Google: Social Media Success Will Determine Employee Bonuses [REPORT]
Google has reportedly applied a new multiplier to staff bonuses for 2011. According to a leaked memo from Google CEO Larry Page, the company is making its social efforts a top priority and will reward all employees if those products are a success — or dock everyone’s bonus if those efforts fail.
Google’s +1, which just launched last week, is the search giant’s most recent and perhaps most relevant social product. Since it’s tied to Google Web Search, +1 has a better chance than most Google social products.
Now we’re hearing that Page is betting heavily on +1 and is staking employee bonuses on that bet, as well.
Business Insider is reporting that Page “sent out a company-wide memo … alerting employees that 25% of their annual bonus will be tied to the success or failure of Google’s social strategy in 2011.”
Even Googlers not involved in building +1 and other social products are asked by Page to test products, give feedback and spread the word about these products to their families and friends. And if this word-spreading and feedback-giving pays off for Google as a whole, each employee’s bonus gets increased by 25%.
Competition in the social space has long been fierce, and given Google’s losing streak (Dodgeball, Wave, Buzz, need we continue?) and its to-the-death battle with Facebook (which doesn’t want to give Google an inch of social ground), Google definitely needed to put some urgency and incentive into its fight for a winning social media product.
But is asking for an all-hands whisper campaign the way to go? We welcome your opinions and comments on the subject.