Chapter $10$: Case Study

Selection System at Google

When responding to a case study or scenario, it is important to ensure that the human resources practitioner is able to use a consistent, fact$-$based, problem$-$solving approach. The development of this skill will allow the human resources practitioner to respond to issues as they arise using an analytical methodology in order to explore possible solutions.

The Google organization is best known for its Web search engine, which now accounts for over $92$ percent of worldwide market share, to the point that the term $$Googling$$ has become synonymous with Web browsing$\mathrm{.}83$ Actually, the name $$Google$$ was derived from the word $$googol$,$ a mathematical term for the number $1$ followed by $100$ zeros, which was intended to convey Google$$s mission to organize the huge amount of information on the Web$\mathrm{.}84$ Of course, Google offers a wide variety of other products and services, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Blogger, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Groups, and others. Google$$s official mission is to $$organize the world$$s information and make it universally accessible and useful.$85$

Google was founded in $1998$ by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, three years after they met at Stanford University. They started working out of a garage with one employee in $1998$ but the Google corporation has now grown to over $70000$ employees internationally, including Canadian offices in Kitchener$-$Waterloo, Montreal, and Toronto. Although Google has grown a lot since $1998,$ it strives to maintain a small$-$company feel. Google needs to innovate in order to survive and depends on its employees to provide the necessary innovation. Casual interactions among employees and the sharing of ideas and opinions at the office caf$$ or break rooms are strongly encouraged. Every employee is expected to contribute in a variety of ways, often wearing several hats. In turn, Google treats its employees very well, providing a wide variety of perquisites and generous compensation and benefits packages for its employees. It is therefore understandable that Google was ranked first in the most recent Fortune$$s $100$ Best Companies to Work For.$86$

Given its reputation, it is not surprising that Google attracts more than $3$ million job applications every year. Although this number of applications provides a great opportunity for Google to be highly selective, it also creates a challenge in terms of how to efficiently sort through the more than $3$ million applications every year to determine which applicants are most suitable. Fortunately, Google has been able to apply search algorithms, similar to the ones it uses for Web searches, to its online job applications. This automated system makes the selection process much easier and also more effective$\mathrm{.}87$

In the past, Google$$s selection system required successful applicants to have a grade$-$point average of at least $3\mathrm{.}7$ and to go through more than half a dozen interviews.However, management at Google was not satisfied with the outcomes of this system. In addition to seeking greater efficiency, they were interested in hiring more$$well$-$rounded$$ candidates who demonstrated abilities in leadership, teamwork, creativity, and other areas, not just those who did well academically.

To accomplish its objectives, Google developed an online biographical information blank $($BIB$)$ or biodata form $($see $$Biographical Data$$ in Chapter $7).$ Every employee who had worked with the company for at least five months was asked to fill out a $300-$question survey. The survey included questions about what programming languages employees were familiar with, what Internet mailing lists they subscribed to$,$ what magazines they subscribed to$,$ whether their workplace was messy or neat, whether they were introverts or extraverts, whether they preferred working alone or in groups, whether they had ever tutored, what pets they had, whether they had ever made a profit from activities such as a catering business or dog walking, whether they had ever set a world record, etc. Data from the initial survey were compared with $25$ separate measures of job performance, including supervisors$$ ratings, peer ratings, and measures of organizational citizenship. Eventually, patterns of responses were identified that predicted performance in various areas such as engineering, sales, finance, or human resources. The resulting online biodata form is now completed by applicants and their responses are sorted by Google$$s algorithm to identify which applicants are best suited to the various positions available$\mathrm{.}88$

The online application form has not eliminated the interview as part of the selection process but it seems to have reduced the number of interviews in which successful candidates participate. Now, applicants who are identified as a possible match for a position by Google$$s algorithm are contacted by a recruiter for a $30-$ to $40-$minute telephone screening interview. The recruiter makes a preliminary assessment of their technical skilChapter