1

INDIVIDUAL REPORT
TOPIC : REWARDS POLICY
CASE : Googles new maternity leave policy
Doan Ngoc Tu_BM103_000845500
Lecture : Tran Nguyen Hai Ngan







2


Table of content
1.Introduction...3
2.Case overview & analysis..3
2.1 Characteristic of tech companies...3
2.2 Rewards concept..4
2.3 Googles new maternity leave policy..4
2.4 Herzbergs theory with Googles case...4
2.5 Maslows theory with Googles case.5
3.Limitation & recommendation5
4.Conclusion.6
5.Appendix6
6.Reference list..8








3


1.Introduction
In business, human resource is the most valuable asset and as the lifeblood for the
entire operation of the business ( Borthwick ,2011) . Improving the quality of human
resources will help businesses achieve many successes. Besides a good working
environment, the reward policy plays an important role as the motivation, especially in
the world-class corporations. It is said that without the reward policy, employees won't
try their best to contribute the ideas or consider themselves as loyal workers.
Google, a technology company, is famous for being evaluated as one of the best
working environments . Based on the rank of one hundred best places to work by
Fortune in 2013, Google took the first position( Fortune, 2013). However, Google has
encountered a problem that a lot of female staffs quit their job after having a baby (Miller
,2012) . Google has changed the policy on maternity leave and as a result it dropped
nearly 50% of employees left after delivering their baby (Miller ,2012). So ,how did
google change the new policy and the effectiveness of this policy? . The following
paragraphs aim to answer this question.
This report uses Herzbergs Two factor motivation theory , Maslow's hierachy of
needs and the concept of reward as well.
2.Case overview & analysis
2.1.Characteristic of tech companies
Google is a tech company, therefore one characteristic of a tech company is the rapid
innovation which requires a high degree of creative thinking (Bielawska , 2014) see
figure 1 in appendix . In addition, the number of male employees in the tech company is
higher than women because they can pay more focus under pressure than women
(Reynolds , 2010) .Mr.Bock, the senior vice presiden for Google said One-third of
Googles 34,300 employees are women ( Miller,2012)
4

2.2.Rewards concept
The concept of reward can be understood in a basic way that facilitates or provides
benefits package for motivating employees so they work better ( Silverman , 2004) .
Reward does not only include monetary but also the non-monetary rewards .The
monetary include base pay,incentives,bonus,etc.Non-monetary include
recognition,decision making roles, difficulty allowances, sick leave and maternity leave (
Amstrong , 2007 cited by Hurunavamwe & Kanengoni , 2013 ) .
2.3.Googles new maternity leave policy
Returning to the case of Google, Mr.Bock has discovered that a lot of female employees
left after having a baby ( Miller, 2012 ) . At the time when the old maternity leave policy
still was applied for Google, female employees took 12 weeks for giving birth ( Manjoo ,
2013) . In 2007 Mr.Bock changed maternity leave policy (Manjool, 2013 ) . The new one
allows an 18 to 22 weeks off ( Shontell , 2013) . Furthermore, Google also allows male
employees off seven weeks when baby is born (Shontell , 2013) see figure 2 and 3 in
appendix . Google even offers a stipend 500 dollars for takeout meals after a baby is
born ( Miller , 2012 ). The new policy affects immediately. The rate of female employees
leave after having a baby is down nearly 50% ( Miller , 2012 ) . Moreover, this new
policy also helps Google in saving the recruitment cost when female staffs leave the
company, Mr.Bock said ( Manjool, 2013)
2.4.Herzbergs theory with Googles case
Used Herzbergs two factor motivation theory to analyze. According to Herzberg, there
are two factors that motivate. Factors that helps to enhance work efficiency is motivating
factors . Factors that helps to maintain working efficiency is hygiene factors ( Amstrong
,2012) . In other word, hygiene is extrinsic factors such as salary, bonuses, relationship
with supervisor or leader. The interest from others to a staff is called extrinsic factors
which means from the outside ( Herzberg , 1987 cited Mujah et al 2011) . Motivating
factors can be called satisfiers related to the need for achievement ,the interest of the
job and they are belongs to the intrisic fators ( Amstrong, 2012) . Apply this theory for
Google, notice that Google always interests in both extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The
5

evidence is that Google allowing the staff to spend 20% of their work week on projects
that interest them ( He , 2013 ) and it is the intrinsic factors . For extrinsic factors,
Google provides the employees benefit packages for instance free haircuts, free food,
pets are allowed at workplace , etc ( Smith , 2013 ).
2.5.Maslows theory with Googles case
Based on Maslow's hierachy of needs , the new maternity leave policy is only in
extrinsic factors . Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs includes five basic needs ( Maslow ,
1943 cited Tikkanen 2007 ) .The first floor is physiological needs such as air, food,
drink, shelter. The second floor is security needs such as physical safety, health, family,
work . The third floor is Affiliation needs such as love for family, concern from leaders
and coworkers. The fourth Floor is Affiliation needs for example feelings respect, love,
trust . The last floor is self-actualisation needs such as desirable to be creative, express
themselves, skills (Rollinson , 2004 ) see figure 4 in appendix. Therefore, the new
maternity leave policy of Google applied is on the first and third floor . Google offers a
package about 500 dollars for baby food and this benefit belongs to the first floor (
physiological needs ) and allowing employees to extend maternity leave to take care of
the baby belongs to the third floor . All these factors are belong to the extrinsic factors
which mean the concern of one to another. The fifth floor is self actualization belongs
to intrinsic factors which relates to employee's desire and interest.
3.Limitation and recommendation
Google only applied the external factors, which is the first limit in the new maternity
leave policy of Google. That will not become a good policy for rewards, in term of
enhancing it, Google should combine both of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. For this,
Google can allow them to work part-time before full time and they will have enough
time for their child .
The second limitation of this policy is that the maternity leave period is too long. It leads
to lacking of manpower and in consequence, delaying the processes. So, to improve
this issue Google can used job rotation to cover the positions that are left empty.
6

Furthermore, Google can deal with candidates the time for maternity leave when they
recruit new ones.
Googles annual revenue is very high, for example in 2013 Googles revenue was about
60 billion dollars (Google ,2013) see table 1 in Appendix. With this huge amount of
money, it is not a big problem for Google to apply this policy but other smaller
companies which intend to follow the giant's step should consider carefully.
4.Conclusion
Google's case leads to a conclusion that the reward is a key factor for achieving the
success. Without passionate employees, any plan won't work. People are motivated
and satisfied by a certain thing. It can be a free trip, an amount of gratuity, or simply a
coupon discount. So setting the rewards policy clear and reasonable, we don't have to
worry about staff loyalty or turnover.
5.Appendix
Figure 1 : The characteristic of a High-Tech company

7

Source : Technical University of Lodz
Figure 2 & 3 : How many weeks of paid leave do tech companies offer new moms and
new as

Source : Mother Jones
Figure 3 : How many weeks of paid leave do tech companies offer new dads ?

8

Source : Mother jones
Figure 4 : Maslows hierachy of need model

Source : Hierarchy of Needs in Motivation and Personality, 2nd Edition by A H
Maslow.
Table 1 :Income statements for the years ended December 31

Source : Google Annual Report 2013, page 24
6.Reference list
9

1.Armstrong, M. (2007). Organisation and People Employee Reward.
Broadway Wimbledon: CIPD publishers. Cited in Harunavamwe, M.
and Kanengoni, H. (2013) The Impact of Monetary and Non-Monetary
Rewards on Motivation among Lower Level Employees in Selected
Retail Shops . African Journal of Business Management, 7(38),
pp.3929-3935, page.3931.
2. Amstrong, M. (2012) Armstrong's Handbook of Reward
Management Practice Michael : Improving performance through
reward , 4
th
ed , London : Koganpage .
3. Borthwick , F. (2011) PEOPLE CAN BE AN ORGANISATIONSCORE
COMPETENCE [Online] . Available from :
http://www.academia.edu/1147775/HUMAN_CAPITAL_IS_AN_INPORTANT_F
ACTOR_FOR_THE_SUCCESS_OF_AN_ORGANISATION [Accessed on 4
April 2014 ]
4. Bielawska, A.Z. (2014) High Technology Company Concept, Nature, Characteristics
[Online ] . Available from :
http://pw.seipa.edu.pl/s/p/artykuly/92/925/High%20tech%20def%20Bielawska.pdf
[Accessed on 6 April 2014 ]
5. Fortune , ( 2013) FORTUNE :100 Best Companies to Work For [Online] . Available
from : http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/ [ Accessed on 4
April 2014]
6. Google (2013) ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 [Online] . Available from :
https://investor.google.com/pdf/20131231_google_10K.pdf [Accessed on 8 April 2014]
7. He, L. (2013) Google's Secrets Of Innovation: Empowering
Its Employees [Online]. Available from :
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurahe/2013/03/29/googles-secrets-of-
innovation-empowering-its-employees/ [Accessed on 7 April 2014 ]
8. Herzberg, F.I. (1987). One more time: How do you motivate employees?, Harvard
Business Review, Sep/Oct87, 65(5), 109-120. Cited in Mujah, W. et al (2011) Meaning
of Work and Employee Motivation . Terengganu International Management and
Business Journal, 1(2),pp.18-26,p.20.

10

9. Miller, C.C. (2012) In Googles Inner Circle, a Falling Number of Women [Online] .
Available from : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/technology/in-googles-inner-circle-
a-falling-number-of-women.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 [Accessed on 4 April 2014 ]
10. Manjool, F. (2013) Here's How Google Became Such A Great Place To Work
[Online]. Available from : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/working-at-
google_n_2526889.html [Accessed on 6 April 2014 ]
11. Maslow, A.H. (1943), A theory of human motivation, Psychological Review, Vol.
50, pp. 394-5. Cited in Tikkanen, I. (2007) Maslow's hierarchy and food tourism in
Finland: five cases.British Food Journal, 109(9),721-734.page.722.

12. Reynolds, M. (2010) Men and Women Think Differently - This is Good [Online] .
Available from : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-reynolds/men-and-women-think-
diffe_b_517277.html [Accessed on 6 April 2014]
13. Rollinson, D. (2005) ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS: AN
INTEGRATED APPROACH .3
rd
ed ,England: Prentice hall
14. Shontell, A. (2013) Biological Moms Get Preferential Treatment Over Parents Who
Adopt At Companies Like Yahoo And Google [Online] . Available from :
http://www.businessinsider.com/maternity-paternity-leave-policies-at-google-facebook-
yahoo-twitter-microsoft-2013-8 [Accessed on 6 April 2014]
15. Silverman, M. (2004) Non-Financial Recognition : The Most
Effective of Rewards?[Online] . Institute for employment studies:
United Kingdom. Available from : http://www.employment-
studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/mp4.pdf [Accessed on 6 April 2014 ]
16. Smith, K. (2013) Google Employees Reveal Their Favorite Perks
Working For The Company [Online]. Available from :
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-employee-favorite-perks-2013-
3?op=1 [Accessed on 7 April 2014]






11




12














13