How Google is using people analytics to completely reinvent HR

If you haven't read in the news before, Google stock price brook $800 for the first time in 2013. Since then, Google moved into the No. 3 position among the most valuable firms in the world, people analytics being one of the major reasons.

Google is clearly the youngest firm among the leaders; it has surprisingly been less than a decade since Google’s IPO.

Most companies on the top 20 market cap list could be accurately described as “old school,” because most can attribute their success to being nearly half a century old, having a long-established product brand, or through great acquisitions. Google’s market success can instead be attributed to what can only be labeled as extraordinary people management practices that result from its use of “people analytics.”

Top 10 reasons for Google’s people analytics approach

Almost everyone has by now heard about Google’s free food, 20% time, and a wide range of fun activities but realize that each of these was implemented and is maintained based on data. Many of Google’s people analytics approaches are so unusual and powerful, I can only describe them as “breathtaking.”

The people analytics team reports directly to the VP and it has a representative in each major HR function. It produces many products, including employee surveys that are not anonymous, and dashboards. It also attempts to identify insightful correlations and to provide recommended actions. The goal is to substitute data and metrics for the use of opinions.

Below I have listed my “Top 10” of Google’s past and current people management practices to highlight its data-driven approach:

1. Leadership characteristics and the role of managers

Its “project oxygen” research analyzed reams of internal data and determined that great managers are essential for top performance and retention. It further identified the eight characteristics of great leaders. The data proved that rather than superior technical knowledge, periodic one-on-one coaching which included expressing interest in the employee and frequent personalized feedback ranked as the No. 1 key to being a successful leader. Managers are rated twice a year by their employees on their performance on the eight factors.

2. The PiLab....

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