You may not realize it, but there are communications lessons within The Wizard of Oz!
All along, Dorothy’s companions had within themselves the precise qualities they sought – brains, heart and courage – but they didn’t realize it. It took the Wizard thrusting them into a situation (tasking them with stealing the witch’s broom) where they were forced to demonstrate those qualities. Even then, the Wizard had to spell it out for them before they recognized their true selves. Meanwhile, Glinda the Good Witch had to help Dorothy find her inner power to go home.
SAS’ employee population includes some of the brightest minds in the industry, and we’ve always known they’d have a lot to say if they believed in themselves as communicators. Clearly, we don’t thrust employees into perilous situations; but, we do try to foster self-confidence by giving them unfettered opportunities to discover and use their voice. We encourage active participation in social channels, both internal and external, and we trust our employees to represent the SAS brand.
Internally, employees are free to comment, without mediation, on any articles published on the intranet as well as during live webcasts - including our CEO’s live quarterly updates. Each employee has an opportunity to blog internally we have an internal social platform – the Hub – on which employees can discuss virtually any topic.
Externally, many employees are active bloggers and all employees are encouraged to engage in conversations about the company and its products -- even during working hours -- on channels such as blogs, social networks and SAS user forums. All we ask is that employees keep in mind that their comments reflect on the company and that they follow a set of fairly non-restrictive social media guidelines.
Employees feel trusted and appreciated; internal collaboration is at an all-time high; and a growing number of employees is carrying the SAS message to external audiences.
So when it comes to employees having the opportunity and freedom to discover their inner communicators, there’s no place like SAS; there’s no place like SAS.
2 Comments
I love the analogy (TWOO is also one of my favorite movies). I am positive that the open environment at SAS and our freedom of expression has helped us become what we are - the best place to work.
Very enjoyable post, Karen. Thanks for writing it!