I’m Laszlo Bock, Head of Human Resources at Google, and This Is How I Work
Google employs about 50,000 people. This is 50,000 resumes, interviews and hires that can be managed and directed like cogs in the big machine that has shaped many aspects of the Internet as we know it today. Laszlo Bock is engaged in the selection, analysis and retention of this talent.
Laszlo spearheads what Google calls the “HR department” – commonly referred to as the HR department in other companies – and has largely developed how the company hires its talented employees. He recently wrote the book ” Working Rules!” , which details how Google’s competitive position management process has evolved and changed over the years, and why Google remains such a popular place to work. We contacted Laszlo to see how he is handling his own overwhelming workload at the Googleplex.
Location: Currently 30,000 feet above McCook, North Carolina, but usually in Mountain View, California. Current job site: Senior Vice President of People Engagement at Google and author of The Code of Practice! ” One word that best describes how you work: efficient modern mobile device: Nexus 5 Current computer (and what OS does it run on?): I use a Chromebook Pixel , but also switch between Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, depending on what I do and read. I usually keep the device in every room and I love that they all sync up all the time. I never have to carry anything and I can pick up wherever I am.
What apps, software or tools can’t you live without?
I use Google News and Google Now to understand what is happening in the world every day. Google Translate is great and continues to improve. All of my devices have the Twilight app, which dims and tints the screen from dusk to sunrise to minimize exposure to blue light. Blue light suppresses the production of melatonin, which impairs your sleep-wake cycle. It looks like it’s easier to fall asleep after reading on the Internet. Little Locke was a lifesaver when my kids were smaller. I could give them my phone and I knew that they would not accidentally call Eric Schmidt. I also have a test iPhone that I am spending too much time on because I just installed Fallout Shelter …
How is your workplace arranged?
I haven’t had a desk in nearly 10 years. In my office, I have a sofa and a cool armchair shaped like a man who was hit by a skating rink (someone from a cartoon!) Who bends at the knees and hips. This is the most comfortable chair in the world. I have a small table about 12 “x 18” and roughly 3 1/2 feet high on which I hold my Pixel. I’ll stand on it if I need to work this device, but otherwise I’m on the couch, in the pancake dude’s chair, or on the floor. I also collect business cards from people who used to work on my HR team and then head HR at other companies, and store them in little storefronts. So far, I have Tesla, Uber, Square, Pinterest, Jawbone, and a bunch of others. I’m really proud of the people who do cool things.
What’s your best time-saver or life hack?
I have an empty mailbox and try to respond to every email within 24 hours. They either get resolved or fall into one of three folders: check Thursday, check monthly, or check quarterly. I don’t have to worry about the checklist and nothing slips as it is either done or in a folder that I check regularly. One of the things I write about in my book is how your “architecture of choice,” or how you arrange things around you, can help you become healthier, save more, and make better decisions. The fact that this structure looks at me every day pushes me to prioritize, sort, and complete as quickly and efficiently as possible.
What device, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
Another important gadget is the Xbox One. Can’t wait to play Arkham Knight. I’m glad they’ll make them backward compatible too, which means I can write off my 360.
What are some of the things you do best in everyday life? What’s your secret?
I am gifted (cursed?) With the amazing ability to find in food that which should not be there. As a kid, I bit off a frozen pizza (you know the one that used to cost 99 cents in the store?) And found a half-inch long claw on some mammal. Since then, I’ve found the tip of a rubber glove in a bowl of pasta, a cockroach (just a little) in my Thai iced tea in New York, a plastic spider in a burger in Calaveras County, and a live spider in my salad at an establishment in Mountain View, California ( the waiter told me it was because the salad was organic …). DO NOT eye your food.
From the point of view of working with people, the scale of Google sounds, to put it mildly, intimidating. How do you manage to manage such a workforce?
The key is to hire great people, give them more freedom than you are comfortable with, provide targeted learning in real time, and forgive failure while people learn. We also use a variety of metrics and numbers to keep track of how things are going. Our goal is to drive innovation in both people and products. This is partly why I wrote the Working Rules! was to open source what we do so that others can borrow, customize and adapt what we have done, what works. The coolest thing was that over the years it has been discovered that there are many other places that are also good at recruiting and giving people freedom, from Wegmans in the northeast to Brandix in Sri Lanka. In our country, of course, not everything is thought out, but trust in people and giving them real freedom is of great importance.
What do you listen to while you work?
When I work, I don’t make music. I just never got into the habit. Boring answer, I guess …
What are you reading now?
I just finished reading Scott Snyder’s book, Brotherman: Year Zero . You don’t think this story can be told again, but it’s fantastic. Together with my children, I read the series ” Zita about the Space Girl” – a complex , touching, funny story about a girl who leaves Earth in search of her brother’s salvation. “Natural Born Heroes ” by Chris McDougall, who kindly signed my copy in London. Carmen Bugan’s Burial of the Typewriter is a great glimpse into what my country of birth, Romania, was like under the communists. Her father was a dissident who printed political leaflets at night and buried a typewriter in the yard in the morning so that the secret police would not find it until they found it.
How do you replenish?
I need time for myself, with close friends or family, to recharge.
What is your sleep routine?
I read myself before bed and then try to exercise in the morning. I can usually do the exercises three or four times a week.
Fill in the blank: I would like ____ to answer these same questions.
Neil de Grasse Tyson. Two years ago I was at a holiday party in Washington DC and he was in the same room. I wanted to say hello and thank him for everything he has done to popularize, explain, and develop an interest in science, but I thought people should bother him all the time, so I didn’t want to get involved. I wish I could at least thank you.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“Always do your best, because then they have no choice but to reward you.” “They” were the brilliant part. He recognized the power dynamics between employee and boss. And I realized that the only thing you have absolute one-sided control over is how hard you work and the quality of your work. You may be lucky or unlucky, your boss may love you or hate you, but you are solely in control of the quality and quantity of your products.