Hands up all those who want to work for Google?!

By Kelly Dyer, Editor of Strategic Communication Management, Melcrum

Wow, have you seen Google’s offices? Funky just isn’t the word. After having worked in the past for a company where we were only allowed to make hot drinks twice a day, this working environment looks like heaven. A decompression (stress) capsule that’s impermeable to sound and light? It’s like something out of an episode of Star Trek. Free food and drink, rest rooms with massage chairs, professional masseurs and masseuses, private cabin areas where you can sort out your personal affairs, pool tables and video areas… why would you ever want to leave work? Wait a minute! I see what’s going on here! Now call me cynical, but there must be a reason why Google wants its employees to feel so loved, cared for and pampered. The aim must be to keep them at work continually.

A friend of mine worked for a short while at Google in Silicon Valley in the US. He had free food and drink, free transport to the office and back (in buses with wireless to connect him to his office PC throughout the journey), even his laundry was taken care of. He just needed to pop his dirty stuff in a named bag and drop it into a shoot next to his desk where it was whisked away to be cleaned, pressed and delivered back to him in pristine condition a day or two later. And there’s no need to rush back home at 5 in the evening to exercise Fido, he can be walked by a designated dog carer.

So is this a way of showing employees how much the company values them or is it a ploy to make it more convenient for them to work around the clock? Cynical thoughts aside, they may simply have a really good understanding of how to get the best from their people and to retain the top talent in a creative and stimulating environment.

Personally, I know if I worked there, my productivity levels would be low to non-existent, for the first few weeks at least. I’d be far too distracted watching the fish in the aquariums as I relaxed in my self-controlled massage chair, working out which masseur offered the best shoulder rub, piling on the pounds in the free canteen and trying not to worry about my rising cholesterol levels in the decompression stress capsule. Actually, no, scrap that last one. I think my stress levels would rise just lying there worrying about how to get out… (see the picture below).

After the initial excitement of working in a giant playground, I’m sure the novelty would wear off and I’d find it all quite tedious. But there’s no denying that employees’ needs are very well catered for and this is precisely why so many people want to work for Google and why it was ranked second in the Financial Times' list of best places to work in Europe and first in the UK.  

Comments

[Karl Roche]

Friend of mine works in Google, London. His wife went to the office one day for lunch and didn't want to go home. I'd give it a damn good go.