has been famously closed-mouthed about its people practices - until now. You’ve probably never heard of Google employees’ revolt over meatless Mondays or the pie that set off an internal debate about Tibetan independence.īarring some notable exceptions, Google Inc. “He’s passionate about making work better, and as a result, he invests a great deal of time and energy inside and outside Google disseminating knowledge,” said Adam Grant, a Wharton School management professor and author who has collaborated with Bock on various Google projects.Īn Insider’s View of Google’s People Practices Colleagues and acquaintances describe him as an intellectually curious leader who loves research and puts growth and development ahead of ego and image, all while managing to be witty and fun. Those designations are based as much on employees’ attitudes toward their managers, co-workers and workplace as on the company’s generous benefits and perks.Īll this points back to Bock, a self-described nerd who hasn’t outgrown his love of video games and comic books, and who’s more Bruce Banner than Hulk, his favorite character. and multinational best companies to work for lists four years running. Google’s data-based workforce breakthroughs have landed the Internet giant at or near the top of U.S. That’s despite supporting 53,600 employees and hiring up to 5,000 people a year, all without outsourcing or increasing its use of vendors or consultants. Today, the company’s HR staff delivers more services more efficiently at 73 percent of the cost structure it had in 2011 on a per-employee basis.

People analytics helps Google process some 3 million applications annually to find the crème de la crème, the quarter of 1 percent of candidates who eventually are hired for their skills, aptitude and ability to fit into the company’s culture, a trait insiders call “Googliness.”īy using data analysis and testing to streamline hiring and other personnel moves, Google has seen its people operations group’s productivity rise 6 percent annually over the past five years. The results have bordered on revolutionary. He did it by applying the rigorous testing Google previously reserved for refining search algorithms and rolling out new products to how it hires, trains, manages and promotes. consultant has helped elevate Google’s people-related number-crunching to world-class levels.

human resources executive and McKinsey & Co. Since then, the former General Electric Co. Google dabbled with using data for hiring and other people practices before Bock joined the company nine years ago. is a pioneer of people analytics, Laszlo Bock is guiding the wagon train.īock, 42, is the Internet giant’s senior vice president of people operations. Laszlo Bock photo provided by Google Inc.

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