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Oh, to be a Googler! How Google’s Employee Engagement Contributes to the Company’s SuccessCydney McMillonQueens UniversityComm 610Google has frequently topped the Fortune 100 list of "best companies to work for" and the company is known for their fun and unique workplace culture. I will be using the Expectancy Theory of Motivation for my theoretical framework to conduct an ideological analysis of the productivity of Google employees, as a result of Google's high employee engagement and incredible corporate environment. I will analyze interviews/articles about Google's HR team (a team titled "People Operations") and videos that exhibit a day in the life of Google employees such as "The Google Life". Employee engagement is very important to an organization because engaged workers increase profitability, are less likely to leave an employer and they are more likely to be motivated and advance their careers (Christensen, 2013). Expectancy theory proposes that people believe there are relationships between the effort they put forth at work, the performance they achieve from that effort, and the rewards they receive from their effort and performance. (Lunenburg, 2011)Vroom's Expectancy Theory addresses motivation and management in an organization. The theory suggests that an individual's perceived view of an outcome will determine the level of motivation. The Expectancy Theory has three key principles: expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Expectancy can be described as the belief that higher or increased effort will yield better performance. Instrumentality can be described as the thought that if an individual performs well, then a valued outcome will come to that individual. Valence refers to beliefs about outcome desirability. (Lunenburg, 2011)Google uses these three principles to provide an innovative work culture that motivates employee with numerous perks and benefits. Some of the benefits include free lunch/dinner, onsite physicians and nurses, travel insurance, paid maternity leave, tuition reimbursement, discounted legal aid just to name a few. In addition to that, Google has a program they call “innovation time off” or 20% time, where they give the employees he opportunity to not “work” for 8 hours of their workweek. Employees are encouraged to use this time to follow their passion and complete side projects while coming up with creative and innovative ideas for the company.Google also incorporates Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory in their culture. In Maslow’s theory an employee cannot be fully motivated unless basic needs are met. Google’s provides employees with food, for physiological need, security/employment for safety, belonging/respect by colleagues for love, for self-esteem there is salary/rank, and the opportunity for advancement/ time to focus on passion are a part of self actualization.Google’s CEO Larry Page states, “It’s important that the company be a family, that people feel that they're part of the company, and that the company is like a family to them. When you treat people that way, you get better productivity. Rather than really caring what hours you worked, you care about output. We should continue to innovate in our relationship with our employees and figure out the best things we can do for them” (Lashinsky, 2012). Page’s statement represents the company’s use of the expectancy principle of Vroom’s theory to show how the employees are treated and engaged motivates them and increases their productivity.Google has a rigorous hiring process as they look at resumes from about 2-3 million applicants a year. The candidate interview process is data driven and the applicants have to go through five interviewers. The hiring is very thorough so that the company chooses top talent to create high performers in the business. The hiring process can be indicative of the instrumentality principle of the expectance theory. If an individual performs well, a valued outcome will come to that individual. Google’s rewards system includes intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. These include gyms, massage rooms, laundry rooms, and dry cleaning services among many other amenities. Because happiness and engagement of employees are so important to the company, Google hired a “Culture Czar” whose job is to keep Googlers happy.Employee engagement and happiness is something that the workers at Google greatly recognize and value. CareerBliss is a website that evaluates 10 key factors of organizations that impact happiness, including: work-life balance, one's relationship with their boos and peers, work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, daily tasks, and job control over the work performed on a daily basis. Employees rate their company on all 10 factors on a scale of 1 to 5. Employees of Google scored the company 4.31 on the list in 2012. In 2012, the company hit $50 billion in revenue making 2012 the most profitable year so far in their 15 year history. The profit and productivity of the company correlates with the high employee happiness rating. ?Christensen, C. (2013). 4 reasons why investing in employee engagement matters. Retrieved from , J. (2009). How Google motivates their employee with rewards and perks. Reteived from , A. ( 2012). Larry Page: Google should be like a family. Retrieved from . F. (2011). Expectancy theory of motivation: motivating by altering expectations. International Journal of Management, Business and Administration, 15, 1-6.Matulich, E., Kuntze, R. (2009). Google: searching for value. Retrieved from ................
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