Much like the business industry, the health care industry is ever changing with advancements in technology to innovative methods of improving health care delivery. Implementing innovative management techniques, operational practices, or technology used in other industries such as manufacturing, can help to enhance human capital throughout the organization. Companies in various industries such as Google, Amazon, Toyota, Starbucks, and Microsoft to name a few, have successfully implemented innovative management techniques. The following article focuses on how organizations in the health care industry, like hospitals, can learn from Google’s management techniques to improve their workforce.
Google is a well-known company which not only pays well but has great incentives and is rated among the top organizations to work for in the country. First-year employees at google have a starting pay around $93, 000 with a company median salary of $140, 000. Close to 30 percent of the company’s employees work remotely from home while those working on site are offered fitness classes, access to the gym, massages, and snacks among many other perks (Gillet, 2016). Employees are also offered not only health benefits, but also death benefits which provide beneficiaries 50 percent of the employee’s final salary for up to ten years upon the employee’s death. The company uses innovative methods as part of their driving force to remain a competitive leader in the Internet and computer hardware industry.
Compared to the customer satisfaction focus found in health care, Google focuses on employee satisfaction for the company’s success. According to Crowley (2013), Google believes providing employees freedom not commonly seen in other organizations can bring about favorable results in productivity and employee engagement which leads to customer satisfaction. In an effort to prevent employee freedom from working against the company, Google is highly selective when hiring individuals. The Vice President of people analytics and compensation told explained to Crowley (2013) “ We’re harnessing energy rather than coaxing it out of people” when discussing the employee freedom strategy. Employees are able to take breaks at will to attend the provided gym, have a snack, tend to self-care needs, among other options to provide more control over their work hours and improve not only employee health but also their performance.
Employee Engagement
Googles recognizes the importance of a manager’s position in the organization and the affect their leadership skills can have on success. On the other hand, managers are respected as individuals who can make mistakes or need assistance in making decisions at times. As a result of this awareness, Google’s approach to employee engagement aside from the excellent benefits includes employees in many decision-making processes. Some of those decision a manager is unable to make include, which applicant candidate to hire or which employee to fire, or the final product design and launch date. Instead employees who have been selected as a company board member participate in these decisions as well as evaluating candidates for promotions, pay increases, awards and other relevant employee related decisions (Schwantes, 2018).
Conclusion
Organizations in health care can benefit greatly from implementing some of Google’s innovative strategies to achieve greater employee satisfaction and retention through employee engagement. Leaders in the health care industry need to help employees feel valued and appreciated similar to Google. While hospitals may not be able to offer massages and all the incentives Google offers, they can offer more flexibility in the work hours, provide snacks to employees working over eight hours, and involve employees in more decision-making processes. As Google has demonstrated by its success, investing in human capital can lead to great success.
