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1-Page Summary of Work Rules

Overview

Working at Google is a dream job for many people, as it comes with great perks and lots of freedom. It’s not only because of the stock options or that it’s been voted the best place to work so many times, but also because working there means being surrounded by some of the world’s brightest minds.

Google’s famous workplace culture is the result of People Operations. Laszlo Bock, who heads up People Operations and is a champion for Google’s in-house culture, discusses what makes Google special.

You should pay your employees fairly. If you don’t, they’ll be unhappy with their job and will eventually leave. However, if you pay them more than they expect or deserve, it won’t make them happy either. You can retain the best candidates by hiring people who are passionate about what you do and why you do it.

Big Idea #1: The secret to Google’s culture is its mission, transparency and voice.

When people think about working at Google, they probably imagine beanbags and free food. However, the company’s success isn’t due to those perks; it is because of a manifesto that focuses on mission, transparency and voice.

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible. It helps people find what they’re looking for, and that makes Google a powerful tool in today’s society.

The second reason Google is a great company to work for is that its mission has no ceiling. A typical mission might be to become the market leader, but once this is accomplished, it’s no longer inspiring. At Google, employees are constantly motivated to explore new ways of organizing information and make improvements on existing ideas.

Google has a transparent culture that is different from other software companies. At Google, newcomers can access everything from product launch initiatives to another employee’s weekly status report. Furthermore, the CEO updates everyone on what he or she did last week and then takes questions for 30 minutes afterward. This transparency helps new employees know who to ask if they need help with something and it ensures that no one works on the same project at the same time.

Google is a unique company because it gives every employee the opportunity to share their ideas and opinions. In fact, most of Google’s practices originated from employees.

In 2009, the company launched an annual program to help employees identify their biggest frustrations.

Big Idea #2: Hire the best people by looking beyond their degrees and focusing on the right kind of training.

Google has a thriving culture. How did they do it? They hired outstanding people to work there. Here’s how they find them:

There are two ways to hire an exceptional employee: either by hiring the best or training the average. As you can tell, Google does the former. The Corporate Executive Board says that companies pay about $600 for training and $450 for hiring. However, they’re doing it all wrong; if a company hires an average candidate who ends up performing at a mediocre level, he’ll drain considerable resources from training programs and end up being below average!

Therefore, Google invests a lot of time and money in finding the right people for their workforce. They are very selective with an admission rate of 0.25% compared to Harvard University’s 6.1%.

Google hires a lot of people. When they first started, they only hired 100 people per year. However, Google learned that their best employees didn’t go to Ivy League schools and instead looked for candidates who had the ability to overcome obstacles and demonstrate resilience.