When it comes to keeping their best people in the fold, Google has found success with two methods outlined by Laszlo Bock, their senior vice president of People Operations. In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, Bock explains the strategies that have helped Google to keep its top talent.
The first technique is perfectly simple: trust your employees. “People want to be trusted to do what they’re hired to do and rewarded for doing it well,” he says. At Google, managers and employees alike have autonomy over their projects and decisions, making them more invested in the desired outcome.
The second strategy is to foster an environment of career growth. Managers can nurture employees looking to take on bigger and better challenges by giving them the opportunity to switch teams or roles that allow this expansion. In addition, Google also provides competitive compensation, attractive benefits, and flexible work schedules.
By trusting their best people and creating an environment where they can grow professionally and personally, Google has been able to ensure the continued engagement of their top talent. This dedication to employee retention helps support a strong internal culture and work ethic, both of which are key elements in success for any company.
Google’s head of Human Resources recently shared her advice on how to keep the best employees from leaving their jobs. In a recent talk, Laszlo Bock suggested that the only two surefire ways to discourage people from leaving their current roles are providing more growth opportunities and creating a sense of connection and belonging.
Bock believes that growth opportunities are an integral part of employee retention. He explained that “Motivated workers are looking to grow in their current role and its important to provide them with the chances they need to make that happen.” This can be done through internal volunteering sign up sheets and also by helping facilitate mentoring circles in an organization.
Connection is also essential for employee retention. According to Bock, “It doesn’t matter how successful or lucrative a job is if there isn’t a sense of belonging, connection and purpose associated with it.” He places emphasis on the need for supervisors or managers to take the time to get to know their team members on a deeper level and having conversations about their goals and aspirations to help establish that connection.
These tips from Google’s HR head demonstrate just how important it is for organizations not only to have competitive salaries but also maintain an inspiring work environment that affords employees the opportunities for growth and connection needed for job satisfaction.Many companies struggle to retain their best talent, and Google is no different. Recently, Google’s Head of Human Resources Laszlo Bock sat down with Quartz to discuss the company’s strategies for maintaining its top talent.
According to Bock, there are just two ways to prevent your best people from leaving. The first strategy is to give them their own incentives, tailored to what motivates them. “The key is that these plans need to be specifically crafted for individuals,” he said. “You can’t do it as a shotgun approach or it won’t work.”
The second strategy is creating an effective corporate culture. According to Bock, it’s important that employees understand how the company makes decisions and how decisions are communicated. “If you do that well, it tends to satisfy everyone more at the end of the day,” he said.
Ultimately, though, Bock believes that the most important factor in retaining top talent is being clear about what the person will get out of staying with the company versus leaving for another opportunity elsewhere. “When people want to leave for something else, make sure you’re giving them something that does match or exceed that,” he advised.
From tailored incentives and corporate culture to clearly communicating exactly what each employee can expect from staying with the company, these two strategies seem simple enough — but they can be much more difficult to implement in practice. For tech titans like Google, however, following these two steps remains critical for maintaining a strong work force.