Simon Says, "Be Like SAS" - Fortune 100 Companies

Simon Says, "Be Like SAS" - Fortune 100 Companies

By Audra Lehnert

If employee recognition could be converted into a children’s game it would be most like Simon Says, and we’d all want Simon to say, “Be like SAS!”

In February, Fortune Magazine listed the top 100 companies to work for in the United States. These organizations are set apart, based on the fabulous perks they give to their employees and their stellar financial performance. Let’s take a moment to learn from the best of the best, SAS, the company named number one as the top place to work in 2010.

SAS has been one of the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For throughout the past 13 years. A $2.3 billion dollar privately-held company, this software giant is the ideal model of employee recognition and appreciation. Even Google used SAS as a model for its prominent employee-centric culture.

Today employees enjoy perks such as an onsite health center with services provided at no cost to the employee, an onsite salon and massage therapist, M&M’s on Wednesdays, Krispy Kremes on Fridays, an onsite cafeteria, onsite childcare and summer camps, dry cleaning, car detailing, a book exchange, a meditation garden, and the list goes on…

You might think that, with all this fun, SAS employees don’t work hard. They disagree by saying that they want to take care of the company that takes care of them. You may also think that the salaries must be through the roof. On the contrary, SAS isn’t known for paying the highest salaries in the field, and there are no stock options.

What we can learn from SAS is that recognizing employees by offering them flexibility and meaningful recognition fosters loyalty, hard work, and profitability. Recognition provides a solid foundation for business growth. The values set forth by CEO Jim Goodnight “produce constancy and continuity and commitment; the boom-and-bust cycle is a foreign concept at SAS. SAS employees are in it for the long haul. The average tenure…is 10 years; 300 employees have worked 25 years or more. Annual turnover is 2%, compared to the average…of about 22 percent.”

Also, establishing this type of culture works best when it comes from the top down. Very early on, when Goodnight had only seven employees, he figured that taking care of employees “…just made good sense. Contented cows give more milk,” he continues, “My chief assets drive out the gate every day. My job is to make sure they come back.”

SAS is definitely doing things right! Now let’s get back to that game of Simon Says - if you want to do as Simon says and be like SAS start by creating a set of values to define the corporate culture. Set objectives to add more structure to the recognition program and then start rewarding employees. Rewards can come in all shapes and sizes. Pomp and Circumstance are certainly not required, but, thoughtful words and heartfelt appreciation are a necessity!

Remember that business is better when employees are recognized. Employers typically see an increase in employee morale, employee engagement, and employee commitment. Absenteeism and tardiness also decrease.
For more information and resources about starting a recognition program, login to our website.

Sources:
Heathfield, S. (2010, February). Advantages and Disadvantages of Flexible Work Schedules?, About.com. http://humanresources.about.com/od/employeebenefits/f/flex_schedules.htm
Author (February 8, 2010). The Best Company to Work For. Fortune, 2010, 57-82.

Note that this article is not a paid endorsement or a commercial advertisement. Besides being a timely idea you may want to use in your own business, this blog post is simply an example of how thinking outside the box is what will ultimately enable the strong to survive. Maybe I’ll even win an award!