Leadership & Personal Growth Speaker

What Google Can Teach Us About Building Employee Loyalty?

Imagine a company that offers perks like having a gourmet chef cook your lunch every day, doing your weekly dry cleaning, and de-stressing at the company bowling alley—all for free. That’s what it’s like to work at Google Inc. Ranked by Fortune as the #1 company to work for in 2017, working at Google is definitely a dream job come true for many people.

Figuring out how to build employee loyalty is a must for every company, big or small. Loyal employees work harder and feel genuinely interested in the company’s growth—after all, they know they’ll grow with it. In my talks “Release Untapped Potential of Your Underutilized Leaders” and “The Invisible Leaders: How to Find Them and Help Them Shine,” I share ways of nurturing your employees’ growth so they feel empowered, engaged and fully utilized. As a speaker, I understand the importance of leadership development for each employees own personal growth.

Here are three things you can learn from Google about building employee loyalty:

  1. Take their personal growth seriously:

    Monika Broecker and Chade-Meng Tan led leadership development at Google by building Google University (now Google Edu) as a corporate wellness initiative. In an interview, Broecker states, “The main idea was to transform and bring out the best in Google employees by developing them as whole human beings. The idea was to create the most progressive and innovative personal growth content and make Google the most compassionate company in the world.”You don’t necessarily need to create a whole university to show your dedication to your employees’ growth. Encourage leaders to have periodic one-on-one check-ins with employees about their career goals and the progress they’re making toward them. Work to provide or suggest resources that will help them build the credentials, skills, and experience they need to achieve continued success.

  2. Offer powerful tools:

    One famous incentive that Google is known for is the 20% time program. Employees are allowed to work on projects of their own choosing 20% of the time. In working hours, that’s one full day each week to do what they want. Google states that many of their products have been born from this program, which gives creativity room to flourish.You might not be able to give your staff a full day to explore, but a good boss like you can empower them to do their current job more effectively and passionately. Giving your employees permission to step out of their comfort zones, take more risks, and get their creative juices flowing builds employee loyalty by empowering them to take charge of the way they do their jobs. Share daily motivational techniques to help their creativity soar, along with their personal growth. Leadership training that challenges them to take risks and explore innovative ideas will propel them forward.

  3. Give your people a break:

    The daily work routine can get mundane, and mundane work leads to boredom, which is a productivity breaker. Keep your staff alert by offering variety in the workspace. Google offers employee perks that include everything from free haircuts and fitness equipment to nap pods and subsidized massages. A foosball table in the company staff room can provide a much-needed respite from tedious tasks. Offering special perks as rewards for a job well done, like movie tickets or bowling passes, can also show that relaxation time is a company value!

While incentives, rewards, and perks serve as typical employee motivators, hiring a professional leadership speaker who inspires personal growth can help employees to take on new and greater challenges. Regular motivational leadership skill training sessions ensure that your staff feels appreciated, since their employer considers them worthy enough to invest in their personal growth.

Want a leadership speaker who catalyzes transformative growth? Joel’s leadership trainings will show you the difference that loyal, satisfied employees can make.

Copyright © 2024 Joel Garfinkle, All Rights Reserved. Joel Garfinkle is recognized as one of the top 50 coaches in the U.S. He is a Master Certified Coach with 25 years of executive coaching, corporate training, and speaking experience. He is the author of 11 books, including Executive Presence: Step Into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead With Conviction. He has worked with many of the world’s leading companies, including Google, Amazon, Deloitte, Eli Lilly, Starbucks, Ritz-Carlton, Oracle, and Microsoft. Subscribe to his Fulfillment at Work Newsletter which is delivered to over 10,000 people. You can view his video library of over 200+ easily actionable 2-minute inspirational video clips by subscribing to his YouTube Channel.

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