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Ann Arbor Google office ranks tops for employees

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Related Tags

Internet, Quality Of Life, Talent, Web 2.0

Ann Arbor

The Freep conducts a survey on 191 employers throughout southeast Michigan and found that employees (or the 23,372 who participated) want more than just decent salary and benefits. A2's Google Ad Words captured the top slot for medium-sized companies in the region.

Excerpt:

For employees at the companies and organizations surveyed, what mattered most was believing that their employer was going in the right direction, followed closely by working for an employer that operates by strong values and ethics, and having confidence in the organization's leader.

"The thing that sticks with me about Google is that the people we hire come from a lot of different backgrounds and are encouraged to challenge ideas," said Grady Burnett, who heads the Internet search engine's Ann Arbor office. "We debate things and come to better decisions and ... it's a fun environment."

Conversely, the factors that made the least difference in determining the top workplaces were how employees' benefits packages compared with others in their respective industries, and whether they are getting paid fairly and have the flexibility to balance their work and personal lives.

"Once you pay people a certain amount, you can't pay them more to make them feel better about their workplace," Claffey said. "If you aspire to be a truly great workplace, you need to take it to that inspirational level."

Read the entire story here.