Fast Company Article, January 1999

Sanity Inc.

Looking for a great place to work?

In the article "Sanity Inc." by Charles Fishman, he describes a company that seems to have found the secret to getting their employees to work hard and creating a workplace where loyalty matters more than money.

The article went on to tell how Jim Goodnight  owner of SAS - has created a "kingdom" where employees are "happy, productive and well rounded" and they are loyal to the "king", who is the model of a benevolent leader. The old theory of "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is" was the first thing that crossed my mind. But as I read the article it was pretty easy to be convinced that working for SAS would be a dream come true. On site daycarelive music in the cafeteriaunlimited soda, coffee, and juiceone week paid vacation between Christmas and New Yearsan on-site gym where they wash your work-out clothesunlimited sick daysseven hour work dayson-site health carecasual dress every day (except in client contact situations)on-site massages several times a weekand to top it all off every Wednesday hundreds of pounds of M&Ms are delivered to all the employees! All of this at no charge to the employee  where do I get an application???!!!!!

It was interesting to read this article, as SAS was one of the companies that was referred to in the article titled "Danger: Toxic Company" (November 1998 Fast Company). The article used SAS as an example of a company that was not toxic with its almost unheard of voluntary turnover rate of only 3%. That article went on to say that if you treat people right, they will stay and in the long run it will save the company money. So how much does SAS save by "treating people right"? The article stated that two independent firms had estimated that a typical software company of SASs size loses about 1,000 employees per year. Because of the low turnover rate at SAS  only about 130 employees leave  this translates into almost 900 employees each year that SAS does not have to replace. 900 employees that they dont have to recruit, fly in for interviews, move across the country, etc. This translates in to an estimated savings of $67.5 million a year or approximately $12,500 they can spend per employee on benefits  to keep them! David Russo, SASs head of human resources says that there is no way he "could spend all the money that we save."

The article dubs SAS as possibly the "worlds sanest company". Employees describe the work atmosphere as "relaxed". A place where theres a sense of balance on how to mix work and family. A place were what you accomplish is more important than how you appear. A place where employees have taken a cut in pay when joining the company because they believe it is better to "be happy than to have a little more money".

"King Goodnight" explains his business value  "I believe that a persons surroundings have a lot to do with how a person feels. We try to have nice surroundings here." Russo goes on to explain that the strategy is to "make it impossible for people not to do their work""  by making sure their other needs are taken care of so they can focus.

It was interesting to read that women drove the history of the companys benefits plan. The company realized that they would loose women employees who were two or three years in to their careers  at the top of their talent curve  if they did not provide daycare so they could return to work. Because the company was small at that point, they realized that they could not afford to loose experienced employees and start from scratch again, so they started a day care for 4 or 5 kids that now serves over 500.

Of course, there is always the critic that says that SAS is too family-friendly  "Its hard to eat lunch without stepping on a rug-rat". Some suggest that the mood of cheeriness and contentment could almost become grating. The skeptics and sneering outsiders have sometimes questioned  "You may not owe your salary to the company store, but what about your soul?" Well, I still think it sounds like a company that I would like to work at  if I could only convince my husband to move the farm!

So, how does Extension stack up? Well, I havent seen any of those "M&Ms" coming from the University, but several of my co-workers in the 4-H program area have realized the value of chocolate as a motivational tool! In all seriousness, I do think the University is trying to provide an environment where we do have some benefits that will "keep us here" but unfortunately, when you work for the "University" and live in the "County" the benefits become more of a sore spot than a benefit.

Take the following examples:  The University does not have a dress code with the exception that they expect you to dress appropriately and accordingly. The county on the other hand, has a strict dress code that we must follow because we are in the "county setting".  The University does not have strict guidelines on the office hours we keep  they know that we have lots of evening and weekend hours and allow us flexibility in the hours we set for ourselves  just as long as the job gets done. The county on the other hand has regular hours and the expectation by others in the court house is that we should be there from 8 AM to 4:30 PM even though they werent at the front door biding us a good night when we were at the office until 10 PM the night before!  The University has many benefits that are available if you live in the Metro area, but for those of us in greater MN, they just arent available  the free Internet access at home, health plans available only in "large cities", use of University vehicles and equipment, access to campus facilities and events, etc.  The University also allows us 22 days of vacation, which sounds great, but when we are gone, the work just waits for us to get back. So after a few years, you realize that you have to do double duty before you leave and after you come back, so you start asking yourself - is my vacation really a vacation?

Obviously there are lots of reasons that I have stayed for 12 years  flexibility, designing my own programs, the great kids and adults I get to work with, etc. But, it would be great if there was a way to level the benefits for all employees regardless of where you live or the office/county you work. Although I would love to see the benefits that SAS offers available to us in Extension, it would be very difficult to have the benefits "fair" because we are spread out over the state.

In discussing this article with a coworker, he commented that benefits can often be almost as important as salary in deciding where to work, and that if benefits could be "standardized" for all university employees it would be great. A friend of mine is in a job where she has stated more than once that she stays for the benefits and after hearing about the benefits at SAS, she could see why their turnover rate was so low  why would any one not want to work there!?!

-- Anonymous, February 04, 1999