Case Study: SAS Institute
In November of 2012, SAS, a multinational analytics software company based in Cary, North Carolina, was named "the world's best multinational workplace" (Crowley, 2013). How does a company achieve such a high level of success in such a competitive and high-stress marketplace like information technology? Keeping employees satisfied and motivated is something that SAS has apparently mastered. Of paramount importance to organizational success and effectiveness is maintaining a high level of employee satisfaction and motivation. This focus on employees ensures that the organization will attain its preset goals and objectives. SAS uses both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to achieve the highest level of results from their employees. SAS's productivity and profitability can be directly correlated to its successful motivation of its workers.

Happy v. Unhappy
According to Crowley (2013), there has been a lengthy discussion of whether “happy” workers are more productive and engaged that their “unhappy” compatriots. Furthermore, the question of whether or not a company reaps benefits from programs and practices that enhance or increase employee motivation and satisfaction as well as organizational effectiveness and profitability between these happy and unhappy companies is also part of this debate.
SAS has proven that there should not be a debate.
They have “irrefutable proof” that successful companies must invest in their employee’s motivation. SAS has had 37 consecutive years of record earnings, $2.8 billion in 2012 (Crowley, 2013) and $3.02 billion in 2013 (Ranii, 2014). A long-term commitment between employee and company has paid off for SAS. In a New York Times Magazine article written by Adrian Wooldridge on the issue of loyalty in a virtual age, Stanford University's Jeffrey Pfeffer stated, "the company says that people will have three or four careers during their working lives and it hopes all will be at SAS." He continues to say that SAS’s low turnover rate creates a stable workforce which in turn supports a 98 percent customer retention rate.
There are very few “revolving door” organizations that could hope for those type of customer retention numbers according to Cohen and Prusak (2001). Cohen and Prusak (2001) continue to explain that SAS achieves this high level of employee commitment by establishing a culture of trust (intrinsic), generous benefits (extrinsic), and a recognition of the importance of people’s personal lives.
Motivators
So how do they do it year in and year out? SAS believes that there employees should be engaged and interested in the work they are doing. They also feel that their employees need to feel as if they are making meaningful contributions towards the company's goals (George & Jones, 2012). An example of this is in the case study itself. SAS, instead of buying up software companies around the world to expand into new markets, they develop new products internally, which they believe benefits the organization by creating opportunities within the company for employees to be creative. This ability to develop new products for the company given employees the "thrill" of success in the development of these new products.

Furthermore, SAS has developed a practice of allowing employees to move between departments and divisions within the organization, even if further training is required, so that employees continue to grow and "don't get bored" and stagnate in one place (George & Jones, 2012). Personally, I feel that this practice of encouraging employees to experience and move around to other jobs, creates an environment that breeds creativity and allows employees the opportunity to grow and develop. Not only do employees thrive in SAS's positive work environment, but turnover and tenure at SAS is unprecedented. According to PayScale's recent employee turnover report, the employee turnover rate among Fortune 500 companies in the IT industry is the highest among all industries surveyed. But not at SAS. Here employee turnover is less than 2 percent and employee tenure at SAS is over ten years; Google can't even compete with that (1.1 years). This incredibly low turnover rate has been estimated to save SAS over $85 million a year in recruitment and training costs (“Doing Well By Being Rather Nice”, 2007).
SAS has employed a series of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational practices to to maintain a steady, reliable, creative and satisfied workforce. SAS's use of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators is well documented. SAS enacts a few very key benefits for its employees including a health center, day care, employer-funded retirement, bonuses, task autonomy, and a touted health care plan. Combine these factors with the personal contact initiated by the upper management with their front line employees and it results in a family-like work environment where everyone has pride in their personal accomplishments and in turn the achievements of the company as a whole. On their website SAS states "If you treat employees as if they make a difference to the company, they will make a difference to the company." In a world of corporate bonuses for CEO's and Senior Managers, SAS's leadership does the opposite. SAS's CEO and majority stockholder, Jim Goodnight, could theoretically pay himself huge dividends and bonuses and put them directly into his personal bank accounts, but he chooses not to. By not taking advantage of his position, he has proven to his employees through his actions that he truly cares about the employees and the company as a whole.

Substantial intrinsic motivation is gained by giving employees task autonomy. SAS doesn’t just say that they do this they have proven it by giving each and every employee their own office. According to Goodnight (“Doing Well By Being Rather Nice”, 2007) “You are so much more productive in your own office than when you are being distracted by the people either side.” This belief stems from his time in an open office format during the Apollo space project (“Doing Well By Being Rather Nice”, 2007). SAS allows employees to motivate themselves; they provide the tools to do so. Extrinsically, SAS has motivated its employees even in times of economic downturn. Goodnight has said in the past "…SAS will have no layoffs. Too many companies worldwide sacrificed employees and benefits to cut costs…SAS took the opposite stance, and we have been rewarded in employee loyalty and overall success of the business. Maintaining this position throughout the downturn puts us in the best position to meet the expected market upturn." (“Doing Well By Being Rather Nice”, 2007).
The company has provided many examples of extrinsic motivation for successful companies to emulate. SAS's campus in Cary, North Carolina, is also a reason employees work so hard. Offices on the campus are adorned by over 5000 pieces of art, and outdoor spaces have sculptures placed about. Additionally, when Goodnight founded SAS in 1976 he had come from the University of North Carolina, he hated having to pay for a cup of coffee, so at the SAS campus snacks are free and the campus cafés are subsidized by the organization (“Doing Well By Being Rather Nice”, 2007). The SAS campus also offers sports facilities, subsidized child-care and early education programs, its own primary health-care center, which is free to all employees.
Conclusion
While diving into the countless pages of information on how SAS is so successful and how well they treat their employees, I came across a very interesting blog. In it the author, R.L. Burns, uses an interesting analogy to summarize the success of SAS:
"SAS can be compared further to a heaping plate of Thanksgiving dishes. The turkey, the real substance, comes from the private ownership since the company's inception. The turkey is the reason for the holiday, just as the private ownership provides the means for SAS's unique existence. On the side as the dressing is the CEO Goodnight, who must be stuffed in the bird to taste right, and you couldn't wholly separate one from the other, ever. And also symbolizes the reinvestment of revenue into the company. You got mashed potatoes representing the company's product which in the marketplace is not entirely unique, but for every person there is really one style they like the best, and SAS makes some pretty tasty mashed potatoes. Then you have the tangy cranberry sauce, representing the human resources practices, and since cranberry sauce must be eaten with every bite on the plate it is the glue that ties the dish together, and gives the cook (SAS) another opportunity for uniqueness. Finally, of course, you have the gravy, all the perks, and at SAS that plate is smothered gravy. Conclusively it all sounds really tasty, and also like something one could eat repeatedly."(Burns, 2008)

References
Burns, R.L. (2008, October 16). SAS Institute – More than Gravy [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://beckyleighburns.blogspot.com/2008/10/sas-institute-more-than-gravy.html
Cohen, D.J., & Prusak, L. (2001, January). In good company: how social capital makes organizations work. Ubiquity, 2001(3),. Retrieved from http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=358979
Crowley, M.C. (2013). How SAS became the world's best place to work. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3004953/how-sas-became-worlds-best-place-work
Doing well by being rather nice. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.financialexpress.com/news/doing-well-by-being-rather-nice/247090/0
George, J.M., & Jones, G.R. (2012). Understanding and managing organizational behavior (6th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix Collection database.
Ranii, D. (2014). SAS revenue topped $3 billion in 2013. Retrieved from http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/23/3555436/sas-revenue-topped-3-billion-in.html
Tech companies have highest turnover rate. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career-management/tech-companies-have-highest-turnover-rate/
Wooldridge, A. (2000, March 5). Come back, company man!. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/05/magazine/come-back-company-man.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1