Google Reigns Supreme As The Best Company To Work. Here Is Why!

Google reigns supreme as the best company to work for yet again, and for reasons more significant than free food and massages.

- Goutam Das

In October 2016, as the National Capital Region’s (NCR) air quality dipped to alarming levels, partly because of stump burning in the neighbouring states, leaders at Google India swung in to action. Employees from the company’s human resources (HR) team, facilities, and even business units got together to find out ways to make it safer for everyone in the company to commute. They looked at global best practices to understand how to handle the problem, and learnt that Singapore had a similar problem a few years back as smoke engulfed the city – a result of forest fires in Indonesia. An air quality specialist was invited for a talk at Google’s Gurgaon office. Everyone in the office got masks for themselves, and their families.

It was a small gesture, but ties into many things Google holds dear. “If a Googler is happy and healthy, he is likely to be far more productive. We want him to be comfortable when he comes to office,” says Suryanarayana Kodukulla, Director, People Operations, at Google India.

Of course, Google is now famous for providing lavish food and massages for free. However, what keeps employees glued to the company is the emphasis on respect, the ability to interact with people based on ideas as opposed to hierarchies, career mobility, and most importantly, the mission of the company. It is not by fluke that Google India has topped Business Today’s Best Companies to Work For ranking year after year, 2016 being no exception.

This writer met a few employees to understand why Google is so highly rated as an employer. What does it get right that others don’t? It began with a chat with Rajan Anandan, its charismatic Vice President, South East Asia and India.

MISSION IS CRITICAL