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SAS Institute is the huge software company many have never heard of. Since opening its doors in 1976, the company has been privately held and infrequently in the news. Employee turnover is amongst the lowest in the industry and perks go far beyond the free M&Ms found throughout corporate headquarters. James Goodnight, president and CEO of SAS, recently spoke with Computer World Canada staff writer Chris Conrath at the company's Cary, N.C., office about keeping employees happy and the much-talked-about IPO.
CWC: Why is SAS launching an IPO?
Goodnight: The main reason is to share a little of the wealth with the employees. We also want to have stock options to use to make sure our retention stays as high as it is right now. We want to mainly be able to use those as leverage to make sure people don't leave. We have lost a few to some of the start-ups, our turnover is still around four per cent...which is very good. We have lost a few in sales and marketing and the sales people are the ones who are really pushing for [the IPO] ... I think it is sort of a double-edged sword because I think some of the people you can attract with stock options are probably not the kind of people you really want.
The second reason we are going public is actually to get more public. We are in a growth mode right now. We believe we can ratchet up our growth rate from 17 to about 20 per cent. The additional press coverage that we get by going public, by having quarterly reports, by being in the news more often, will certainly help.
CWC: Have you decided how much you will offer, if this is a one-time offering and when it will occur?
Goodnight: Well, we'll probably offer about 10 per cent. I am telling...