Does Schmidt's description of
the Google Culture make sense to you?
After
watching the video and reading the video transcript of Eric Schmidt’s on
Google’s culture, I believe Schmidt’s description of Google’s culture makes
perfect sense. This type of culture gives employee empowerment over their jobs.
Employee empowerment is a technique for unleashing human potential in
organizations (Brown, 2011). Companies that give employees the power or freedom
over their tasks are more than likely to have employees who are proactive and
self-sufficient. In a way, it can be said that these types of companies give
employees the power over their careers. If an employees loves his/her job, is
happy with his/her tasks, loves the company in which he/she is working for,
loves his/her career then, by giving the employee the power to decide up to
where their career should take them means that the employee would work to their
hardest, smarter, and to their fullest potential. So it does make perfect sense
to have this type of culture for a company who wants to be the most efficient
in all it does.
Is this a reasonable way to
view the work that most people are doing in your workplace?
It is very reasonable. The people who are self-driven and
passionate about the work they do, will always look for ways to grow as a person
and as professionals. For example, in my line of work it is hard to stay
motivated when you are constantly dealing with different customers but I’m
passionate about my job. I take pride on it. Others around me have told me “If
you got such a great education why do you work for Starbucks? Why do you stay
there?” Well other than personal reasons, I love my job. I love what I do, I
love the company that I work for, I love the people who I work with, so why
would anyone want to leave what they love for something they may not like,
something that may not even use their full potential. Look at how Southwest
Airlines employees stood by the company even though the company was going
through some financial trouble and some employees weren’t getting paid. They
are happy with their jobs, they care for the company they work for. So, in my
opinion, it is a very reasonable way of looking at the work most people do in
their workplace.
As a leader, does it take
courage to have and to implement this point of view?
Yes! As a leader you need to be able to create a type of
culture that is self-driven, positive, goal-driven, and so on. But, this type
of culture cannot just be created; it must also be supported, and be enhanced
when it’s needed. It takes courage as a leader to empower employees to take
charge of their own tasks, projects, and lives. It takes courage to trust them
to get it done. For some leaders, it is hard to let go of the old management
style habits. So, how can an employee flourish and use it’s own potentials to
the fullest if it has a manager or supervisor not supporting this type of work
environment? How can anyone work with a supervisor who may constantly shut your
ideas down? Honestly, it is not the type of work environment I would be working
for. So, yes it takes courage and time to create, to have, to implement, and to
support this type of work environment.
Could this approach backfire?
Yes. If this approach is not properly created, managed,
overseen, implemented, or supported it can backfire on the company. Employees
may lose sight of what is important, which tasks have priorities, and so on. It
can backfire to the point that tasks are not completed, and in turn, cause
financial hardship to the company. It’s basically an art to create this type of
company culture and at any given moment if management is not careful, it can be
devastating for the company and harmful to it’s future.
What can you take away from
this exercise to immediately use in your career?
I take away the concept that it is very important to
understand the meaning of employee empowerment. Employee empowerment isn’t just
about unleashing the employee’s full potential, proactive, and self-sufficient
nature. It is also about understanding how important it is for a company to
hire the right type of employees for the right position, to have the employee’s
needs met, to understand how powerful it is for a company to have employees who
are driven by the company’s goals, tasks, and so on. Overall, to immediately
use in my career, I take away the understanding employee empowerment and it’s
importance for the employee, for management, and for the company.
Reference:
Brown, D. R.
(2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.).
Boston: Prentice Hall.
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