Introduction
Human resource management is an important aspect of an organization’s success. Effective HRM practices help companies to ensure that their staff is motivated to contribute to the company and to support long-term goals. HRM can also improve retention and assist a company in building a healthy, highly qualified workforce, making that company’s human resources a major competitive advantage. Google is a tech giant based in the United States that is famous worldwide for its innovations and services. A significant part of Google’s success lies in its HRM, which has helped the company to develop a highly qualified, efficient, and creative workforce. The present essay will focus on Google’s HRM practices and attempt to explain their contribution to the company’s competitive advantage.
Recruitment and Selection
For a large international corporation, finding an appropriate recruitment and selection strategy that will work in various countries is imperative. As noted by Lombardo (2017), Google uses a mixed approach to recruitment that includes both internal and external recruitment. Externally, Google recruits applicants using the company’s connections with universities and colleges all over the world, as well as job advertisements that the company publishes on its website. This strategy ensures that those who apply for jobs at Google possess all necessary knowledge and have a keen interest in the company.
Internal recruitment at Google includes numerous promotional opportunities that are available to the workers in most positions. Whereas external recruitment can be used to fill internships and entry-level positions, internal recruitment works best for middle- and high-level vacancies as it promotes retention and creates a workforce with experience and excellent knowledge of the company. Therefore, mixing the two recruitment strategies, depending on the position, helps Google to remain competitive by improving the characteristics of its workforce while at the same time allowing for fresh minds to enter the company.
The selection at Google is made primarily based on skills, education, and work ethics. In addition, Google’s recruiters attempt to ensure a good fit between the prospective employee and the company culture. The selection process at Google seeks to offer equal opportunity to all applicants and to eliminate gender, race, and other biases to promote diversity. This selection strategy is helping Google to remain competitive as it contributes to building a healthy and engaged workforce. Moreover, diversity enhances innovation as it encourages more viewpoints and opinions.
Training and Development
Providing workers with opportunities for growth and skill development not only helps to achieve corporate goals but also improves motivation and employee engagement, thus increasing performance outcomes. At Google, careful attention is paid to the training and development of employees. Pratap (2017) writes that Google is interested in talent development, recruiting workers for entry-level positions externally, and allowing them to progress to higher ranks within the organization.
Providing a continuous learning environment is one of the main components of Google’s approach to training and developing workers. The company offers free foreign language courses as well as training in management, leadership, content development, mentoring, and more (Patrap, 2017). Future leaders are of particular importance to Google as it is vital for the company to retain promising workers and improve their skills to prepare them for managerial positions. To this end, Google has developed an annual leadership training program that is mandatory for all of its employees.
Providing a suitable environment for training and development assists Google in improving the skillset of its workers. In addition, this approach allows employees to progress to higher positions within the organization, thus supporting retention rates and securing talent within the company. This, in turn, generates a major competitive advantage by improving the workforce and its productivity.
Retention
In HRM, retention strategies allow companies to build a stronger workforce, preventing talent leakage and promoting loyalty. Many ways to support the retention of workers are available, such as generating career development opportunities, creating a positive working environment, and providing fair employment conditions. Google’s retention strategy includes competitive compensation packages. In addition to an above-average salary, employees receive a variety of benefits such as free meals and bonuses for a high level of performance (Lombardo, 2017). Moreover, the company aims to improve retention rates by facilitating career development and fostering a creative working environment beneficial to all employees.
Successful retention strategies help the company to enhance performance outcomes, contributing to the overall health of the workforce. In addition, Google’s retention strategies can contribute to improved employee motivation and job satisfaction, helping the company achieve its goals for growth and development. Thus, the retention practices used by Google also contribute to the company’s competitiveness.
Conclusion
Overall, Google is an example of a company that effectively uses HRM practices to remain competitive. Google attracts and retains talented employees, providing them with opportunities for growth and development. It also seeks to enhance the work environment, making work more rewarding and enjoyable. A healthy workforce, in turn, helps the company to achieve its goals and improve performance, thus maintaining its leading position in the tech market.
References
Lombardo, J. (2017). Google’s HRM: Recruitment, selection, retention. Web.
Pratap, A. (2017). Google’s human resource management strategy. Web.