5. A case study: GOOGLE'S HRM STRATERGY

 

We're well aware of google as an organization, and its a dream for some to be an employee at google. 

Google uses both SOFT and Hard HRM as well! Surprised? Just google it! Let's run through on how exactly they managed to get desired outcomes while co performing both soft and hard HRM. 

Soft HRM at Google 

Table 1.  Shows the Soft HRM approach at google (Eddusaver, 2023)

	Google's Practice	Explanation
Employee Development	120+ hours/year of training and  leadership coaching	Investment in growth and not just output
Innovation Culture	Allocation of a 20% time for passion projects	Supports creativity and autonomy in making decisions
Employee Voice	Weekly TGIF (Thank god it’s Friday) meetings with leadership	Transparency and bottom-up communication between groups
Well-being & Perks	Free meals, gyms, mental health support, childcare and other extras	Focus on employee happiness and work-life balance while maintaining results
Inclusive Culture	Diversity and Inclusion programs and Employee resource groups	Recognition of diverse human capital and having an open mind
Internal Mobility	Encouraged to switch teams and projects	Career growth and internal promotions prioritized

Hard HRM at Google 

Table 2.  Shows the Hard HRM approach at google (Eddusaver, 2023)

	Google Practice	Explanation
Workforce planning	Algorithm based decisions via headcounts	The HR is directly linked into the strategies
People Analytics	Data driven prediction where needed	Employees are evaluated via models and metric
Performance Management	Objective and key results ranking systems	The organizations upholds a strong focus on employee’s performance.

As stated, Soft HRM and HARD HRM approaches are used technically to depict a desired result. This shows the outcome of how Google reached out globally as the world's best search engine. 

Its inspiring how far an organization can go to achieving their goals, lets go through a brief idea of how you can start applying these in your organization.  

References: 

Eddusaver. (2023). Strategic Human Resource Management at Google: A Case Study on People Analytics, Recruitment, and Employee Development. [online] Available at: https://www.eddusaver.com/strategic-human-resource-management-at-google-a-case-study-on-people-analytics-recruitment-and-employee-development/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2025].