Top 5 Reasons Why Google is the Best Company to Work For

Google has been ranked No.1 in Fortune's latest annual list of '100 Best Companies to Work For.' Wondering why?

The Internet search engine giant, which employs 18,500 people in the U.S. (or over half of its global headcount), is one of the most sought-after employers worldwide. Why? It is because of Google's corporate culture. "My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they're having a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society. As a world, we're doing a better job of that. My goal is for Google to lead, not follow that," Google co-founder Larry Page said.

Google's creative and innovative corporate culture help its employees thrive - they work hard and play hard.

What makes Google so different from other companies? Could it be the on-site perks that include medical and dental facilities, valet parking, oil change and bike repair, free washers and dryers, and free breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis at its numerous gourmet restaurants on its Mountain View campus? Or could it be the special and unique benefits that include opportunities, to learn, grow, travel, and, hold your breath - have wild, zany fun during the workdays?

Is it because of the Global Education Leave program that enables employees to take a leave of absence to pursue further education for up to 5
years and $150,000 in reimbursement? Or could it be other thoughtful offerings such as unlimited sick leave, a $500 take-out meal fund for new parents, opportunities to ask the founders about their vision for the future of the company, or a chance to be involved in significant community service? You will be surprised to know that it is really not one of these items that have made Google a great company to work for. Rather, it is a combination of them and more that have made Google an incredible, sought-after workplace.

The reason why Google is such a great workplace, is because the company believes that treating people well is more important than making a lot of money.

However, there is no magic formula or rocket science to it. It's all about treating people with respect, supporting their creative endeavors, and working hard to adhere to their motto of "Don't be evil." And, its efforts are paying off.

Here are top 5 reasons why Googlers (as Google employees are called) and we think Google is such a great workplace. Start the slideshow to check them out.

Google thinks of employees' ideas as very important. No wonder, there are many internal e-mail lists dedicated to the discussion of particular ideas, issues and complaints.

For instance, on the "Google Ideas" Web site, Googlers regularly submit their thoughts on product improvements or provide suggestions about how to make things better around Google. These ideas are rated on a scale of 0 to 5 (Dangerous or harmful if implemented) to 5 (Great idea! Make it so) and the management pays close attention to them.

Employee's suggestions and opinions are equally important to Google and they are a key-driver in the company's product development process. Generally, before a product is released in the market, the employees get to play around with it and provide feedback and suggestions to the product engineers and managers. Examples of products that have gone through this process include Google News, Gmail, Froogle, Google Local, Google Toolbar and Google+.

Google offers a unique program called "The 20% project". This program for Google engineers, encourages them to dedicate 20% of their time on a project outside their typical work responsibilities that would potentially benefit the company.

The project encourages innovation by allowing the engineers to spend time on Google-related projects that they wish to pursue in the future. By enabling employees to recharge their creative energies, Google provides a unique opportunity for employees to move into new areas of work while also broadening their knowledge base.

Google understands the stress of new parents. Hence, it offers an up to $500 take-out benefit to new parents within the first 4 weeks that they are home with the baby. It is a highly used benefit as 90% of new Googler parents take advantage of this perk.

And that's not all. Google's new maternity leave policy gives new mothers, who have been Google employees for at least 1 year, 6 additional weeks of paid leave (it means a total of 18 weeks!) to bond with their baby. New fathers get less paid leave but as they can take up to 7 weeks of paid time off during the baby’s first year, everybody's smiling.

Google's gourmet restaurants are incomparable. Not only one will come across numerous gourmet restaurants in Google's Mountain View campus, which offer free gourmet (and often organic) meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, but also these restaurants encourage the consumption of organic, healthy food and serve only line-caught fish (rather than farm-raised or wild net-caught).

And yes, they also support the local fishermen and farmers community by buying supplies from them.

Google encourages its employees to speak out their mind and ask their leaders, even Google founders, questions through the TGIF get-together.

TGIF is a weekly, company-wide get-together started by Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Its main purpose is to break the ice between new employees and also is a platform for senior leaders to update others about Google and Google-related events that have transpired over the previous week.

However, the most interesting part of TGIF is the Q&A session. In this session, any employee can ask any question to even the most senior members of the management team. No question is off-limits, no matter how outrageous they are. Questions from past sessions include, "What are Google's growth rate projections?" and "When is Google relocating to Mars?" The TGIF are webcast to Google offices around the globe and archived for those who cannot make it to the meeting.