Glassdoor, the employee-survey company, rolled out its annual rankings of the top 100 big and 100 small/medium company CEOs last night. It’s wonderful PR fodder for companies, unless of course you’re Facebook, where the ranking spawned an online feeding frenzy, with headlines proclaiming that Mark Zuckerberg “plummeted” (AdWeek) despite the fact that he’s still got a 94% rating and he’s 55 out of 100.
More interesting for readers of this publication: discovering what all these amazing CEOs have in common, unleashing their secrets for cultivating culture and values that propel employees to gush with reviews like: “Great leaders, awesome culture.”
So we did an analysis (otherwise known a mind-numbing cut and paste into Excel) of the top positive terms used by employees at the big companies with top Glassdoor CEOs companies.
The results? (Are you ready for this?!?) Employees who reviewed these top CEOs say life-work balance, good benefits, good pay and good people are the top reasons why they like those companies.
Stunning, right? Ok, so maybe not so much. But it is worth noticing how important life-work balance is—mentioned more than 2x any other term (used 15,100 times) as one of the top reasons why employees like the company they work for. Contrast that with terms like “Opportunities for Growth” (just 118 uses, sadly).
After two hours of digging through all this stuff, there were a few other, far less useful—but entertaining—tidbits to be culled from the data, including:
• Employees at two companies listed “smart people” as one of their top reasons for liking their company versus “great people” at eight companies (scratches head).
• At one company, “Wine” was one of the top terms. Sadly, the company was Gallo. (Yeah, I was disappointed, too.)
• Under Hubert Joly, Best Buy has completed one of the most incredible turnarounds in modern retailing, and he’s #10 on Glassdoor’s list. What do employees value most? “Employee discount” (used 1994 times) and “Great discount” (884 times).
Finally, a Quiz: “Free Food” was one of the top terms at three well-known U.S. companies, all with prominent, high-profile CEOs. Can you name them?
Those would be Chick-fil-a, Bloomberg and, wait for it…
Facebook.
Chief Executive Group exists to improve the performance of U.S. CEOs, senior executives and public-company directors, helping you grow your companies, build your communities and strengthen society. Learn more at chiefexecutivegroup.com.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
