CNet.com carried a piece called “Gwyneth, the Grateful Dead and Google” which described some unusual aspects of Google’s work culture :

Google, though, is living like the meltdown never happened. Revenue could hit a billion dollars this year, according to some estimates, and the company has quickly established itself as a worldwide cultural phenomenon…To get around, several employees ride Segway scooters or Green Machines, a 21st century version of the Big Wheel designed for 11-year-olds. Pilates exercise balls and bowls of M&M’s are scattered about. The lobby entrance is decorated with a few hundred lava lamps. “This is like day care,” one employee spouse who took the tour said. As for health benefits, on-site dentistry and on-site physicians are available. Employees on parental leave get 75 percent of their salary and, for the first two weeks after the baby is born, $50 a day to spend at Waiters on Wheels.

On a related note, Fortune also profiled SAS as one of the best places to work for. According to an SAS press release :

SAS, the world’s largest privately held software company, once again holds a spot on FORTUNE magazine’s annual list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. SAS ranks No. 19 this year; the company has placed among the top 20 companies all six years the list has been published.

As this presentation will show, SAS works on the philosophy that “Workplace should be fun and all people should be treated with dignity and respect.” What a wonderful (and uncommon) concept, don’t you agree?!

As a result of this approach, employees at SAS enjoy some enviable benefits : 22.5 tons of M&Ms and a 7500 sq. ft. medical facility, being just two. An on-site day care center allows employees with kids to have lunch with their children. The campus also boasts of an ultra-modern gym, on-site dry cleaning and car wash, and multi-cuisine cafeterias.

And it doesn’t hurt business either. Revenues were $1.13 billion (as in 2001), and for the company’s mainstay – software licences and upgrades – License renewal rate is 98%! SAS’s sales force does not receive commission, as “money is not a good motivator”. Instead, the firm believes in giving people interesting work to do, and treating them like responsible adults. It must work, because estimated savings of SAS in turnover/year itself amount to $50-$100 million.

Makes you re-think your idea of Camelot, doesn’t it?