The topic of Class 19 was ‘People, Culture and Teams’, focusing on the innovative business structure and human resources management techniques. The shoe company Zappo concentrates a lot on customer service and job satisfaction. In fact, the company invests a lot into making sure they hire the right type of person to fit in with their organizational culture, even offering people money to quit during the hiring process.
Whilst Zappo creates a family like atmosphere to encourage the best possible customer service, Google builds a fun environment to inspire their employees’ creativity. They have Google Cafés designed to encourage interaction between departments, which lets employees connect both on a work and personal level. The note-taking app start-up “Evernote” offers employees professional house cleaning twice a month and doesn’t even monitor how much time off they take. The culture of tech companies such as Google and Tesla acknowledge that creativity cannot be nurtured in a concrete box.
Google’s Meeting Eggs in Zurich, Switzerland – https://www.google.com/about/company/facts/culture/
However, the successes of innovative and alternative human resources managements are dependent on the industry and the country where it is taking place. For example, a Forbes article on the topic of countries with the highest working hours per week stated that 29% of Mexican workers will work over 50 hours per week and that “the average Mexican will work up to 450 hours more than an American every year, earning less than a fifth of the pay.” However companies like Google and Tesla realise that as long as their workers are efficient, they don’t necessarily have to be in a typical work place setting, with Google even letting their workers bring their pets to work.
Whilst technological industries and customer relationship focused companies excel when using innovative human resources managements, they may not work for all areas of business (e.g. banks or hospitals).
Sources:
https://www.google.com/about/company/facts/culture/
http://www.google.com/about/careers/lifeatgoogle/
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3026220/tap-into-the-7-secrets-of-silicon-valleys-innovation-culture