search for the ZEITGEIST

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

by Alexandra Zinnkann

ZEITGEIST

“Do cool things that matter” that’s one of the numerous mottos, which were presented to us on our excursion through the Chicago GOOGLE office. Getting the first step into the office one already breezes the air of innovation and the spark of Zeitgeist automatically jumps on to you.

With its very creative and playful design and furniture as well as the large announcements of off-the-job offers, like meditation or Japanese this office really reflects a corporate culture. One subject which really sticked out to me was a treadmill, with a writing table attached. That makes it a perfect symbol for GOOGLE’s work philosophy: Employees should always search for the Zeitgeist and be innovative and on the same hand have a positive work-live balance. That’s only one of the reasons why Megan Danielson, the head of Industry, Travel and Matt Jones, the team Lead and Principal Account Manager, who identify themselves as “GOOGLERS” love working for this global company. Both are also very passionate about the global rotation program, in which employees have the chance to go for a longer period abroad in order to grow personally and the leadership opportunities given to them. Megan personally highlighted the feeling to actually getting part of other companies through intense in-depth work with external agencies and clients. Mat especially appreciates it to work with such “wonderful human beings”. And of course there is the famous, free available, mostly local and organic catering and the 20% time, in which the employees are requested not to spend on their actual work, but come up with new ideas.  Altogether aroused the impression that Megan and Mat absorbed the corporate culture and are actually a part of the company and feel that Google actually cares, both in the in-and outside for its employees.

To me it is remarkably how well GOOGLE succeeded in providing a positive and innovative working atmosphere. But how can we, as a service-oriented hospitality business create and manage our organizational culture? Organizational Culture in the Hospitality Industry

Since the hotel business is not such depended on creating continuously new and innovative products, it is not necessarily desirable for us to create an innovative spirit. Nevertheless it should also be our aim to create a pleasant work atmosphere and build a strong team spirit in order to work hand in hand and strengthen the workflow within the daily hotel routine. We also heard during our stay that employees are encouraged to take risks. This empowerment to employees could apply for the LIB Hotel as well; every employee should have permission to make our guests happy. I am convinced that if we keep the spirit in our company, it will reflect towards the guests and with this we will provide them a pleasant stay in a home-like atmosphere. In order to maintain and improve this spirit, we could do it as GOOGLE and have mentoring programs and annual employee surveys. 

Last but not least GOOGLES slogan “Don’t be evil” could be a desirable guiding theme for every company. How could the LIB take care to be fair to their environment in practice? Using only local suppliers, organic and seasonal food and interacting with our neighborhood could be an answer to that. 

However for me personally the question if GOOGLE could really change the world to better by bringing the Internet to everybody, as wished by the chairman Eric Schmidt, stands still open. To find your own opinion about this topic, have a look at this examples of charities using technology to tackle problems and transform lives around the world GOOGLE is supporting: Google Impact Challenge