Google is working on a one-hundred-year-long study of its employees in order to learn what makes them happy and productive.
Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of People Organizations at Google, announced the development of the study in Harvard Business Review, according to BGR.
The study is called gDNA, and is inspired by the Framingham Heart Study that began 65 years ago in Massachusetts with over 5,000 people.
More than 4,000 employees have been randomly selected for gDNA, but participation is optional and confidential, BGR reported. Each year, a participant will complete two in-depth surveys. The surveys cover "traits that are static, like personality' characteristics that change, like attitude about culture, work projects, and co-workers; and how Googlers fit into the web of relationships around all of us." The company then studies "how all these factors interact, as well as with biographical characteristics like tenure, role and performance."
While the study is only in its second year, Bock says Google found that most people fit into two categories, which are "segmentors" and "integrators", The Verge reported. Segmentors count for about 31 percent of the participants, and are able to separate concerns from work and prevent them from interfering with their social lives. Integrators are always worried about what is going on at work, and more than half of them wish they were segmentors.
In order to solve this problem, Google conducted an experiment for its Irish employees called "Dublin Goes Dark", which aimed to help workers distance themselves from work, BGR reported. Employees were asked to leave their mobile devices at the front desk before going home.
"Googlers reported blissful, stressless evenings," Bock said. "Similarly, nudging [employees] to ignore off-hour emails and use all their vacation days might improve well-being over time. The long-term nature of these questions suggests that the real value of gDNA will take years to realize."
While Google does not know what they will find as gDNA continues, the company looks to discover more about engagement in work and how help their employees, The Verge reported. Bock said he would like to find the qualities that make a great team and the ways a company can keep its employees engaged over time.
