August this year, Google’s famous 20% time, where employees get one day a week to work on any of their self-determined projects, was announced to be dead. The reaction from tech companies in Silicon Valley and programmers worldwide was dramatic.

Now, with Google seen as a leader in innovation and creativity,  it’s interesting to look at the performance management involved. Working at Google is demanding, for sure, so the people they employ must have shown excellence in their respective fields before being hired. People with a passion for what they do, and are self-motivated to venture further. 20% time nurtured the undeniable talent of their pool of employees. 20% time projects include Gmail and Appsense.

Shortly after, Google officially responded to media outcries, announcing that 20% time is “alive and well.” Employees are still encouraged to pursue their own projects, and their are slightly different rules around it now. It does make sense that one of the world’s largest tech companies may find it dangerous to allow employees to stray from the company’s stated goals a whole day each week.

It has been proven by many studies that monetary (extrinsic) incentives are not going to produce groundbreaking or truly exceptional results. Google is just another example of how performance management that nurtures is more effective that one that enforces a rules.

reference:

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/08/20-percent-time-will-never-die/

http://qz.com/117164/20-time-is-officially-alive-and-well-says-google/