Employee Motivation Report: Strategies of Microsoft and Google

This report delves into the employee motivation systems of two multinational corporations: Microsoft and Google. It explores the various strategies employed by each company, including financial and non-financial incentives, work environment design, and employee development programs. The report highlights Microsoft's emphasis on morale, team activities, and comprehensive benefits, as well as its adoption of the Mayo motivation theory. It also examines Google's unique perks, flexible work environment, transparency, and the 80-20 rule, which fosters innovation and employee engagement. The report provides SWOT analyses for Microsoft's motivation system and concludes by comparing and contrasting the approaches of both companies, providing insights into effective employee motivation strategies and their impact on organizational success. The report emphasizes the importance of creating a positive and supportive work environment to enhance employee commitment, satisfaction, and overall productivity. The report provides details about how Microsoft focuses on employee morale, team activities, and comprehensive benefits while Google emphasizes a flexible work environment, transparency, and employee autonomy.

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Motivation 1

Motivation 2
Introduction
The motivation refers to the commitment of the employees towards their organization. It is the
willingness of the employees to go beyond their normal job description to achieve the goals of
the company. Employee motivation is important for the organization to achieve its regular goals.
Therefore, the companies are concerned about motivating their employees. There are several
methods of employee motivation such as creating an incentive system or involving employee in
the operations of the organization. The employee motivation is specifically challenging for small
business organizations as they are not aware of the motivation strategies or find them very costly
in the implementation. Motivating the employees should be a regular routine of most of the
business organizations. There are several reasons of employee motivation such as it allows the
employees to meet the goals of the organization (Kuppuswamy, Saminathan, Udhayakumar, et
al. 2017). If the atmosphere of the organization is not motivating, it overall productivity of the
organization is reduced. There are several benefits of committed and motivated workforce, such
as increased employee commitment, employee satisfaction, employee development and
employee efficiency. In this regard, the present report will evaluate the employee motivation
system of two multinational companies, namely, Microsoft and Google. The report will discuss
different types of motivation techniques used be the companies and the overall evaluation of the
motivation management system of the organization.
Motivation System of Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the largest business organizations dealing with the IT system and computer
hardware. Over the years, the company has been the pioneer in the industry and has been the
inventor of many novel technologies and technological products. The growth and productivity of
the organization has been the result of high engagement and motivation of the employees. In the
organization, the employees are motivated to the extreme degrees. The employees work overtime
for the organization, even when they are not forced to. There have been several cases, in which
the employees work for 10, 14 and 18 hours for their company. The company provides several
facilities such as cots, couches and sleeping bags to their employees (Mikkelsen, Jacobsen &
Andersen, 2017). It can be stated that the company is doing an excellent job at motivating its
employees. Microsoft has set a benchmark by keeping its employees highly motivated. It can be
analyzed that Microsoft focuses on the morale of the employees. The company has created a

Motivation 3
morale budget, which is used for the development and the implementation of the strategies,
which can be used for boosting the employee morale. The organization also establishes group
activities so that the employees remain engaged with the organization. When the employees
perform group activities, it creates a bond of the employees with the organization (Cable, 2018)
Different project teams go on different outings and team activities. The company has established
equilibrium between the financial and non-financial incentives. Microsoft has established a
positive work environment, in which the employees work towards achieving the organization’s
goals. The company has made provision and stock for common and rare office supplies. The
employees can ask for anything, and they need not sign or notify any authority. Other supplies
can be obtained by sending a formal email to the facility management department. There is also a
computer helpdesk through which the employees can call computer technician to fix any
problems in the computer.
The focus of Microsoft is on non-monetary rewards. The company fosters team spirit by offering
items with the symbol of the team. The team is also treated well by giving them special treatment
at several large-scale hotels. Microsoft also gives emphasis to the personal lives of the
employees. The employees are given time so that they can fulfill their personal responsibilities.
The company has established a corporate culture in which, the employees motivate each other
(Njoroge & Yazdanifard, 2014). Although the company does not exclusively ask the employees
to commit for a project; however, if the employees are losing a deadline, it asks the employees, if
they are completely committed to a project.
Further, Microsoft does not take use of phony motivational speech; but it relies on other non-
financial incentives. Further, the managers emphasize team morale in all aspects of
organization’s operations. It makes use of methodological purity, programming discipline and
control over for the morale of the employees (Shaw, 2004).
Regarding non-financial incentives, the company provides comprehensive healthcare coverage,
membership and discounts to the health clubs and access to 24 hours helpline number. It also
offers benefits related to family and parenting such as reduced adoption fees, maternity leaves,
paid leaves for the new parents and in-home care services for the employees. It also assists the
employees in making investment and future planning. The employees have developed a program
so that the employees can purchase the stocks of the company at discount rates (Shaw, 2004). It

Motivation 4
has established a program, in which the company links the contribution of the employees with
discount on the stock purchases. It has also established a financial education program, in which
the company assists the employees in taking an informed decision and establish a strong
financial portfolio.
The company has established a comprehensive learning and development program so that the
employees of the organization remain sharp and up-to-date with the latest technologies in the
market. The company also provide tuition assistance for the so that the employees can pursue
higher level of education. It has also established an internal training program for the instructors
so that the knowledge of the employees can be enhanced easily. The employees can undertake
various types of training related, available at different modes, such as online medium, virtual
classes and classrooms. The company gives attention to the career growth of the employees,
which motivate the employees to work hard for their career growth (Microsoft, 2018).
With the analysis of the motivation strategies and tactics of the organization, it can be analyzed
that the motivation approach of the organization is inspired by Mayo motivation theory.
According to this theory, the motivation of the employees is not influenced by money, but the
social needs of the workers. According to this strategy, there are several strategies, namely,
better communication, high involvement of management and team work which can positively
influence the motivation of the employees (Sirota, & Klein, 2013).
SWOT analysis of the motivation system in Microsoft
Strengths
 It includes combination of financial and
non-financial incentives
 Emphasize team work
 Recognizing and rewarding good work
 Financial incentives
Weaknesses
 Creates excessive competition
 Gives importance to employee morale
which gives employee laid back
attitude

Motivation 5
Opportunities
 Creating an innovation organization
culture of the employees (Lau &
Roopnarain, 2014).
Threats
Excessive competition from other IT
companies
Motivation System of Google
Google is considered as one of the best company due to its happy workforce. In its short lifespan,
the company has established a unique place for itself in the international community due to the
huge and bright workforce. It has been successful in attracting and keeping one of the most
talented workforces due to its motivation and performance management strategies. The company
has established an exemplary culture, with its outstanding ideas and products. The organization
culture and motivation strategies of the organization have been derived from the philosophy of
the leadership, which emphasize the importance of motivated and happy workforce.
The organization truly shows that it care for its people. It has created a happy workforce, which
is responsible for creating an amazing brand and triggering excellent innovation. The
organization realizes that people become successful at their job and remain loyal to their
organization, when they consider that they are valued and supported in their career goals (De
Vito, Brown, Bannister, Cianci, & Mujtaba, 2018). It has created a positive work culture, by
providing different perks, unique office designs, freedom, flexibility and transparency to its
employees.
The company offers several extrinsic benefits such as flexible spending account, health benefits,
insurance, vacation, higher education facilities and investment advices. Most of the other
organizations with similar stature also offer same services; however, Google also offer several
unique and distinctive services, which show the extreme lengths that the company goes to show
its care for the employees. There are several remarkable perks of offered by the organization,
such as reimbursement of legal fees, maternity benefits, financial and legal support in adopting a
child and different other on-site activities (Yousaf, Latif, Aslam, & Saddiqui, 2014). It includes

Motivation 6
car wash, oil change, dry cleaning, and hair stylist and massage therapy. The lunch and dinner
are also available at the organization at free of charge.
The organization has adopted a flat organization structure, in which all the employees can access
top management and raise their voice against any issue of concern. The company regularly hosts
employee forums to address the employee issues on an immediate basis. The employees can use
different platforms to communicate their thoughts and idea to the customers. It also regularly
conducts survey so that the company can identify the employee issues and resolve the major
problems. In order to boost the organization structure of the organization, the company regularly
conducts survey in which the employee gives feedback to their employees (Malik, Butt & Choi,
2015). The survey is used to identify the best managers and grow them within the organization.
On the other hand, the bad managers are provided with training and coaching so that they can
improve their leadership style.
Another feature of the employee motivation strategy of the organization is the transparency
offered to the internal and the external stakeholders of the company. Google considers that the
employees are its biggest asset; therefore, it is important to create a transparent and positive work
culture. The employees are shown that the organization trusts them with confidential information
and encourage them for decision-making.
The executive chairman of the organization shares the annual reports of the organization with all
the stakeholders. It also share materials related to the product launch plans and roadmap. The
company also offers high discretion regarding their working hours so that they can work
according to their convenience. They are offered high flexibility and if they feel tired during the
working hours, they can engage in other recreational activities such as hitting a gym, getting a
massage, or indulging in any other sport activity (Porter, Riesenmy, & Fields, 2016). They can
also enter participate in any other project of their interest or sleep for a while.
The engineers have high degree of flexibility in the selection of the projects of their choice. The
organization encourages the staff members to pursue the projects of their choice. The employee
can also join the training program of their choice so that they can learn novel technology. There I
no specific dress code and employees can arrive at the workplace however they want. It has

Motivation 7
created a relaxed and fun environment at the organization, which has established several
psychological benefits for the organization.
The company has realized that the biggest reason of employee demotivation is that the
employees are assigned similar work on a regular basis. The work assigned to the employees is
deficit in variety and monotonous. As a result, the employees explore other avenues and work
opportunities, which increase the employee turnover in the organization (Scullion & Colings,
2011). The company offers dynamic work to the employees so that the employees remain
enthusiastic for their work.
Google has established 80-20 rule, in which the organization is taking efforts so that the
employees remain motivated and focused at their work. According to this rule, an employee can
devote 20% of their time in exploring other ideas or projects of their interest.
The company also tries to create a fun environment at the work. The company regularly conducts
fun activities so that the employee can enjoy their work time and interact more with each other.
Google is also famous for creating unusual workplace design, in which creative people and the
engineers can come together and generate creative ideas.
The motivation strategy of Google has been derived from Kenneth Thomas “Four Intrinsic
Rewards” theory. According to this theory, there are four main factors, which can be used to
motivate the employees of the organization. Further, an individual take four major decisions,
which impacts his decision-making at the organization. These four factors are, namely, sense of
meaningfulness, sense of choice, sense of competence and sense of progress. The sense of
meaningfulness is developed, when an individual realizes that he has acquired something, which
matters to large number of people. The sense of meaningfulness gives a sense of purpose, course
and determination (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). Another factor is sense of choice, which gives an
employee authority at their work. The sense of ownership allows an individual to create novel
ideas and innovation approaches. The sense of competence states that an individual is handling
his work activities in a better manner. The person should exceed his personal standards to meet
achieve the sense of competence. When an individual accomplishes good quality work, it boosts
his confidence and self-worth. The last factor is the sense of progress, which states that a person

Motivation 8
should realize that his efforts are achieving something. He should realize that his efforts will
benefit him at a large scale.
SWOT Analysis of Motivation system of Google
Strengths
 Intrinsic motivation
 High creativity as the employees are
given space to explore their creative
side (Ventrice, 2009)
Weaknesses
 High degree of monitoring
 High turnover rate as the employees are
treated like entrepreneurs, which
motivate them to work independently
Opportunities
 Giving credit and intellectual property
rights to the employees so that they
focus more in innovation
Threats
 Adoption of similar strategies by other
companies
Recommendations to address the issue
There are several issues in the human resource and performance management of both Microsoft
and Google. In the preset section, several recommendations have been made, so that they can
achieve higher level of employee commitment and motivation towards their work.
 Microsoft is a global company; therefore, it needs a global strategy, which can address
the motivation and HR requirements of employees situated at different geographical
locations. In the present, the competition among the business organizations is very high;
therefore, the company also needs to align its business strategy with the HR strategy. The
corporate strategy needs to align the recruitment, retention, training and development,
and performance management of the organization. It will boost the motivation of the
employees. The organization should try to maintain link between corporate strategy and
HR strategy (Deresky, & Christopher, 2015). The HR managers of the organization
should emphasize strategic planning of the Hr and motivation strategy and designing

Motivation 9
investment through which the company can recruit the most talented individuals in the
organization. The company should develop a specific plan through which the motivation
level of the employees can be analysed.
 Microsoft has implemented several policies for the employee welfare; however, it heavily
scrutinizes its employees. It creates a sense of insecurity among the employees (Warren,
2013). It can be stated that the company should increase the freedom and flexibility of the
employees so that they can work with high motivation. Providing autonomous profile to
the employees will make them more responsible and productive.
 The motivation system of Google also has certain issues, such as relative low pay,
bureaucracy, and a prolonged hiring process (Arrington, 2009). The employees should
change the HR Policies so that it can maintain a higher level of employee motivation. The
company should reduce the bureaucratic structure and create transparency within the
organization. It will uplift the overall motivation level of the employees. Google is one of
the best brand and the candidates try hard to enter the organization. However, a very long
hiring process reduces the motivation level of the employees. The company should make
efforts to reduce the length of the hiring process.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the present report can be summarized that different companies adopt different HR
strategies to achieve their goals. The motivation system is very important in an organization as it
encourages the employees to be more productive and go beyond their normal job roles to achieve
their goals. In the present report, the motivation system of Google and Microsoft has been
analyzed.

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