Sas institute

CASE STUDY:
SAS INSTITUTE
“We’re a 28-year-old company with employees reaching new milestones, including 20-year
anniversaries and eventually 30-year anniversaries and retirement, so we’re tryingto be
proactive in finding the best ways to reward our employees.” says Jack Poll, director of
recreation and fitness division of SAS Institute, a national software company that consistently
placesin the top 20 of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”.
SAS Institute is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina (just outside of Raleigh). Established
in 1976, SAS Institute has longbeen a pioneer in employee-friendly perks, including Friday
Breakfast Goodies, Wednesday M&Ms, Fresh Fruit on Mondays, break rooms stocked with
complimentary drinks and snacks, and seasonal partiesthroughout the year. The software leader
now boasts a customer list that includes American Honda, The Home Depot® and Staples
employing 10,000 worldwide in offices from Anguilla to Yemen.
ThinkingAhead to Celebrate Every Employee Milestone
As the growing company searched for ways to reward their 5,000 US employees, the idea of
using gift certificates and gift cards seemed to be the best fitbecause it allowed the rewarded
employee to select their own gift. The problem with single store gift certificates was that not
everyone is happy with the available selections. “We were rewardingemployees with gift
certificates to local restaurants and stores,” says Jack Poll. “Our CEO even wanted to give
airline tickets to retiring employees, but what if the retiree didn’t want to travel orbuy from that
store we selected for them? We wanted to give our employees something that they really wanted
to make the gift more meaningful. Our employees vary so much in age and lifestyles, weneeded
a more flexible gift certificate program.”
Award-Winning, Employee-Friendly Company Selects Hallmark Insights
After a long search for the right incentive solution, Poll found Hallmark...