SAS is an innovative company that many companies could learn from. They take treating their employee’s life family to a different level and their CEO has the deep desire to ensure they keep coming back day after day. With a human resource department that does everything except monitor employees, they are able to provide a fairly stress-free environment which keeps employees and Dr. Jim Goodnight happy. SAS began in 1976 due to a need for a computerized statistics program to analyze vast amounts of agricultural data collected through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants. SAS was created by North Carolina State University faculty members Jim Goodnight, Jim Barr, John Sall, and Jane Helwig (About SAS, n.d.). While it was …show more content…
In fact, in 2009 when many competitors were announcing massive layoffs, Goodnight reassured his employees that if they simply cut back on spending and ride out the storm that no one would lose their jobs. This allowed production to return to normal as there was no more chatter over the worry of a job loss. In fact, Goodnight was even willing to let his 33-year track record of increased profits come to an end, if it meant his employees would not lose their jobs (Crowley, 2013). By placing his employees above any profit loss, he was able to execute the company’s strategic management plan: ensuring his employees were happy. At SAS, “People work hard, because they’re motivated to take care of a company that takes care of them,” according to Bev Brown an external communications employee (Kaplan, 2010). By taking care of his employees Goodnight demonstrated the type of leader he was, even during hard financial times. He was unwilling to allow his employees to be let go and sacrificed his chances at making a profit. This helped his employees to see that he was just as loyal to his company as he was to his employees and that his employees would always matter before money, showing where his ethics and values …show more content…
However, their CEO is quick to allow others to know it would not be possible without his 14,000 employees (About SAS, n.d.). By providing many everyday essentials to his employees at little to no cost, SAS is one of the best companies to work for to date. Goodnight, shows that his mission statement, while simple, works simply by looking at their annual revenue, which easily tops one billion dollars on average. SAS is a company many others could learn from. They take the desire to keep their employees happy to a new level and are willing to ensure they stay happy regardless of economic times. Goodnight sets an example that other CEO’s should aspire to