Google’s Journey in Singapore
Google is a US based multinational firm pioneering in internet services and products. The brand Google was founded in 1998 and has been one of the most revolutionary inventions ever since. The company has successfully changed the outlook and usage of internet ever since its inception. Google started as a search engine, but later acquired and invented an unfathomable pool of businesses like Google drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google +, Google Chrome, YouTube, Google pixel smartphone and numerous more.
Google commenced its Singapore journey back in 2007 with a 24 member team. Today, a decade later, Google team has expanded over 1000 employees and counting. The giant conglomerate shifted base to its new office in Maple Tree Business City which serves as the headquarters for its Asia pacific region (Channel News Asia, 2016). Under the leadership of Joanna Flint, the firm has come a long way. Singapore is the foremost country in Asia where Google Wi-Fi has been launched with flying colors in association with Star hub, a leading internet service provider (Star Hub, 2017). This step is expected to change the face of internet usage in the country (Channel News Asia, 2017).
Google Singapore is aiming to digitize the country by collaborating with various SMEs as a part of its ‘Go Global’ initiative launched in November, 2016. As a part of this campaign, Poli Medical, a 40 year old local medicine manufacturing firm, jumped the bandwagon and rolled out its first YouTube ad which drove a 27% click through rate leading to an increased brand awareness.
Capturing the interest of young minds is what Google Singapore is targeting at next. Its computer science and computational thinking course specifically aims to deliver training to 3000 underprivileged children between the ages of 8-15 years. It is strongly believed that the values embedded in children this age is sure to last a lifetime.
Currently Google Singapore is actively hunting for qualified candidates as there are 76 available positions to be filled by the firm. Google Singapore provides for a brilliant work culture and give its employee a spectacular platform to bring about a unique transformation. Employees are better known as Singagooglers and they work in diverse fields of operations, marketing, legal and finance (Google Singapore, 2017).
Singapore has four official languages and hence the diversity in culture is creatively celebrated in work space. In this article we would be elaborating upon the position of Sales Lead at Google Maps for the South East Asia market (Google Careers, 2017).
Google Wi-Fi: A Game Changer in Singapore
Predominantly the role of a sales lead includes bringing in new clients and servicing existing clients. As a member of the Google cloud team, candidate is expected to motivate and encourage leading companies, government agencies and schools to work smarter with the help of various Google tools like G suit, Google maps, search and chrome. Applicant is expected to be well versed with the innovative uses of Google. The firm targets at making organizations better, more efficient and productive and hence its offerings continuously aim to bring innovation.
As a sales leader, the entrant is expected to manage local strategy in tandem with the regional leader as well as achieve specific business goals within South East Asia. Google products are engineered for scalability, reliability and security. They consistently target at making organizations more effective with competent usage of their products. This is how Google has changed the internet scenario entirely.
1. Customer Segmentation: Segmentation of customers and channel partners for the SEA market. Providing marketing strategies and ensuring these strategies see the light of the day. Chalking out marketing plans for SEA and taking responsibility for the business generated by the department are key responsibilities as a Sales Lead (LinkedIn, 2017).
2. Focus Segment: Every region has a focus segment. For every organization, focus segments involves a group of potential customers with needs that can be satisfied with the product of that firm and buying power to buy the same (Business insider, 2011). As a sales lead, it will be the employee’s responsibility to firstly identify that focus segment and then laying out strategies in order to develop business in that segment.
3. Communication: Sales lead is essentially the bridge between the firm and its clients. Communication is the key to build and if required, mend that bridge. The candidate’s foremost responsibility would be to understand complex requirements on customer side. This has to be achieved on both business as well as technical front. And thus the aspirant must be qualified to understand the technical aspects of customer queries and be able to converse with them in fluent English.
4. Presentations: Selling often requires making and exhibiting customized presentations for various clients which elaborates upon how they can put Google maps to effective use for increased productivity of their organization. These presentations should be targeted at solving various customer problems and providing business solutions to clients.
Go Global: Digitizing Singapore with Google
5. Team Building: The sales leader is expected to foster, grow and maintain a virtual team consisting of employees specializing in various fields and stationed at different parts of the country. Google has always been critical in the selection of its teams in fact in 2012, the company launched Project Aristotle to study Google teams and understand why a few soared and few stumbled (New York Times, 2016). Therefore it is imperative that the Sales lead builds an efficient team, set clear targets and takes complete responsibility for the productivity of the team.
Job design refers to the arrangement and rearrangement of jobs in such a manner that employees feel motivated. The aim of a sound job design is to provide its employees with non-monetary benefits such as increased work satisfaction, enhanced sense of personal achievement and in turn raised productivity (Business Dictionary, 2017).
Google is an organization with a diverse set of employees and Google’s human resource department works intensely in defining strategies to address the needs of its workforce (Panmore Institute, 2017).
1. Number of employees: Google Singapore does extensive research to ensure that at any given point of time, there is neither a surplus nor a shortage of employees. This is done to manage a balance between the demand and supply of qualified employees. A lot of thought is put into how many members every department requires, so that no employee is over worked or out of work.
1. Making work a happy place: Google strives to make Google a happy place for its employees. Efforts are put in the direction of ensuring that anyone who works at Google is happy and content. Everyone is given their space to work in a manner that they want. This gives employees the advantage of working in their own style and hence increases productivity.
1. Monetary Perks: Google perks are well known in the entire industry. Legal reimbursements, No cost health and dental benefits, attractive insurance plans and flexible spending accounts are a few monetary benefits provided by Google as a way of valuing its employees.
2. Non-monetarybenefits: Google’s non-monetary rewards are particularly alluring. Onsite car wash, oil change services, free lunch and dinner, onsite doctor, Lego rooms, pet care at work, Wi-Fi installed shuttles for travel and fitness trainer are few of the incentives employees enjoy (Fast Company, 2013)
3. Transparency: Employees are considered Google’s biggest assets and the company ensures to make things very transparent. After the first few weeks of every quarter, Google’s executive chairman, shares the information shared between the company’s boards of directors with all the googlers (Cleverism, 2014). Every Friday 30 minutes of meeting is hosted where employees are given the liberty to ask any questions about the company, this is known as TGIF (Thank God its Friday).
Empowering Underprivileged Children with Google Singapore
4. Recreational options: The wide variety of recreational facilities available on campus makes Google truly a distinct firm to work with. Employees can get free haircuts while on job, they get massage credits, game room consists of pool and Play stations for employee stress buster, fitness centers, massive libraries and extended time offs to follow passions are not only provided but also encouraged by the firm (Business insider, 2015).
Every year Google receives over two million job applications for different roles across various departments (Business Insider, 2016).Google’s hiring for new candidates is a rather simplified process consisting of three steps:
1. Apply: Candidates are expected to apply on the Google website. Until and unless Google is launching operations in a new country and needs an entire team, the firm does not prefer to associate with any third party recruiting agents like monster. Candidates are expected to read through the job roles which are explicitly defined on their website and apply in accordance with their true credentials. The application process consists of a simple online form and uploading of entrant’s resume. Post which shortlisted candidates by a team of 400 different recruiters and are required to appear for interviews (Fortune, 2012).
2. Interview: Candidates that are shortlisted on the basis of their resume are then required to appear for interviews either conducted virtually or face to face depending on candidates’ geography. Interviews conducted on telephone or Google hangout are expected to last for about 30 to 60 minutes where candidate may or may not be asked to write 20 lines of code. Applicants are hence recommended to use hands free devices while appearing.
For onsite interviews, the entrant will meet four Googlers, some potential team mates and some cross functional peers for about 30-45 minutes each (Google Careers, 2017). The candidate is provided with a platform to prove their ability in the areas of cognition, leadership, knowledge and Googlyness – a term used by employees for an individuals’ ability to step and grow out of their comfort zone.
3. Decide: After the interviews are done, the hiring committee decides upon the candidature of the applicant and ensures that they remain true to their hiring standards. Feedbacks are given on the basis of interview performance, resume, references and any work samples if submitted. Once the executive committee has made their decision, it is communicated to the candidate via email. Offer letters are rolled out if the employee is selected.
Job Opportunities at Google Singapore
Conclusion
Google has been recommended and rated as one of the best place to work by its own employees. This is because the firm consistently puts in efforts to recruit the best talent and retain them for long periods. In a recent interview (Business Insider, 2016), Google’s HR Head Bock writes 4 company rules for hiring the best employees:
Set uncompromisingly high standards: Google has clear standards about who can fit in and who cannot. Certain aspects are absolutely required of a Google employee and the firm has never settled for less. They never compromise and hence are ensured that they have the best talent.
Find candidates on your own: Google prefers to hire candidates on its own rather than going to third party recruiters. Until and unless that expertise is incessantly required like when they wish to open a new office in a new country where the firm has no background knowledge.
Put checks in place: Usually organizations ask the seniors of the department to hire juniors, but Google organizes peer interviews so that the current employees hire likeminded people who they can work with.
Give candidates a reason to join: Google believes that recruitment is a two way street, once it believes that a candidate is worth being an employee of the firm, they leave no stone unturned in giving the candidate sufficient reasons to join Google and retain them when the time be.
This is what makes Google a uniquely brilliant firm to work with. Google’s Human resource management abilities are extremely competent and their Singapore office has inherited all of these from its headquarters. This has enabled the Singapore office to grow at a rapid speed and attract employment from different parts of the country.
References
Business Dictionary, 2017, https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-design.html, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Business Insider, 2011, https://www.businessinsider.com/how-segment-focus-can-increase-revenue-growth-2011-8?IR=T, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Business Insider, 2015, https://www.businessinsider.in/The-amazing-perks-of-working-at-Google/articleshow/49046272.cms, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Business Insider, 2016, https://www.businessinsider.in/Googles-HR-boss-explains-the-companys-4-rules-for-hiring-the-best-employees/articleshow/51048044.cms, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Channel News Asia, 2016, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/google-moves-to-new-office-in-singapore-to-house-growing-team-7686728, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
Channel News Asia, 2017, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/google-wifi-lands-in-singapore-with-starhub-as-exclusive-partner-9164220, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
Cleverism, 2014, https://www.cleverism.com/google-way-motivating-employees/, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Fast Company, 2013, https://www.fastcompany.com/3007268/not-happy-accident-how-google-deliberately-designs-workplace-satisfaction, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Fortune, 2012, https://fortune.com/2012/02/24/inside-googles-recruiting-machine/, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Google Careers, 2017, https://careers.google.com/how-we-hire/decide/, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Google Careers, 2017, https://careers.google.com/jobs#!t=jo&jid=/google/sales-lead-google-maps-large-customer-singapore-2698880377&, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
Google Careers, 2017, https://careers.google.com/jobs#t=sq&q=j&li=20&l=false&jl=1.352083%3A103.81983600000001%3ASingapore%3ASG%3A%3A20.274207235868648%3ACOUNTRY&jld=10&yes&jcoid=7c8c6665-81cf-4e11-8fc9-ec1d6a69120c&jcoid=e43afd0d-d215-45db-a154-5386c9036525&, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
Google Singapore, 2017, https://careers.google.com/locations/sing/, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
LinkedIn, 2017, https://sg.linkedin.com/jobs/google-jobs, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Panmore Institute, 2017, https://panmore.com/google-hrm-hr-planning-job-analysis-design, viewed on 5 September, 2017.
Star Hub, 2017, https://www.starhub.com/personal/promotions/google-wifi.html, viewed on 4 September, 2017.
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