Re:Why Google Employees Quit
by cookiecaper on Monday January 19, 2009 @11:02AM
(#440556)
>And let me say this: if
Larry Page is still reviewing resumes, shareholders should organize a
rebellion. That is a scandalous waste of time for someone at that
level, and the fact that it’s “quirky” is no mitigation.
Regarding this quote, I'm not so sure. Delegation and hands-off management is important and necessary indeed, and I loathe micromanagement no matter which end I'm on, but I think that hiring would be my most closely guarded and reviewed process. Employees are the weakest link, the ultimate valuation; you can have fancy processes or equipment or a lot of hype, but the real value of your company ultimately boils down to the work force -- the capability of yourself and the people backing you up to deliver, maintain, and evolve your money-makers.
I actually developed this concept while working at a medium-sized (revenue-wise) niche company. The company was impaired because nobody cared about the bigger picture; we were all just office workers doing our office jobs and trying to push through without killing ourselves. Inter-departmental relationships were tense and there was no cohesion or overarching social glue between the groups, and no understanding managers in between, which led to animosity between obviously less-valued departments and obviously more-valued departments. It was a sad place to work, but it only had about 200 employees. I found this sad.
There should be no peons; every employee is an important contributor (or the job shouldn't exist) and every employee should be well-screened and found to be competent for their position and somewhat like-minded with the rest of the force on foundational issues (i.e., no disengaged, uninvolved typical office workers, only people who generally respect but never fear management and direction, ideally someone who thinks the company's revenue generators are enthralling, etc.). You need the kind of people who will push things forward, the kind of people willing to call their managers out, people who will provide mini-revolutions in product and process development for years to come. People who cultivate conviction, respect, and love, and constitute best-in-class performers.
Your company is only as good as your people. Your "company" is a company, consisting of the company your entity employs and regularly keeps, not a soulless, faceless, independent, autonomous corporate machine. Any corporation operated at the "machine level" and not the "company level" is just a story in systemic and institutionalized inefficiency, corruption, and incompetence. Companies operated are breeding grounds for corruption and greed and their ugly consequences, and eventually begin to falter, and do so until someone cognizant of this takes over and starts to turn things around by bringing in new, high-caliber, high-vision employees and keeping them motivated in the right ways.
In autonomous corporate world, inefficiency and unhappiness are the hallmarks. In good world, employees and employers care about each other and care about their work, contribute and share openly, and push their sector forward, setting new records for morale, efficiency, innovation, and profits.
I think if I were Larry Page, I wouldn't waste time with BS like resumes, but I would interview every candidate, and refuse a permanent hire until I was confident that their thought process and personal style was conducive to the overall goals of a non-evil company.
Regarding this quote, I'm not so sure. Delegation and hands-off management is important and necessary indeed, and I loathe micromanagement no matter which end I'm on, but I think that hiring would be my most closely guarded and reviewed process. Employees are the weakest link, the ultimate valuation; you can have fancy processes or equipment or a lot of hype, but the real value of your company ultimately boils down to the work force -- the capability of yourself and the people backing you up to deliver, maintain, and evolve your money-makers.
I actually developed this concept while working at a medium-sized (revenue-wise) niche company. The company was impaired because nobody cared about the bigger picture; we were all just office workers doing our office jobs and trying to push through without killing ourselves. Inter-departmental relationships were tense and there was no cohesion or overarching social glue between the groups, and no understanding managers in between, which led to animosity between obviously less-valued departments and obviously more-valued departments. It was a sad place to work, but it only had about 200 employees. I found this sad.
There should be no peons; every employee is an important contributor (or the job shouldn't exist) and every employee should be well-screened and found to be competent for their position and somewhat like-minded with the rest of the force on foundational issues (i.e., no disengaged, uninvolved typical office workers, only people who generally respect but never fear management and direction, ideally someone who thinks the company's revenue generators are enthralling, etc.). You need the kind of people who will push things forward, the kind of people willing to call their managers out, people who will provide mini-revolutions in product and process development for years to come. People who cultivate conviction, respect, and love, and constitute best-in-class performers.
Your company is only as good as your people. Your "company" is a company, consisting of the company your entity employs and regularly keeps, not a soulless, faceless, independent, autonomous corporate machine. Any corporation operated at the "machine level" and not the "company level" is just a story in systemic and institutionalized inefficiency, corruption, and incompetence. Companies operated are breeding grounds for corruption and greed and their ugly consequences, and eventually begin to falter, and do so until someone cognizant of this takes over and starts to turn things around by bringing in new, high-caliber, high-vision employees and keeping them motivated in the right ways.
In autonomous corporate world, inefficiency and unhappiness are the hallmarks. In good world, employees and employers care about each other and care about their work, contribute and share openly, and push their sector forward, setting new records for morale, efficiency, innovation, and profits.
I think if I were Larry Page, I wouldn't waste time with BS like resumes, but I would interview every candidate, and refuse a permanent hire until I was confident that their thought process and personal style was conducive to the overall goals of a non-evil company.