Glassdoor.com has just released its report on the 50 best places to work in the US (and pretty much abroad since most companies these days are global) and not surprisingly, Google came out on top. It sound from the report that this is due to all the perks employees receive, but what was pretty interesting was an article by Insider Monkey that outlines how Google utilizes an Agile form of HR management:
Glassdoor’s CEO, Robert Hohman talked about what makes Google the best in business in this category... “[...] What Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has done is that they have sort of borrowed the agile development methodology and applied it to HR. They are interviewing their employees frequently and they are trying to respond very rapidly to what they need, and what they heard Googlars needed as the employee base ages is more support in work-life balance [...],” said Hohman.
This greater support for employees that Hohman talked about was found lacking in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) at least to the extent that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) showed commitment for that cause. The measures involving facilitating its workforce included increased maternity leave, introduction of maternity leave, and revamped onsite day care, according to Hohman.
Although Google has made it to the list seven times in a row, this is the first time that the tech giant has secured the number 1 spot. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) dropped from the fifth position to number thirteen this year. Hohman mentioned that as the company is growing in size it is becoming harder for the company’s management to address the issues plaguing its staff.
I wouldn’t get too carried away by the Agile metaphor, as I don’t think they deployed Scrum on their HR practices (or who knows?), but rather they maintained agility with respect to how they monitored the employee satisfaction and changed quickly when things worked and didn’t work. They are known for their ability to experiment constantly, measuring results and changing rapidly when needed. This is a great recipe for any company to follow. As I mentioned before, it’s more about agility than being Agile.
