This article that I found is about Google and how they, at first, did not value what their managers can do for them. At that time, Google CEO Larry Page, in his effort to counter corporate bureaucracy, fired all of the managers that worked for them. Having realized that the presence of managers was necessary for their organization, the decision was reversed. However, in the process of bridging the gap between the managers and their staff, the company was also able to determine the attributes and characteristics that make up a good manager.
I found this article very interesting since Google, one of the leading information provider via their popular search engine, if not the biggest, has experienced a time when they thought that they could do away with people in mid-management positions. Who would have thought that their CEO would fire all the managers! How could a company, as big as Google, run without middle management? Can the CEO do it all? Can he supervise all his subordinates? Fortunately, he realized his mistakes and reversed his decision.
The case is about critical upward feedback and its importance in any organization. Critical upward feedback enables an organization to bridge the gap between a manager’s assessment of its direct subordinates and the opinion of the subordinates on how the results and outcomes or achievements of their performance were achieved. The article, in relation to the case on hand, also talks about how Google made use of an “Upward Feedback Survey” to have their employees give anonymous feedback regarding their managers, in their effort to bridge the gap between them. The managers then give a report to be discussed with the team to foster a better understanding of their relationship and what the employees can do to help them lead better.
Upward feedback is essential if an organization is determined to take care of people that make up their company. Upward feedback can be utilized to boost employee morale, effectively reduce turnover, increase productivity, encourage employees to give new perspectives and provide for constructive criticism. I am sure that more and more companies nowadays are slowly realizing the importance of giving upward feedback and its organizational benefits, as compared to more traditional companies of the past. The longevity of an organization is based on how top management utilizes resources, human resource being one of the most valuable assets a company can have.
Google, having had realized the importance of their managers to their organization, surely saw the positive impact upward feedback has to its organization. Due to this, they have determined that managers were indeed important and necessary for a company’s success. All they need to do right now is to ensure that the managers are assessed properly and create a synergy amongst their employees and the managers to ensure success. Google’s Project Oxygen did just this. This project resulted in an improvement of how their managers performed since they are now able to communicate effectively with their subordinates. Their subordinates’ feedback proved to have helped them perform their functions better. With this, Google was able to conclude that quality managers drive overall performance of the company, percentage of employee retention and created happy employees, which furthered their growth as a company.
References
Feloni, R. (2015, April 23). Google’s HR Boss Says the Best Managers Practice these 9 Habits. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/google-on-habits-of-best-managers-2015-4
