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Google's Project Oxygen

Leadership, Teams, & Individuals (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

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MBA 763
Dr. Gardner
09/24/2018

Group 7: J. Cruz, Z. Firouzi, A. Gonzales, V. Jimenez, F. Jlassi

Case Study: Google’s Project Oxygen, Do Managers Matter?

1) How would you describe Google’s culture? How were managers viewed before Project
Oxygen?
To describe Google’s culture in one word, it’s unique. This, because their culture is very atypical
or informal compared to other companies. They focus on employees’ happiness and satisfaction
in order to increase overall productivity and to provide them with opportunities. Other than that,
Google employees have access to very fun perks; repurposed exercise balls as office chairs,
desks made from wooden doors, dogs allowed at work, free meals provided for all employees by
top chefs etc.… They believe that breaking down barriers and collegiality in particular helps the
rapid development of ideas, which is why they celebrate ideas of autonomous, hardworking, and
ambitious employees. Ultimately leading Google to create a fun environment where authority is
derived from peer respect rather than pressure.

They started Project Oxygen on the assumption that managers are a “necessary evil” at their best,
and “destructive” at their worst. According to them, Google was “a company built by engineers,
for engineers”. They have failed to prove that assumption, but succeeded in realizing how
important, essential, and critical managers are. Hence, this very empowering company culture
they have today, and a program built around 8 attributes (or behaviors) that has proven to
increase the effectiveness and performance of managers: achieving low turnover, high retention,
increased productivity, and most importantly, improvements all across the organization.

What kinds of people work at Google? What should be the role of HR in such a setting?
What should be the role of managers?
There is a specific type of candidate that Google looks for by using a data-driven hiring process.
After “resumes were screened for markers Google identified as key success factors”, the
applicants were then assessed on several different attributes. Google looked for applicants with
the following characteristics: flexible, collaborative, ambitious, hardworking, taking initiative, as
well as demonstrating high levels of cognitive ability. They refer to these types of candidates as
being “Googley” and fit to become the typical Google employee: “young, high achievers who
crave autonomy”.

Beyond the typical HR functions, including managing the performance reviews, onboarding for

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new hires, and ensuring the right level of pay and benefits is delivered; Google’s People
Operations team is also responsible for collecting and interpreting data collected through the
Googlegeist survey, a comprehensive assessment that measures employees’ fit and satisfaction.
Through the effective collection and interpretation of this data, Google has additional resources
to assist in hiring decisions, solving company problems, and answering questions with the data.
This data driven approach helps the organization find the best way to allocate staff and increase
their productivity and well-being. In such setting, HR is an instrument of dissemination,
providing staff of all levels multiple opportunities for enrichment and improvement, by
providing platforms for collaboration, discussion, and the sharing of ideas between employees.

This is why, managers should serve as the bridge between company goals and the staff. They
effectively communicate the company’s goals and needs, and serve as a tool to empower their
teams and foster creativity to help in the achievement of goals. They also provide their staff with
opportunities for career development, based on their strengths, to increase job satisfaction.

3) What is your evaluation of the steps that the PiLab took to:
a. Identify the characteristics of effective managers at Google?
PiLab’s process of identifying the eight behaviors of good managers was efficient and
methodical. They established clear, concise goals each step of the way by posing questions such
as “Do managers matter?...What do good managers do?” This was a very useful strategy to help
guide their research, maintain focus, and create actionable items. The team’s resourcefulness also
contributed to their success in identifying the characteristics of good managers. They used what
they already had access to: data from employees that had left Google, Googlegeist ratings,
performance reviews and summer interns.

b. Roll out Project Oxygen to the organization?

The Project Oxygen team kept Google’s consensus-oriented culture a focal point of the
implementation process. This was a large part of what made the roll out so successful. The team
was wise to use a grass-roots approach to obtain their goal of “socializing” findings. This gave
the project the ability to gain acceptance organically and slowly become part of Google’s values.
The small, audience targeted presentations explaining the research and benefits were a very
strategic way to ensure buzz was created. Taking the time to make the information relevant to
everyone, not only executives helped form a more inclusive atmosphere where people were more
willing to participate.

c. Ensure that the Oxygen 8 attributes were widely adopted and practiced?
The people operations group changed the composition of Google through Project Oxygen. Their
development of interactive, actionable classes and personalized coaching was powerful. The
immediate feedback and measurable improvement managers received from the training classes

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lead to the successful adoption of the Oxygen eight attribute and showed the managers the value
of Project Oxygen. The methods used to unite the eight attributes with Google’s strong family
values did; they promoted a better overall well being of Google by nurturing the growth and
development the managers through the project.

4) What should Setty’s priorities be going forward? Which of the proposed initiatives
should he pursue? In particular, should he and his team take on the challenge of trying to
create “truly amazing managers?” If so, how?

First and foremost, Google is a big company in an attractive, high-risk, competitive and growing
industry. Using an innovative approach definitely should be at the core of their strategic plan. As
we can see over time, the qualities of Google’s great managers have grown and evolved. Sticking
to Project Oxygen, following- up and at the same time updating their methods, made their
processes advantageous tools in their competitive environment.

The People Operations team should certainly focus on staff, and managers in particular, to create
and develop truly “amazing managers” because this leads to a self-replicating mechanism where
managers can empower and recognize leadership potential within their respective teams, further
developing their company’s culture uniqueness and results. The use of data for these purposes,
slicing and dicing to truly understand the dynamics of their teams and people, establishing the
managerial qualities necessary to foster, and creating a better working environment all increases
productivity and happiness, which is what the company’s culture focuses on.

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