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Google's Oxygen ProjectIt is broadly believed that the three main reasons employees leave their job are:
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On studying thousands of performance reviews Google observed massive discrepancies in the ratings that employees gave their bosses. They also found that managers had more impact on employees’ performance and how they felt about their job than any other factor.
This huge variable gave Google food for thought and they started to analyse their managers to try to understand what the good managers where doing differently from the bad. The result was a company-wide research project conducted in 2009, code-named Project Oxygen.
Rather than annual reviews. Google conduct quarterly reviews
Project Oxygen collected more than 10,000 observations about managers across more than 100 variables from performance reviews, feedback surveys, applications for leadership awards and other reports. They also interviewed managers to gather more information.
The findings produced more than 400 pages of notes, which were coded using standard behavioural science methodologies. The final result was eight behaviours -- things great managers do that make them great. They are, in order of importance:
1. Be a good coach
2. Empower; don't micromanage
3. Be interested in direct reports’ success and well-being
4. Don't be a sissy (in other words ‘Be mature and decisive): Be productive and results-oriented
5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team (active listener)
6. Help your employees with career development
7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team – that you communicate
8. Have key technical skills so you can advise the team, but it is okay that other team member have deeper technical knowledge that the manager
There are many leadership and management studies and books to draw on where any number of models are presented. The difference with the Google’s Oxygen Project is;
Google subsequently rolled out training programmes based on the findings in Project Oxygen and provided coaching for managers where necessary. The results have been impressive with a 75% improvement in manager quality of their worst-performing manager.
Next steps:
Please, feel free to share this article on your social media channels:
We would love to have you in our community, you can follow us on Instagram, FB, Linkedin and Twitter:
We would love to hear from you, please send us any issue or topics you would like us to cover.
On studying thousands of performance reviews Google observed massive discrepancies in the ratings that employees gave their bosses. They also found that managers had more impact on employees’ performance and how they felt about their job than any other factor.
This huge variable gave Google food for thought and they started to analyse their managers to try to understand what the good managers where doing differently from the bad. The result was a company-wide research project conducted in 2009, code-named Project Oxygen.
Rather than annual reviews. Google conduct quarterly reviews
Project Oxygen collected more than 10,000 observations about managers across more than 100 variables from performance reviews, feedback surveys, applications for leadership awards and other reports. They also interviewed managers to gather more information.
The findings produced more than 400 pages of notes, which were coded using standard behavioural science methodologies. The final result was eight behaviours -- things great managers do that make them great. They are, in order of importance:
1. Be a good coach
2. Empower; don't micromanage
3. Be interested in direct reports’ success and well-being
4. Don't be a sissy (in other words ‘Be mature and decisive): Be productive and results-oriented
5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team (active listener)
6. Help your employees with career development
7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team – that you communicate
8. Have key technical skills so you can advise the team, but it is okay that other team member have deeper technical knowledge that the manager
There are many leadership and management studies and books to draw on where any number of models are presented. The difference with the Google’s Oxygen Project is;
- The massive collation of data
- The leadership traits are prioritised
- All data is from Google, so may be more pertinent to their environment than others.
Google subsequently rolled out training programmes based on the findings in Project Oxygen and provided coaching for managers where necessary. The results have been impressive with a 75% improvement in manager quality of their worst-performing manager.
Next steps:
Please, feel free to share this article on your social media channels:
We would love to have you in our community, you can follow us on Instagram, FB, Linkedin and Twitter:
We would love to hear from you, please send us any issue or topics you would like us to cover.
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