Analysis of HRM Strategies In Google Inc with respect to Horizontal and Vertical Integration

Our employees, who call themselves Googlers, are everything. We hope to recruit many more in the future. We will reward and treat them well. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Founders of Google

Introduction
Managing human resources effectively has become vital to organizations within the modern and fastpaced business environment. Human Resources specialists are more important in business strategies today for this very change in market dynamics more so in the present economic situation of a global recession and downturn across industries and sectors. Arguably, in the last 10 years since the expansion of information technology as a result of the internet; one astounding firm that has impacted on our lives is Google The Google search engine has become so popular that it is now listed as a verb in the dictionary (Merriam-Webster 2009). Is a textbook example of modern employee-centric policies and benefits.

Objectives of the Study

To analyze the HRM strategies practiced in Google with respect to Googles key business strategy and philosophy. To analyze the horizontal and vertical integration of Googles HR strategies with its overall corporate strategies. To analyze the gaps in Googles HRM strategies with respect to future challenges. To offer recommendations for closing the gaps b/w Googles HR Strategies and overall Business Strategies.

Company Profile
Googles vision is to focus on the user and all else will follow. Googles mission is to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Historical Perspective

The two founders of Google-Larry Page and Sergey Brin theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships between websites. They called this new technology PageRank. Originally nicknamed their new search engine "BackRub", because the system checked back links to estimate the importance of a site. Eventually, they changed the name to Google, originating from a misspelling of the word "googol. The domain name for Google (google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu) was registered on September 15, 1997, and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998. Was based in a friend's (Susan Wojcicki) garage in Menlo Park, California. It had less than 20 employees and was answering 10,000 search queries. Made some money by licensing the search service to other sites. In March 1999, the company moved its offices to Palo Alto, California. Began selling text-based advertisements associated with search keywords. Granted a patent describing its PageRank mechanism. In 2003; the company leased its current office complex from Silicon Graphics at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California-now known as Googleplex. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, Inc that developed a product called Earth Viewer renamed it as Google Earth. 2 years later, Google bought the online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion

Historical Perspective
On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire Double-click for $3.1 billion. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker Technologies for $106.5 million. Also acquired Aardvark, a social network search engine, for $50 million. In 2010, Google Energy appeared as its first investment in a renewable energy project, putting $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. On August 15, 2011, Google made its largest-ever acquisition to date when announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. This purchase was made in part to help Google gain Motorola's considerable patent portfolio on mobile phones and wireless technologies to help protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with other companies, mainly Apple and Microsoft. On August 13, 2012, Google announced plans to lay off 4000 Motorola Mobility employees. On December 10, 2012, Google sold the manufacturing operations of Motorola Mobility to Flextronics for $75 Million. On December 19, 2012, Google sold the Motorola Home business division of Motorola Mobility to Arris Group for $2.35 billion. On June 5, 2012 Google announced it acquired Quickoffice, a company widely known for their mobile productivity suite for both iOS and Android. On February 6, 2013 Google announced it has acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million.

Work Culture
A High-energy, fast paced work environment. Casual dress code. There are workout facilities, a caf, well stocked snack rooms, and a dorm like environment. 20% time program. On Fortune magazine's list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007, 2008 and 2012 and fourth in 2009 and 2010. Google was also nominated in 2010 to be the worlds most attractive employer. Google's corporate philosophy embodies casual principles. Co-founder Sergey Brin says that the fact that Google is fairly engineering centric has been misinterpreted. Google has many international communities- Gayglers(LGBT) Greyglers (Googlers over 40 years old).

Product Portfolio
Advertising: Google Analytics Google'sAdWords Google AdSense Search Engine: indexes billions of web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire, through the use of keywords and operators. Productivity Tools: a free webmail service; Google Docs. Enterprise Products: Google Search Appliance, Mini, Custom Search Business Edition-renamed as Google Site Search; Google Apps-Basic Free Edition Google Apps for Business, Education and Government. Geospatial solutions-Google Earth and Google Maps Security and archival solutions-Postini Chromebooks:-Personal computing run on browser-centric operating systems. Other Products: Google Translate Google News service Apache 2.0 G1, the first Android-based phone Google Chrome Nexus One Google Wave Google+

Business Strategy
Googles Toronto Office reads proud to be geeks. The employees dont need the next deadline or next project proposal to work on creating something, but rather an intrinsic challenge. Focused on the human capital creation and retention since becoming operational in September 1998. The Ten Things -The operating guidelines in a very broad and yet amicable manner. Aimed at creating innovative and unique solutions which would uphold the brand equity and reputation. The strategy has been to provide the user a completely precise and tothepoint customer experience and to accept short term losses over long term goals.

SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT analysis is a management tool that is used by most corporate organizations in making decisive strategic decisions that helps the organization to be stable and sustainable in the long term.

Strengths
Googles Markets Key Technologies Free Software Quality of Personnel. Capital Base & Revenue Streams

Weaknesses
Weak Staff Loyalty Ineffective Staff Recruitment Security International Reputation Motorola Acquisition Risk Mobile Monetization CPC woes

Opportunities
Google Plus Maps Offers Shopping News/Finance Other Services Imobi Google Books Google TV

Threats
Lawsuits Competition Economic Downturn Political Risk Mobile Search Human Resources

Human Resource Management in Google

HR practices at Google are named People Operations, which is designed to underline the fact that it is not a mere administrative function, but ensures to build a strong employee-employer relationship. The HR team is made up of general HR business partners, internal consultants, line managers, learning and development, and recruitment teams. Recruitment and Selection: Developed a recruiting machine to categorize the jobs for the recruitment process. This contains details of the entire organization, requirements of the organization from the leaders to the entry-level employees. Through its branding, public relations, and recruiting efforts. Recruiting functions such as employee referrals, college recruitment, extensive recruiter training etc. Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Rigorous selection process-tough interview of nearly four rounds Use of mathematical problems while screening candidates. Finally approved by Page Evaluates candidates on their Googleyness, ability to work in Google's flat organizational structure and their knack of working in small teams. A ratio of about 1 recruiter for every 14 employees (1:14)

Training and Development

Classes on individual and team presentation skills, content development, business writing, executive speaking, delivering feedback, and management/leadership. Free foreign language lessons, including French, Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin are also sponsored by Google. An Engineering training group, engEDU, provides orientation and training classes, mentoring, career development, and tutorial services all programs built by and for engineers. In a survey, 92% of employees indicated that they are provided T&D to further them professionally, and 97% indicate that they are given the resources and equipment to do their job. It is mandatory for all employees to undergo T&D sessions for a minimum of 120 hours/year, which is about three times the industry average in North America of 43 hours/year.

Leadership Development
Learning and Leadership Development (LLD) team designs and implements innovative learning programs that support and develop the company's talent. Their team is a creative, dynamic and collaborative group that is responsible for three integrated components of learning: the learning programs of Google University, leadership development and talent management

Innovations in Googles recruiting process

The new innovation in Googles recruiting function is the data-driven approach to candidate assessment. The companys new assessment tool relies on an algorithm to identify candidates accurately, so as to match or resemble with their existing top performers. The algorithm evaluates the potential success of the candidates and this innovative function recognizes and resolves the major drawbacks in the assessment methodologies that rely on academic grades,, degrees from top schools, prior industry experience and subjective interview results. The transition from the common intuition approach to a scientific, data-based approach

Compensation Structure
Google stands out as being one of the most sought after and yet one of the most underpaying employers in the industry. Googles compensation program, also called payfor-performance, focuses on providing reward for strong performance as well as training for overcoming weaknesses for underperformers. Google emphasized on employee development through on-the-job learning, training through classes conducted by higher officials, frequent departmental meetings and lectures by famous personnel. While fresh MBAs are offered salaries between $80,000 and $120,000 per annum, experienced engineers draw an annual package of $130,000 along with 800 options. software engineers at Google draw an enviable compensation package as compared to their counterparts at Microsoft or Yahoo!

70/20/10Rule And Learning Support

Employees have to divide their time at work into three parts: 70 percent are to be devoted to search and advertising, 20 percent (1 day of the working week) on a project of their choice, and 10 percent to far-out ideas. In order to create a learning organization, Google put team member within a few feet of each other. The result being that everyone shares an office with one or more member of the team. And with immediate access to the entire team, Total Quality Management (Quality and Integrated System) is coordinated within the team.

Innovation
To encourage creativity and interaction among employees, Googles office is designed
so as to provide colors, lighting and shared room. Also, Googles HR policies and work culture are unique and the managers are allowed to try new approaches, to make mistakes and learn from failure.

Social Good
Informal corporate motto Dont be Evil, which reminds its employees that commitment to be ethical is part and parcel of being a leader at Google. 99% of the employees indicate that, Management is honest and ethical in its business practices. Standards of conduct relate to : Internal business practices (respecting each other, protecting confidentiality, protecting Googles assets, etc), External relations with customers and partners, and the impact on of Google's work on the larger society

Benefits And Perks

Googles main aim is to achieve several goals such as attract the best knowledge-workers, help the employees work long hours by feeding them gourmet meals on-site, handling other time-consuming personal chores and to remain as Googlers for a longer period of time.

Human Resources Technology and Operations

The Human Resources Technology and Operations team designs, implements and continuously evolves innovative technology tools that enable all aspects of the HR function. Used for maintaining accurate data over the course of an employee's lifecycle, generating useful management information and resolving end-user issues. The team is a creative, dynamic and collaborative group that is responsible for three integrated components of learning: the learning programs of Google University, leadership development and talent management.

Gaps and Problems in Googles Human Resources and Business Strategies

Gaps in Recruitment and Selection

There are a lot of similar complains about hiring process and it is true that Google hiring process is time-consuming, both for employees and for Google. Google hiring process takes from one to four month and it is inconvenient for applicants, however it is necessary from business performance view. All new positions must pass through the respective budget approvals for each area. Additionally, recruitment at Google is not the sole responsibility of the HR team. The need to hire the right people permeates across the organization, becoming the outlook of every employee, turning Google into a recruiting machine. Currently Googles head count has more than tripled however managers need time for approval of each position in order to make the right decision. So there is a need to understand the issues faced in the recruitment process and accordingly modify the recruitment strategy.

Gaps in Performance Evaluation and Compensation

Google is lacking in its ability to track the on-the-job performance of new hires. The number of temporary and contract employees in the recruiting function at Google is high. The unwillingness to give permanent jobs immediately to recruiters may reduce Googles ability to get experienced recruiters. Googles emphasis on attracting youngsters might hurt its ability to attract more senior and experienced personnel. At the same time hiring more no. of contract employees makes the evaluation task all the more difficult. Earlier Google used to give "Founders' Awards" in cash to people who made significant contributions. The idea was to boost employee motivation, but it backfired because those who didn't get them felt overlooked. Google rarely gives Founders' Awards now, and awards are limited to executives, not all employees. Also, Many knowledge workers feel that they are not being valued as the company matures. Also the provision of stock options under which Google offers employees a percent of its shares in the market; does not seem to attract many employees. Most Google employees have base salaries that are significantly lower than the industry average, even when those base salaries are supplemented by stock options.

Challenge of growth
Analysts are concerned that as the company grows, it is difficult for it to provide the same financial and other incentives for its employees. Googles meteoric growth also poses a threat to its intimate team culture and its ability to handle creative conflicts among Googlers. Further, Google struggles to keep its culture away from the shackles of bureaucracy while being able to stimulate its employees. Avoiding organizational lethargy from creeping in while constantly launching new products is also not an easy feat to accomplish.

Diversification Gap
In case of diversification, Google had trouble in recruiting talented locals in its South Asian operations, a board member of Google said (Business Week, 2005). In particular, it was cited a shortage of web development skills such as knowledge of JavaScript and Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), the web design technology used in the latest generation of websites like Google Maps and Flickr. Middle managers also are in short supply.

Gap in company nature

The nature of work at Google undergoes constant changes, hence few employees are able to achieve the task for what they were initially hired. It is also opined that this may hinder the performance management function. Because every hire has been extensively screened and Google believes, All employees have high potential and if someone fails, Google managers take the attitude that theyre to blame, not the employee. Googles unconventional work culture has stirred many debates. A 12hour working day has become a norm at Google, owing to its wide array of employee benefits. Many employees find the work environment far too much fun and perhaps even an overload of happiness. Most workers are able to find their focus and sanctuary at work, but for some, a more professional and structured work environment is necessary.

Intense Competition and Recession

The competition at Google is highly intense due to everyone trying to make one innovation or another as the next in thing. Google has suffered the impact of recessionary trends and as a result of the challenging financial times, Google has tried to cut down on some of its benefits to better manage costs

Pertinent Emerging Questions

How do Googles vision, mission and philosophy integrate with its business and HR strategies? What are the possible future opportunities and threats for Google? To what extent has Google achieved strategic fit in terms of horizontal and vertical integration b/w its HR and Business strategies? Do Googles benefits and perks attract employees more than the other traditional companies? How does the workplace environment benefit or distract the employees focus on creativity and innovation? What solutions should the management at Google adopt to address future challenges and reduce the gaps specific to Googles Business and HR Strategies?

Recommendations
Misalignment and ineffective implementation of the employee recruitment and selection strategies which seem to have negatively affected the performance evaluation activities as well of the HR dept thus leading to ineffective horizontal fit among the HR strategies of recruitment, selection and performance evaluation of the organization. Google has to ensure that its employees retain not just because they are given a variety of benefits. At the same time just providing flexibility to innovate and a vibrant colored atmosphere wont bring innovation quickly Also though the unconventional work culture has accelerated the pace of innovation;. There is a risk of the organization losing its dynamism and becoming more bureaucratic The top management of the company headed by CEO Eric Schmidt needs to be more proactive in revisiting and modifying their recruitment and retention strategies from time to time Issues of the diversification gap to be addressed by focusing on the larger business implications.

Conclusion
There is ample evidence to show that Googles business strategy is indeed realistic, rationale, and viable and not as insane as claimed by Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer. The company has shown that it is capable of dominating all the associated businesses and activities on the internet. Horizonal integeration is highly overlooked due to loopholes in recruitment, selection, compensation backed by challenges posed by diversification, recession and certain issues related to the workplace culture. Google has managed to achieve vertical integration with its business strategies and its Reward administration by an effective provision of a diverse range of employee benefits and access to a no. of facilities Google also has the possibility of achieving a successful strategic vertical fit b/w its organization development related HRM practices and innovation focused corporate strategies because of its unconventional culture. To sum up Microsoft and Yahoo can try everything, but the large majority of people around the world will always "google" things, not "yahoo" or "bing" them as Google has an upper hand in business.