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Managing Talent: How Google Searches for Performance Measures
If there’s one thing Google knows, it’s how to use software to wade
through massive amounts of data and find what is most relevant. So it
should come as no surprise that when the information technology
powerhouse wanted to develop better managers, it started by looking
at the data. As it turns out, Google found plenty to learn. Like most
businesses, Google had files of data about managers— results of
performance reviews, surveys measuring employee attitudes, and
nominations for management awards. Unlike most businesses, Google
figured out how to analyze all that data to come up with a profile of the
kind of manager whose team is most successful.
The company’s people analytics group (which brings together
psychologists, MBAs, and data-mining experts) analyzed 10,000
observations about managers in terms of more than 100 variables,
looking for patterns. The initial finding was a surprise to some at a
company that had once operated without managers: teams with good
managers outperform teams with bad managers. But what makes a
good manager? Under the leadership of Google’s HR vice president,
Laszlo Bock, the company distilled its findings into a list of the behaviors
that get results:
1. Be a good coach.
2. Empower your team. Do not micromanage.
3. Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being.
4. Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented.
5. Be a good communicator, and listen to your team.