Submitted by rober on Sun, 22/06/2008 - 23:47.
A new policy has been implemented in Google promoting engeneers to spend 20% of their working hours (one day a week) developing self-interest projects. Some of the newest services in Google, like Gmail, Google News, Orkut and AdSense are a consequence of own initiative projects. Marisa Mayer, vice-president for New Products and User Experiences, said that half of the new products come from this 20% of the working hours.
Thinking about this policy, I find it great for being a perfect synthesis between the firms and the Y generation needs. According to José Ramón Pin Arboledas, teacher in the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE), the Y generation enphasize personal over professional life, and looks for a personal career: ”Companies looking for loyal Y generaltion talents, must be opened to both interests”. In the engagements field, Monserrat Ventosa, general director of Great Place to Work Institute in Spain, says: “They don´t understand the effort as a sacrifice, they do it as improvement and self demand, so their compromise and implication are different than the previous generations ones. It doesn´t mean that they are not involved, just that it´s not a sacrifice as it is for the X generation and others before. Still, is true that they show low tolerance to face frustration, which requires more support”.
Reading about these caracteristics that define the Y generation, makes me think about the originality of the 80/20 Rule in Google. They have been able to satisfy the needs of new generations through a policy based on the win-win. The employee feels professional and personally fulfilled, feeling his/her job like something flexible, which make personal and professional interests compatible. At the same time feels involved with the company, compromised based on improvement and demand, and not on sacrifice. On the other hand, the company also gets favoured. According to Fortune, Google is the best company to work in the world, and its value increases in a much higher grade than the averaged revaluation for the world stock markets indicators.
I applaud Google for having adapted the social requirements for the company ones, and for making of it a tool for growing and rentability.
