SAS recognized as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces™ in 2019

Areas of strength were trust and wellbeing initiatives

SAS, the leader in analytics, is one of the best places in the UK to work, according to the latest ranking published by Great Place to Work^® (GPTW). SAS was recognized in this year's survey along with 127 other UK organizations. It achieved a position of #13 in the ‘large company’ category, and is the third consecutive year that SAS has achieved this honor.

SAS works hard to promote an atmosphere of creativity and value, so that employees feel empowered and strive to find the right answers for customers. CEO Jim Goodnight believes that the company’s attitude can be summed up in the maxim ‘treat employees like they make a difference, and they will’.

The company deliberately invests in building not only attentive and engaging management, but also an inspiring work environment, so that employees feel equipped to give their best every day. It has a dedicated Employee Engagement Team called ‘Be the Best’ – this is made up of teams of employees and continually re-evaluates how the company is communicating with, listening to and involving employees to ensure that the company is a positive and switched-on place to work.

More than eight in 10 (82 per cent) of our employees surveyed as part of the GPTW ranking agreed SAS is ‘a great place to work’. Areas of strength for the company were its scores for Trust, Wellbeing, Line Management, Corporate Social Responsibility and Engagement. 

As well as faring particularly well against the competition by achieving an overall Trust index of 81 per cent, SAS received an excellence award for its wellbeing initiatives. These include an Employee Assistance program which offers support to cover a multitude of personal and work issues that might arise, a Proactive Health Gateway and services to support Mental Wellness.

“We’re delighted to have been included in the GPTW ranking once again,” said Charles Senabulya, VP & Country Manager, SAS UK & Ireland. “This validates the strength of our leadership, the input and commitment from our employees through our employee voice group and the range of innovative, creative and effective HR policies we have, which creates our successful workplace culture. We’re always looking to improve our employee experience and make sure that we’re effectively listening to our people. We will continue to work together to maintain and improve our reputation as a ‘great place to work’.”

This is the third time that SAS has been selected for the UK’s Best Workplaces™ ranking, being recognized by its employees as an organization that promotes trust, pride and camaraderie. The opinion of employees is key: the survey that employees answer (the Trust Index©) represents two-thirds of the final score required to enter the ranking. The remaining third of the score is based on GPTW’s Culture Audit©, a business-driven audit document used to understand and evaluate the organization’s HR and leadership practices, policies and culture.

SAS has also just been recognized as one of the top workplaces in Europe according to GPTW, being ranked at number nine. It ranked on numerous top workplaces lists across Europe, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands. In addition to recently being named a top workplace in Asia, SAS was also a World’s Best Workplace.

Great Place to Work (GPTW) is an international organization with offices in 48 countries. It uses a standard assessment to determine the best workplaces in each of those countries, as well as regional and global lists. It is best known for producing the Fortune 100 list of Best Companies to Work For in the United States, a list which SAS has topped. SAS is regularly included among the GPTW's Best Workplaces for countries around the world.

About Great Place to Work^®

Great Place to Work^® UK is a consultancy specialising in workplace culture, helping organisations to create exceptional, high performing workplaces where employees feel trusted and valued. We help employers improve recruitment, retention and productivity by putting employees at the heart of the organisation, analysing what they think and feel and identifying the real issues that need to be addressed.

Part of a global organisation, we apply data and insights from approximately 10,000 organisations across the world to benchmark individual performance and advise employers on how to continuously improve employee engagement and wellbeing and so help build and sustain business performance. We run the Best WorkplacesTM awards to enable the organisations we work with celebrate their achievements, build their employer brand and inspire others to take action.