Google Perks
A key theme in Google’s perks and benefits offering is their focus on employee wellbeing. The negative effects of tiredness and lack of sleep are often overlooked in the workplace and providing employees somewhere to get their head down is something that’s being adopted by many modern, forward thinking companies. There aren’t many more obvious direct contributors to poor cognitive performance than lack of sleep.
We’ve championed this a few times on our blog – the importance of providing healthy food options at work. Even if it’s just a fruit bowl or some healthy snacks it’s a great start. Another thing we champion often is that healthier = happier.
Free cooking classes are great, but the main thing to take away from this is their attitude towards helping their employees learn. There are classes available for virtually everything, open to all employees at Google. All their classes are dedicated to helping their employees improve the skills they want to improve. Another key theme from Google’s offering is that they always look to help their employees realise their goals and ambitions.
Reducing stress at work is a key challenge for companies everywhere. Google employees get a certain number of free massage points they can use and can buy more at a discount. There’s also physicians, chiropractors and physical therapists who provide wellness and healthcare services.
More and more employers are allowing employees time in the working week to pursue their own passion projects on the side. Google’s own “20% time” policy is part of their efforts in helping employees achieve their goals.
Google’s company culture
At Google, there’s a flat management structure and employees are always encouraged to stand up and make their voices heard. Every Friday, founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin hold a Q&A where Google employees can ask anything they like.
The working environments have been designed to facilitate collaboration and there are long tables in the company canteen to allow for whole departments to sit together.
They also do a lot in terms of engagement. Based on their own internal annual surveys they’ve launched various programmes to address employees’ concerns.
Through the survey they found that employees weren’t aware of the career resources available to them, thus they launched an ‘Optimise Your Career’ programme. They also launched a programme called Project Oxygen, designed to help train managers based on employee feedback and other resources, identifying key traits that managers should have.
Of course, not all companies have the resources of Google. However, they’re a great example of a modern, forward-thinking company that has a modern, forward-thinking approach to HR and their employees’ wellbeing.
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