Review: “Work rocks! why most people want to work at google”, Laszlo Bok. Work rocks! Why most people in the world want to work at Google This book is well complemented

Work searches 25.06.2020

Laszlo Bock

VP of Human Resources at Google. In 2010, he was recognized as the best HR executive by the professional publication HR Executive Magazine. For 15 years of his work, the number of employees of the company has grown from 6 thousand people to 50 thousand.

This book is a story about what we have learned over the past 15 years, and what you can do to put people at the forefront, changing both your life and your leadership positions in it.
Laszlo Bock

Google can be called an integral part of our life. We google, watch YouTube videos, carry Android smartphones, chat on Hangouts… And sometimes we dream of working there. Why? After all, it's not just a big salary.

Working at Google differs from working at many other companies primarily in what Laszlo Bock calls "a high degree of freedom" - when employees independently decide how to act in a given situation.

Another significant difference is that leaders or managers cannot make some decisions alone. For example, the decision to fire an employee, how to evaluate his performance, who to promote up the career ladder. Working at Google - teamwork. Therefore, each such decision is made by colleagues or a group of independent experts. In general, no traditional "sticks" and "carrots".

Google understands how important freedom is for a person.

And in order to be humane to the people who work for you, your company does not have to bring huge profits. And it is possible, and vice versa: if employees believe in themselves and their work, then the company will prosper. Therefore, the advice from the book "Work rules" will apply to both large and small organizations. The right approach to workflow can make your company that dream job.

About the book

Laszlo Bock's book is voluminous, which is not surprising: it outlines 15 years of work of a man who was looking for the best of the best. From the book you will learn about dozens of techniques, non-standard solutions, mistakes and amazing finds. A total of 15 chapters, each of which is devoted to a specific aspect of hiring employees and their motivation, plus additional materials for HR fans.

Where does change begin

If you want to create conditions for "big freedom", like at Google, you need to translate the idea into action. Laszlo Bock offers 10 specific recommendations that can be applied in any company to achieve the desired result.

1. Make your work meaningful

Work has value not because it brings money, but largely because of the sense of belonging to a common useful cause. Help people understand the importance of what you do.

2. Trust your people

3. Only hire people who are better than you.

We should strive not to fill vacancies, but to look for really excellent employees. Bad employees are slow poison for a company.

4. Do not confuse the concepts of "development" and "performance management"

You need to talk to employees. And an open dialogue is possible only if the employees are sure that they will not be punished or fined for their mistake. Support employees, do not kill their desire to learn.

5. Focus on the "two tails"

"Two tails" - the best and lagging employees. You need to learn from the best, and create conditions for learning from those who are lagging behind.

6. Be frugal and generous

Do not waste money on nonsense like never-ending corporate parties. It is better to leave them for a rainy day, but do not spare money in special cases (for example, if someone in the employee's family falls ill or an addition appears). Employees should know that the company will support them - in sorrow and in joy.

7. Don't pay fair

Remember, the best ones cost more than the average ones. Therefore, there should be a difference in salaries for different employees. And this difference must be earned.

8. Push

The conditions must match the goals. Do you want employees to collaborate more with each other? Tear down the partitions between the tables!

9. Manage Rising Expectations

If you want to experiment with the suggested tips, first let your subordinates know about it. You need people's support.

10. Have fun!

And remember that a great work environment is a good motivator in itself.

Who is this book for?

For HR managers. Recruiters definitely have a lot to learn from Laszlo Bock.

For entrepreneurs and those who want to become one. Here you will find extremely valuable tips on organizing work, building a strong team and defining the mission of the company.

For employees who care about their job and want to do their own workplace it is better. Change doesn't always come from above. Sometimes all you have to do is offer, and you'll see that positive changes start small.

Around Google many myths are created. They are especially concentrated around hiring, internal corporate and organizational culture. Laszlo Bock's book lifts the veil of secrecy and talks about how internal HR processes are actually organized at one of the most attractive employers in the world.

The book turned out great complete guide, and I think that it can become a desktop for everyone involved in HR. We can safely say that the practice in all areas of work within the company is collected here. The best-selling author consistently covers the basics and shares specific case studies that are used in one of the best multinational companies.

It was very interesting to learn about the biography of Laszlo Bock himself, the current Vice President of Human Resources at Google - who he was before, how he developed, how he ended up in the company, how he created his team, what experience is important for him when choosing potential employees.

The system at Google is based on data management: if you can't count something, then you can't manage it. At the heart of all management decisions there are internal studies and conclusions, confirmed by calculations, and not just someone's opinion. Great importance attached to internal automation - after all, it helps to make routine operations less labor-intensive, and ultimately allows you to get an array of data that you can work with and make decisions in the future.

The company pays special attention to high-quality search and selection of specialists. The author is sure that it makes no sense to invest in "average" employees. It is better to spend money on a better recruitment procedure: not to “plug holes”, but to look for really suitable people. The book provides a detailed analysis of how the recruitment process at Google works.

Many people have watched the film “Cadres decide everything”, where one of the most striking scenes was an interview via Skype. During the interview, the main characters were asked to answer a non-standard question: “You shrunk to the size of a coin and fell to the bottom of the blender, what are your actions?”. A few years ago, William Poundstone's book, Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?, was published, which collected such original tasks for interviews. Laszlo Bock says that the company subsequently abandoned the use of these tests and explains why. He goes on to admit that experimenting with the sensational story about placing shields with a task for programmers did not lead to the result that the company expected at all.

Through an organized system of data collection, the author provides the readership with many examples of management within the company. I will only talk about a few of them.

Referral programs played a special role in attracting talented employees for Google - when current employees offer to consider the candidacies of their friends. The company managed to achieve the maximum effectiveness of such programs not by increasing financial gratitude to recommenders, but by organizing a more transparent process and constant feedback for those who recommend.

Most The best decision about hiring is a group decision, emphasizes Laszlo Bock.

Google has identified 4 main factors that contribute to further success in the company: general cognitive ability, leadership, "googling" and knowledge.

The best recruiting tools in a company are: proficiency testing (a task from a job similar to the one you are looking for), structured interviews, testing general cognitive ability and an assessment of conscientiousness.

The book contains 10 basic rules adopted by Google for building an effective personnel management system. And also - a lot of useful information and life hacks that can be useful when organizing work in any company.

The principles of work, which Laszlo Bock spoke about, are applicable in almost all areas of business and corporate structures. In fact, this is really the most tsimes of useful advice that affect literally all HR processes.

Spiridonova Natalia.

This book is well complemented by:

moon in the sky

Inna Kuznetsova

Delivering happiness

Hug your employees

Jack Mitchell

Work Rules!

Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

Laszlo Bock

Work rocks!

Why most people in the world want to work for Google

"Mann, Ivanov and Ferber"

Information

from the publisher

Published with permission from Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency

Published in Russian for the first time

Bock, Laszlo

Work rocks! Why most people in the world want to work for Google. / Laszlo Bock; per. from English. O. Pobortseva - M. : Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2015.

ISBN 978-5-00057-668-7

In this book, you'll find a first-person account of all of Google's talent secrets: how the company searches and hires the right employees and how to retain and motivate staff. After reading it, you will know what personnel decisions turned Google into a company where freedom, purpose and creativity reign, where employees are valued and listened to, and where most people dream of getting a job. Google's recipes for success work for both big and small companies. They can be used by both managers and employees.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holders.

Legal support of the publishing house is provided by law firm Vegas Lex.

Dedicated to Annabelle, Emily and Leela. May you always love what you do

Foreword

HR nightmare

How to create the perfect resume for Google. A look into the past

I received my first paycheck in the summer of 1987, when I was fourteen. My best friend Jason Corley and I were in eighth grade and about to enter ninth grade when we were asked to join a summer debating club. The following year, we taught classes there ourselves and earned $420 each.

For the next 28 years, my resume was painted with the colors of various positions, turning into a real personnel nightmare. I worked in a deli, a restaurant and a library. I taught at a California high school and taught English to juniors in Japan. After being a lifeguard at a college swimming pool, I played him in Baywatch, a 1960s cameo that appears in the background. I stood at the origins of one non-profit organization who helped troubled teenagers. I worked in a factory that made Construction Materials. I even got into management pay consulting and with all the sophistication a 24-year-old guy is capable of, I decided that HR was neglected and neglected, and therefore I wanted to get a degree in business administration. Two years later, I joined the management consultants at McKinsey & Company, where I tried to stay as far away from personnel matters as I could. During the dot-com boom that lasted until the early 2000s, I consulted with technology organizations to help increase sales, reach more users, and expand operations. When the dot-com bubble finally burst, I began advising internet companies on how to cut costs, run their business efficiently, and refocus on new areas.

But by 2003, I fell into complete despondency.

Why? Yes, because even the most beautiful business plans go to waste if people do not believe in them. And also because leaders always talk like “people come first” and then treat them like expendables. (Picture from the early days of my first project: I asked my manager for advice on how to succeed. And you know what he told me? “You guys are like arrows in a quiver: everyone looks the same.”)

I was both blue collar and white; I was paid both minimum wage and six figures; I circled - and received instructions - from high school dropouts and people with PhDs from the most prestigious universities in the world. I've worked where the goal was to change the world, and where everything revolved around the profits of the owner. And no matter where I worked, I could not understand why no one wants to change the attitude towards employees. We spend more time at work than anywhere else. Is it really good that the attitude to work of even the best leaders leaves such an impression - discouraging, humiliating the dignity of a person?

And I decided that I have two options. First, I can treat those who work for me better by improving the results of their work, and hope that in time others will follow my example. Secondly, I could influence the interaction with people across the company (or companies). I chose the latter because I was convinced that this was a wonderful opportunity to influence many. Therefore, I decided to find a job in the field of personnel management, or HR (Human Resources).

My fellow consultants thought I was committing professional suicide, but I was well prepared for my new path. At the time, there were more than 5,000 people in the McKinsey HR database, but only about 100 were in HR, all of whom were consultants to other companies or recruiters. I thought that the experience and education would allow me to stand out from the background of HR professionals and help develop innovative approaches to personnel. And maybe - just maybe! - this will help me fly up the career ladder, and not climb, groaning, along its steps for 20-30 years. I need to get a post that will give me the opportunity to influence more people - and faster.

I wanted to work where I could learn as much as possible about personnel management. At that time, Pepsi and General Electric were considered the most promising forges of personnel. I made cold calls to eight people in the HR departments of these companies, but I only got one back, one to be exact: Ann Abaya at GE. She was originally from Hawaii, spoke Japanese fluently, and was always able to find a few minutes in her busy schedule to help people. And just like that, she read my resume, found my career path very intriguing, and introduced me to colleagues at GE.

Six weeks later I was accepted. And so I sat down in the chair of vice president of compensation and payments of the financing division of serial equipment at GE Capital, the financial division of General Electric Company. My delight knew no bounds, even though my friends said, looking at my new business card, that I was crazy. Michael Evans, my first supervisor, gave me a wealth of research into the company and helped me understand GE's corporate workforce approach.

Jack Welch, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GE from 1981 to 2001, has always been interested in people. He spent more than half of his time on personnel issues2 and, together with Bill Conatey, his chief personnel officer, managed to build a universally recognized management system by human resourses, evaluating employees strictly on labor achievements, reshuffling talented employees in leadership positions every year and a half and creating a global training center in Crotonville. Two years before I joined the company, Jack handed over the reins to Jeff Immelt, and I saw how everything created by the former head changed as the focus shifted to new areas with the arrival of the new head.

Welch and Coneiti introduced the "20-70-10" performance ranking system, which divided GE employees into three groups: top (20%), middle (70%), and bottom (10%). Top group employees were treated like celebrities, rewarded with the best jobs, training opportunities in leadership programs, and stakes in the company. Those who fell into the bottom 10% were fired. Under Immelt, the forced sorting rules were relaxed, and the minted labels "top 20", "middle 70", and "bottom 10" were replaced with euphemisms: "especially talented", "very valuable", and "in need of improvement". Colleagues have told me that the much-lauded Session C—an annual talent appraisal at a company of 300,000 employees—has “lost its edge” and “isn’t the same without Jack.”3

This book is well complemented by:

moon in the sky

Inna Kuznetsova

Delivering happiness

Hug your employees

Jack Mitchell

Work Rules!

Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

Laszlo Bock

Work rocks!

Why most people in the world want to work for Google

"Mann, Ivanov and Ferber"

Information

from the publisher

Published with permission from Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency

Published in Russian for the first time

Bock, Laszlo

Work rocks! Why most people in the world want to work for Google. / Laszlo Bock; per. from English. O. Pobortseva - M. : Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2015.

ISBN 978-5-00057-668-7

In this book, you'll find a first-person account of all of Google's HR secrets: how the company finds and hires the right people, and how it retains and motivates people. After reading it, you will find out what personnel decisions have turned Google into a company where freedom, purposefulness and creativity reign, where employees are valued and listened to, and where most people dream of getting a job. Google's recipes for success work for both big and small companies. They can be used by both managers and employees.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holders.

Legal support for the publishing house is provided by Vegas Lex law firm.

Dedicated to Annabelle, Emily and Leela. May you always love what you do

Foreword

HR nightmare

How to create the perfect resume for Google. A look into the past

For the next 28 years, my resume was painted with the colors of various positions, turning into a real personnel nightmare. I worked in a deli, a restaurant and a library. I taught at a California high school and taught English to juniors in Japan. After being a lifeguard at a college swimming pool, I played him in Baywatch, a 1960s cameo that appears in the background. I was one of the founders of a non-profit organization that helped troubled teenagers. I worked in a factory that made building materials. I even got into management pay consulting, and with all the sophistication a 24-year-old guy can do, I decided that HR was neglected and neglected, and so I wanted to get a degree in business administration. Two years later, I joined the management consultants at McKinsey & Company, where I tried to stay as far away from personnel matters as I could. During the dot-com boom that lasted until the early 2000s, I consulted with technology organizations to help increase sales, reach more users, and expand operations. When the dot-com bubble finally burst, I began advising internet companies on how to cut costs, run business efficiently, and refocus on new areas.

But by 2003, I fell into complete despondency.

Information about how they work with people at Google is first-hand.

“We spend most of our time at work. And the work experience should not be demotivating or unpleasant,” says Laszlo Bock, vice president of human resources at Google. This book is a manifesto that can change the way you work and hire.

Based on psychology and recent developments in behavioral economics, examples from Google experience and small successful companies, Laszlo Bock tells how to create a company where employees are valued and listened to, and in which they dream of working.

From the book you will learn that:

You need to learn not only from your own the best employees, but also the worst;
. You need to pay "unfairly";
. It is worth hiring those who are smarter than you - even if you have to search for a very long time;
. Big data is more reliable than your intuition;
. If you don't feel bad about giving a lot of freedom to your employees, then you haven't given much freedom.

From the author

Since I entered the company, Google's staff has grown from 6,000 to almost 50, and there are more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the world. Fortune magazine has named Google the "Best Company to Work for" 5 times in the US and many times in countries around the world. According to LinkedIn, the most people in the world want to work for Google; we receive about 2 million resumes annually from candidates with a wide range of experience and education from all over the world. Of all applicants, Google accepts only a few thousand a year, that is, the company is 25 times more selective than Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

So, I can say that instead of the professional suicide that my colleagues predicted, my time at Google has become for me swimming in the turbulent waters of experimentation and creativity. At times I was deadly tired, at times I was discouraged, but I always moved forward on the path of creating an organization in which freedom, purposefulness and creativity reign.

This book is a story about what we have learned over the past 15 years, and what you can do to put people at the forefront, changing both your life and your leadership positions in it.

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