If you are a citizen of a western industrialized country and were born in the 1970s, you probably grew up in a multicultural society. Personally, I come from such a society and I was always extremely excited about meeting people with different cultural backgrounds. My classmates and friends came from all over the world and it was a gift to grow up with so many different influences.

Today, I work for a fantastic company that was “born” in the 1970s, too! Working at SAS has opened up a new dimension of diversity experiences for me. My colleagues, teams and virtual teams work together closely all around the globe. Every day, we discover similarities – both related to our work and personal lives - and we learn (together!) to benefit from cross-cultural differences.

As a leading analytics software vendor, SAS works hard to assure employee-friendly workplaces all around the world – and focuses on making each office culture and experience relevant for each respective regions and culture.

In Europe, for example, many of our offices are located in historic buildings that have been updated with state-of-the-art technology and modern café options with excellent cooks and chefs. Here in the DACH region, the HR department is a real part of employee's everyday life and a trusted partner. Every employee receives annual coaching, training and feedback. We also have great traditions, including an annual ski trip and an annual dragon boat race.

One result of these benefits is that every employee in our office is eager to be involved in the localized employer branding efforts to introduce our region to SAS and to represent the brand to customers authentically.

The company founders knew – right from the beginning – that having happy employees is the best way to keep customers happy. This is a tried and true philosophy that has worked for SAS for nearly 40 years, and one that works around the globe.

Every colleague I know is very proud to be a part of SAS – myself included. Annual top placements on the global, continental and local workplace-rankings underline that this is something we all have in common. From a regional perspective it is also great to be a well-known “best place to work” because it facilitates the filling of jobs with people who like, and live, the core values of our company.

It is just great to be a part of it – also because it is a never-ending journey of new, multi-national experiences.

Read about our latest great place to work award.