Leadership | Google spills top secrets on becoming a good boss

Google has long been renowned as a key leader of progressive work ethics. The brand was a leader in the introduction of a structured compensation and benefits package for its employees, whilst its flexible working policies and management structures have been praised by employees and critics alike.

In its two decades of operation, Google has risen from a team of under ten, to have an employment base of over 100,000 workers worldwide as of 2019. It has attracted some of the most prominent talent in the world, and invested heavily in supporting its people through research – some of which has been continually assessed over the course of a decade – which begs the question, what has it learned?

One of the most prominent studies that Google has been conducting is research around the behaviours of its highest-rated managers, as well as feedback from employees and satisfaction surveys. It has used this data to compile a comprehensive profile of what a good manager looks like, and then used this to train new managers; the result of which has been a massive improvement in worker wellbeing, retention and productivity.

Far from keeping this information under lock and key, the company was quick to release a public list of its ‘Eight traits of a good manager’ for the first time in 2011 and has been consistently refining its own release ever since.