The Atlantic

How Google Uses Data to Build a Better Worker

For the search and advertising juggernaut, human resources is more than human
Source: Reuters

“I have charts and graphs to back me up. So f*** off.”

Not the mantra you’d expect from your typical human resources representative. But every new hire for Google’s People Analytics department, part of the company’s HR function (which it calls People Operations), gets a laptop sticker emblazoned with this slogan. More than just an attention getter, it succinctly captures the profound difference in how Google addresses all matters related to people. Googlers maintain a firm belief that insights from data can systematically improve performance and leadership within the company’s ever-growing empire.

While the rest of the world is waking up to analytics and the power of Big Data, Google has spent years methodically building one of the most refined performance-management engines in the

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