This week, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai expressed concern regarding the staff not being productive and focussed enough at the company’s earnings call on July 26. This quarter of the year came across as the company’s second consecutive feeble quarter as opposed to what they had thought of. Reports suggest how the CEO conveyed to the workers in the meeting following the call to put in their ideas regarding productivity boosts.
For a while now, employees have appeared rather concerned about possible job cuts, which has become a rather common occurrence in the tech industry. Pichai noted how the productivity of the search giant as a whole is not exactly at par with its current headcount. He pointed this out the meeting held on July 27, which over 170,000 full-time staffers of the company attended last week.
Addressing the second quarter’s report, Pichai noted how he intended to provide more ‘context’ after the call, along with requesting the employees’ aid. He pointed how the team is clearly going through a difficult ‘macro environment,’ and how the productivity of Google is not at par with where headcount stands.(If you are looking to improve your team’s productivity we recommend checking time tracker app).
Pichai’s requests to the employees:
The Google chief requested the workers to come up with an atmosphere which is additionally ‘mission-focused,’ emphasising on their products and customers. He added how the tech giant can counter ‘distractions’ and provide a boost to the level of productivity, along with the quality of its goods and services.
With this, he came up with the concept of ‘Simplicity Sprint’- a concept through which improvement to efficiency would be facilitated by means of ideas collected from the working heads of the company. Pichai expressed how he is looking forward to taking the workers’ aid through the thoughts they share by August 15 in a given internal survey.
According to the reports, the survey comprised enquiries whose answers could help determine the workers’ views. The questions asked the employees what would aid them in working more clearly and efficiently, where the company should get rid of ‘speed bumps’ to arrive at appropriate results; along with how Google can avoid ‘waste’ and remain ‘entrepreneurial and focused’ as it progresses.
When the question of possible job cuts came up in the meeting, Fiona Cicconi, the chief people officer, stated how Google is not currently planning any such reductions to its workforce but might still consider it. She noted how the company is presently focused on seeing how the ‘Simplicity sprint’ works out.