In this Assignment, through the Google performance measurement case study, you will engage in
developing the following professional competencies:
Obtain and process information
Managing Talent: How Google Searches for Performance Measures
If there’s one thing Google knows, it’s how to use software to wade through massive amounts of data
and find what is most relevant. So it should come as no surprise that when the information technology
powerhouse wanted to develop better managers, it started by looking at the data. As it turns out,
Google found plenty to learn. Like most businesses, Google had files of data about managers—
results of performance reviews, surveys measuring employee attitudes, and nominations for
management awards. Unlike most businesses, Google figured out how to analyze all that data to
come up with a profile of the kind of manager whose team is most successful.
The company’s people analytics group (which brings together psychologists, MBAs, and data-mining
experts) analyzed 10,000 observations about managers in terms of more than 100 variables, looking
for patterns. The initial finding was a surprise to some at a company that had once operated without
managers: teams with good managers outperform teams with bad managers. But what makes a good
manager? Under the leadership of Google’s HR vice president, Laszlo Bock, the company distilled its
findings into a list of the behaviors that get results:
1. Be a good coach.
2. Empower your team. Do not micromanage.
3. Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being.
4. Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented.
5. Be a good communicator, and listen to your team.
6. Help your employees with career development.
7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.
8. Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team.
Allen, F. E. (2011, March 13). Google Figures Out What Makes a Great Boss – Forbes.
Unit 6 [203: Human Resource Management]
Perhaps those points sound obvious. But keep in mind that someone hired as a programming or
analytic whiz and later promoted to a managerial role might not have given much thought to, say,
cultivating the ability to express interest in team members’ success, which ranks far above technical
skills. Seeing this on a list identifies the behavior as something statistically related to superior
performance not just in general, but at Google specifically.
Furthermore, this is a behavior that can be measured (for example, by asking employees if their
supervisor expresses interest in them), and it can be learned by managers who want to improve. By
building performance measures in the eight key areas, Google was able to evaluate its managers’
performance and identify those who needed to improve in particular areas. It developed training
programs in the eight types of desired behavior. Before and after providing performance appraisals,
training, and coaching, Google conducted surveys to gauge managers’ performance. It measured a
significant improvement in manager quality for 75 percent of its lowest-performing managers. But
Bock isn’t resting on that success. Google intends to keep crunching the data, in case the criteria for
a successful Google manager change at some point in the future. One thing is for sure: Google will
continue to follow the data.
Answer the three questions below in a 2-3 page paper. Follow the project guidelines below.
Questions
1. Describe the five criteria for effectiveness of a performance management system and
summarize how Google’s approach to performance management meets these criteria.
2. Identify errors that could arise in the way Google collects performance data on managers.
Describe how it could minimize these errors.
3. Describe the steps or activities that might be involved in Google’s performance management
process.
Requirements:
1. Use the Case Study Template here (also available in Doc Sharing) to format your paper.
2. Complete a 2-3 page paper (not including the title and reference pages).
3. Answer each question thoroughly.
4. Demonstrate your understanding of the information presented in the weekly reading
assignments by defining terms, explaining concepts, and providing detailed examples to
illustrate your points.
5. Include at least two references from your reading assignments, or other academic sources, to
reinforce and support your own thoughts, ideas, and statements using APA citation style
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