common misconception as to why people leave their jobs is that it’s over money. Nothing can be further from the truth. In all my time as a manager, I cannot remember one person who left because they felt they were under paid. The ones that felt like that didn’t leave because of that. They left because they were more full of their own importance than the ability to do their job. In other words, they were sacked! The biggest reason people leave is job dissatisfaction; the company culture, the direction the company is heading, poor staff management, lack of incentives and perks and a general negative working environment. However, you as a manager can have a lot of input into this area. It’s part of your job. What have you done to make your office environment more positive?
The thing is, its not that difficult. However, you need to start with yourself. Have people been telling you that you are overpowering, a nag, a hypocrite and other negative things? If they have, then stop,think and do something about it. When one person tells you that, it’s in anger, when two people tell you that, then its a conspiracy, but when a whole bunch of people tell you that, then its the TRUTH! Change! If you cant, then seek guidance from someone who can help you.
You don’t need to spend ‘googles’ of money to make a change or go out and buy a ton of bean bags or comfortable sofas for every corner of the office. What you need to do is find out what motivates your staff and then provide the tools for the staff to create their own culture. Why should the company heads decide that as most of them a probably from what I call the ‘Old School of Management’ with outdated ideas on employee motivation.
If you want employees who want to come to work everyday and love their jobs, then adopt some of the simple methods Google uses. There is a reason why they are number one as far as being the best place to work at. One day though, Google are not going to be unique as other companies will see that their employees are truly their number one asset. Do you see that now?
Cheers
Andrew Bailey
P.S. I always love to hear feedback on any of my postings. Please leave a comment. Thank you.
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