Many businesses claim to be family-friendly, but Google takes the concept literally. Walk into any of its offices and you’re likely to see children playing with Lego sets or eating with their parents in the staff canteen.

“I went to our Zurich office the other day and the first thing I noticed at the entrance was five prams,” says Liane Hornsey, director of HR in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “It’s been a Google approach from day one that we are completely supportive of people having families and in all of our offices you will often find children of various ages. It isn’t even noticed, and they are welcome in the staff canteens. It’s not unheard of for people to go home at the end of the day, get their kids and bring them back for dinner.”

Word is getting around that Google is a great place to work: globally, the company fields 1,300 applications a day. “There’s genuinely a belief from the founders that your working life takes up a lot of your time and it’s only right and fair that people have the opportunity for work-life balance,” Hornsey says. In a Google office you’re likely to come across employees playing Connect Four or ping pong. And they don’t have to wear suits: “People are encouraged to reflect their individuality.”

The perks of working at Google range from free food to subsidised gym membership and time off for environmental projects or charity work. It sounds more a way of life than a job, and it’s a wonder that anyone ever leaves the company. “Our attrition rate is very low and I’m hugely proud of that,” Hornsey says.

“Our employees say it’s just a fun place to work where they can have their say. The most important premise is that anybody can have a great idea and anybody can run with that idea.” Fun is a word that comes up time and time again when talking to Googlers. This year, the company gave free bicycles to its staff – mainly for environmental reasons, but Maxine Kohn, head of internal communications, jokes that it was “possibly to counter all the fantastic food and drink”.

“We let people come up with ideas for what would make a great benefit,” Kohn says. “A couple of people in London came up with the idea of meditation and Pilates, so we introduced that. We offer all the usual benefits, but the icing on the cake is responding to what people ask for.”

Stephanie Hannon, a product manager, joined Google in the US three years ago. She is just back from four days “locked in a conference room” in the Swiss mountains with 20 colleagues. While many people would balk at the such an idea, these Googlers enjoyed it so much that they’re planning to go again. “We came up with 15 new ideas,” Hannon says. “We all felt it was something really special.”

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