Ex-Google HR Boss Explains The Two Ways To Keep Your Best People - And Neither of Them Is Money!!

By Jatinder Singh, Associate Partner & Mentorship Coach, Lighthouse International

Laszlo Bock, the Ex-Senior Vice President of Google's People Operations has spoken about why companies struggle to hold onto their best employees - and how they did this at Google. The reason why this is so important is that in the modern economy, information and knowledge are regarded as the most valuable commodities, and both these are derived from companies developing and retaining their people. In particular, he highlights two reasons why people stay at Google.

People Stay Because of People Not Because of Money And Perks

Contrary to many people's perceptions that money and perks are the number one motivator to keep people, Mr Bock says it's the quality of the people around them that keeps staff at Google. He explains why many of the multi-millionaires who started at the company still work there. Google believes people are so important that even those working in administrative positions get interviewed by the CEO Larry Page. Mr Bock said of employee perks that: 

"People don't stay for the money...The dirty secret of all these perks is it doesn't actually retain people or even attract people...That's why hiring is so important."

Meaningful Work is Vital

Mr Bock also says that employees want to do work that has personal meaning for them, and in which they have an emotional connection. He cites evidence by academic researcher Adam Grant; productivity can increase as much as five times when people do work that is meaningful to them. He says:

"People want to do something that means something."

The Moral Of The Story

Ultimately, Mr Bock highlights that who we surround ourselves with will play a large part in how successful we are. This is because it raises our standards if we work with others of a high standard. Likewise, if we work with people who accept lower standards, we will have the tendency to drop our standards. Often this happens gradually and that is why successful people go to great lengths to ensure they work or network with other high calibre individuals. It also explains why, if we want to improve ourselves, we need to find others who are better in that area and learn from them.

Mr Bock also highlights how as humans, once we have our basic physical needs met such as food - and security through money, we want a more emotional connection to our work, rather than just more money. To read more on this story click here...

How To Apply This...