Case 4472
Case 4472
Yes. Because they are the common benefits for all employees in any
work/jobs. But depend on each country and job, we can add more
benefits or advantage to improve satisfaction.
3, If a company is unable to provide the benefits that SAS does, in
what other ways might a firm create positive work attitudes?
4, What risks could be associated with giving workplace surveys, as
was done at SAS?
SASInstitutereliesheavilyonemployeeinputthroughitsannualemployeesatisfactionsurvey.Mostofthe
questionsseektogaugetheoverallworkenvironmentatSASInstitute,andonlyafewareworklife
specific.Resultsofthesurveyarepostedforseveralweeksonthecompanysintranet,andeachyearkey
areasareidentifiedforimprovement.
I do not think that this is a "big brother approach" at all; at the end, it
is just a way to achieve a better business result. The top management
prefers to spend money on the employees rather than spending money
on recruiters to find new employees, and this is why the organization is
following this employee politics. The retention program expenses are
more than justified by the overall cost savings, and so it is not
paternalism, but smart business in place.
2. When, if ever, do family-friendly practices become too paternalistic?
Family-friendly practices are just a different approach to strengthen the
link between the employees and the company; there is not any
evidence of relationship between this kind of approach and a
paternalistic behavior. This is especially true if the big part of the
company value is the workforce's expertise. In a software developing
company like SAS Institute, intellectual capital is its number one asset
and, without it, SAS would not be enjoying its current sales; therefore,
it is understandable from the management point of view, the effort to
keep the employees as close as they can to their expectations, making
leaving the company difficult for them.
3. What negatives, if any, would you find working for SAS?
I do not see any specific negative aspect working for this organization.
I think it depends a lot on the expectation a person has about work and
lifestyle.
4. Are progressive HR practices such as those at SAS a cause or result
of
high
profits?
Discuss.
I think that focused HR practices have been the cause of high profits in
the past, but right now are the results of them. Marketing studies on
the company's organization have brought the evidence of how
important the Human Resources department in the development of a
healthy and effective company is. The results of these successful
organizations are the demonstration that, to reach high profits with a
company, the role played by the HR department is indispensable. This
has become more evident since the managers understood the
importance of the human factor in the company's performance: this is
the motivation to the organizational behavior concept.
5. Microsoft is an unbelievably successful software company. But no
one would ever call its culture relaxed. It is frantic. Employees regularly
put in 12, 14-hour days, six and seven days a week. How does
Microsoft keep people? Do you think SAS and Microsoft attract different
types of employees? Explain.
I think that not all the people are attracted by the same benefits, and
actually it depends on the employee's specific personality and work
expectations. It is like the difference between aggressive investors who