Managing people strategically with people analytics: A case study of Google Inc

Abstract

As the worldwide economic and political conditions continue to distress global business leaders, their attention has turned to the various levers that can help them foster success in times. McKinsey once declared that there is a “War for Talent” coming. Globalization and fluctuation in population demographics are triggering competition to grow steadily and persistently among the organizations. But by shifting its focus on human resources an organization can put its strategic focus on people management as the innovations come from people, and it cannot simply maximize its innovations unless HR managers are capable of recruiting and retaining innovators. This has drastically changed the vision of People Management at Google. The basic premise of the “people analytics” approach at Google is that accurate people management decisions are the most important and impactful decisions that a firm can make. Organizations cannot simply produce superior business results unless the managers are making accurate people management decisions. The paper basically studies how Google uses People Analytics to make a strategic management decisions in people management. The paper is based on case study research from the secondary sources and analyzes how the use of analytics has helped Google to become the top business leader in this fierce competitive market.