Motivating staff the Google Way

Incentives are used to promote or encourage specific actions to create motivation amongst staff.

More than half of American companies use incentives to motivate their staff, spending over $100 billion annually on incentive programs. The incentives industry has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

A good incentives program can help engage employees and engaged employees will see positive results to businesses.

(Source: http://www.bhengagement.com)

In the 100 Best Companies to work for, Google has ranked first place for the 6^th year running. So what makes Google so attractive for prospective employees?

Google’s model of motivation and leadership outperforms the traditional leadership theory, which focuses on the results rather than the people who deliver those results. At Google, the company work culture is “To create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world”.

Google’s Vice President of People Development backs up their value by stating “It’s less about the aspiration to be No. 1 in the world, and more that we want our employees and future employees to love it here, because that’s what’s going to make us successful.”

Apart from the usual extrinsic benefits such as flex spending accounts, no-cost health and dental benefits, insurance, 401k plans, vacation packages and tuition reimbursements, Google is an innovator in providing extra attractive benefits to their staff, further highlighting how far they would go to make their employees happy at work. Here are a few for you to consider when thinking of ways to motivate your staff and designing your benefits package:

• Regular survey for employees to rate their managers. This acknowledges the managers who are doing well and are listed as role models as well as providing support for those managers who aren’t doing well with support and coaching. This method sees a 75% increase of improvement for the lower ranked managers.
• Transparency for everything, including the same material that was shared at their most recent Board of Directors meeting, shows that the company can trust their staff with confidentiality and their judgement. A 30 minutes weekly meeting is also held by the co-founders to give the employees a chance to debate or question the company.
• Freedom is given to employees over when and how work is completed. Research by Sir Michael Marmot shows that the highest mortality is associated with people who have the least control over their work. On top of this, Google also gives employees a day of the week to do whatever they like.
• Flexibility over choosing their projects. Each employee can approach the project in their own unique way, even scribbling on walls! Google employees are also able to choose when they want to arrive to work, wear what they want, or even bring their dog! This fun, creative and relaxed environment has helped Google motivate their employees to become dedicated, motivated and more productive.
• Fun is regularly seen at the Google complex. They provide plenty of time for their employees to interact, have breaks, enjoy a game of beach volleyball, bowling and wall climbing. The best thing about their complex is that they can literally slide down to the next level! Every April Fool’s Day, it’s Google’s tradition to design and implement major gag and tricks for the world.
• Food. We all know food is half the solution to our happiness (at least it is for me!), at Google, not a single part of the office is more than 150 feet away from a food source, whether it be a café, a micro-kitchen or a restaurant, food is easily accessible for all staff.

With all the fun and flexibility at work, no wonder why Google employees are more dedicated to work harder to exceed the expectations from upper management!

Hear more about the future of rewards & recognition in a social era at Akolade’s upcoming Remuneration and Benefits Forum 2016 on 24^th – 26^th February 2016. 

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable cat and dog.