Google’s bonus structure plays a vital role in the retention and motivation of their employees. Learn more in the essay on this page. Introduction Google’s achievements as a technology company over the last decade are remarkable. The company started as a college project and is now a leading global player in the IT sector. The company acquired a solid reputation as an innovative player early in its life. While the main product offered by Google is its internet search service, the company is behind very innovative practices in other business areas. The company attributes its success in business to its ability to attract and retain top talent. This paper examines the compensation plan of the company. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of Google’s compensation plan to its efforts to motivate and retain talented employees. The paper evaluates several facets of Google’s HR practices as the basis for discussing the contribution of its compensation plan to its talent retention strategy. In this regard, this paper evaluates the HR practices at Google and the compensation philosophy that guides remuneration and benefits. Thereafter, the paper evaluates Google’s compensation system. The paper then looks at how the compensation system contributes to employee motivation and employee retention in the company. A brief conclusion examines the criticisms against Google’s compensation system. HR Practices at Google The three main HR practices at Google that influences its talent management practices are reliance on data, the use of analytical tools, and reliance on internal referrals. These practices attract both the support and criticism of HR professionals in equal measure. Most activities at Google are data driven. This is not surprising considering that the company’s core business is organizing data. Google decided to use its ability to analyse data to develop data-driven services within the company. The company insists on using hard data to support all its important decisions. In this sense, it is accurate to say that reliance on hard data is part of the company’s corporate culture. Critics of Google’s reliance on data feel that the company lacks a human touch. The critics say that in the place of feelings, Google has algorithms (Manjoo). Proponents of this approach argue that the use of hard data to make business decisions is laudable. Google’s HR department, known as People Operations, relies on hard data to make HR decisions. Reliance on hard data is part of Google’s DNA. The company uses its massive data processing capabilities to handle its HR functions. The second element of Google’s HR practices is the use of “people analytics” (Carroll). Google’s HR department uses this term to describe the use of algorithms to make HR decisions. The company has good reasons for using data processing methods to handle hiring. Every year, the company receives more than one million job applications (Manjoo). The process of sifting through all these applications requires advanced data management techniques. The company must use advanced data processing methods to find the talent it needs from the overwhelming number of applications. In addition to usin