Report on Reward and Motivation within Google Essay

Report on Reward and Motivation within Google - Essay Example In January 2012, Google was named the best place to work in the U.S, by Fortune’s list of the 100 best companies to work for. The reason Fortune picked Google is that â€Å"employees rave about their mission, the culture, and the famous perks of the Plex: bocce courts, a bowling alley, eye brow shaping in the New York office. Then there’s food: some 25 cafes companywide, all free.† All of these factors that Fortune mentioned are a part of Google’s plan to motivate their employees to be more creative, work better as a team, come up with new business ideas and for the employees to generally have a better experience at their workplace. To look at how Google do this, we can link their methods to different models for motivation such as Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory of Motivation. Google has a pleasant work environment for its employees and is using various others non-financial methods of motivation. Its pract ice of offering non-monetary incentives by giving employees such rewards (e.g. greater autonomy, nicer work environment, sense that the organisation is doing good, etc.) will motivate employees unlike financial rewards which are soon forgotten. Surely, most of employees want to have their own space and are ready to work for it. The search giant is famous for its laundry list of perks including free food at any of its cafeterias, a climbing wall, and, well, free laundry. It also provides its workers a place where they can relax or meditate in their free time. In Google’s offices meeting rooms are filled with beanbags rather than hard office chairs, table-tennis tables and PlayStations which may seem trivial at first, but they have become a strong non-monetary motivational incentive. Having unique consumer perks and exceptional leisure areas, it increased innovation through creating a relaxed atmosphere at work that in turn creates very high job loyalty. This distinctive approa ch makes it more flexible to cope with changes in the ever changing labour market. By using non – financial motivation Google separates itself from other companies in the industry. They are making their workplace and work environment attractive to potential new employees, since they are not only offering high salaries, but also a comfortable and different place to work at. These non – financial motivational factors make employees feel like they are not only a part of the company, but also a part of a big creative project. â€Å"Motivation is the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviour† (Mullins, 2009:471). Abraham Maslow categorized human needs into 5 levels (Lindh et al., 2010). The basic idea is that as one level of need is satisfied, the need to satisfy the level above becomes important. These are 5 levels: physiological needs (food, water, sleep, salary), safety and security (stability, protection), love and b elonging (affection, need for engagement and sharing), self – esteem (self-respect, prestige, status), self – actualization (growth, advancement, creativity). Google Company is famous for their work environment. So, what so special in Google and can we say that Google covers all 5 stages in Maslow’s Hierarchy? Maslow’