The 9 most popular CEOs in America
In the annals of Corporate America, many chief executive officers have become household names, thanks to notoriety, excessive pay or even personal charm. But what about those leaders who simply excel at their jobs?
Some of them, according to a new survey from employment site Glassdoor, are well known corporate celebrities, while most Americans have never heard of others. The common thread, however, is that their employees feel their CEOs are accessible, dedicated and convey a clear mission to the rank and file, Glassdoor CEO and founder Robert Hohman said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
"What really stands out, according to employees, is that these CEOs have a very clear vision of where their company is heading, they communicate their vision to employees, including how all employees will play an integral role in meeting company goals," Hohman wrote.
While some of the CEOs that made the list are household names, fame doesn't always equate to company growth or success, Hohman added. "What matters most is a CEO who is a strong leader, transparent, communicative and leads with integrity. If all of this happens, a company stands a better chance at being successful, and the CEO is more likely to engage employees and motivate them," he noted.
This year's list of America's highest rated CEOs has one notable omission: Not a single woman CEO made the list.
That's likely due to the very low percentage of women CEOs in general, Hohman said. Only 4.6 percent of women hold the CEO post at S&P 500 companies, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in business.
Several women who are CEOs have very high ratings, such as General Motors' (GM) Mary Barra (who has an 86 percent approval rating), although their numbers weren't high enough to score a place on the list.
Is there a link between a highly rated CEO and a company's bottom line? To some extent, yes. Hohman points out that a "ripple effect" takes place, helping a company retain employees and increase engagement and productivity.
Read on to learn about America's nine highest-rated CEOs.
9. Glenn Johnson, Insight Global
Insight Global, one of the fastest-growing information-technology employment firms, has expanded to 41 offices since it was founded in 2001. Each year, it fills more than 20,000 jobs at Fortune 1000 corporations.
The privately held company has had a steady rate of expansion as CEO Glenn Johnson opened new offices in major cities, such as San Antonio and San Diego, during the past several years. In an interview with AccountStaff in 2008, Johnson said his company's high employee retention rate came from creating a career path for workers and providing training. Johnson has a 94 percent approval rate from his employees, according to Glassdoor.
"There are 100 little things that make us special, that help us grow," Johnson said. "Every one of those things adds up to a whole and makes us successful."
8. John E. Schlifske, Northwestern Mutual
With roots in the 19th century, Northwestern Mutual is now the largest direct provider of individual life insurance in the U.S. The company has earned kudos for customer satisfaction, with Fortune magazine ranking it among the most admired life insurance companies.
Its CEO, John E. Schlifske, also earns high ratings from his employees, according to Glassdoor, with a 95 percent approval rating. Schlifske joined Northwestern Mutual in 1987 as an investment specialist, eventually shifting to different business roles within the company.
In an interview with Leaders magazine in 2013, Schlifske said an effective leader sets a vision and gets workers to buy into the plan.
"A CEO has to do two or three things really well. For starters, it's having a vision, setting a course of action, and getting everyone to collaborate and work towards that," he said. "It's seeing where we need to be four to six years out in order to be just as relevant as we are now. We call it creating the future, because it's not just seeing where we need to go -- it's creating the environment to get us there."
7. Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs (GS) may be one of the financial companies that Americans love to hate, prompting Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi to describe the firm as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."
Regardless of what the public thinks of Goldman Sachs, its employees are big fans of their CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, who has a 95 percent approval rating with his workers.
Blankfein has served as CEO since 2006, after managing Goldman's currency and commodities division and serving as chief operating officer. In an interview with The New York Times in 2009, he said his management style changed during the financial crisis to focus on communication, teamwork and "a sense of partnership."
He added: "Making sure that everybody, at every point, understood what was going on meant that the organization very often would get to the right place, and sometimes we'd get to the right place first."
6. Hugh Grant, Monsanto
The Scottish-born chief executive of Monsanto (MON) scores high ratings from his employees, with a 95 percent approval rating.
Still, Monsanto is far from universally adored by the public. A Harris Poll last year measured the company as the third most-hated company, trailing only Bank of America (BAC) and BP (BP). The reason for the dislike is Monsanto's development of genetically modified organisms, leading Modern Farmer to declare that "no company has been more associated with evil."
As for his personal leadership style, Grant told Chief Executive magazine in 2010 that he prioritizes investment in new products and ideas. "The nice thing about our business is the investment cycle," he said. "You plant a seed, you harvest a handful of seed; you plant a handful of seed, you harvest a truckload."
5. Scott Scherr, Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software (UTLI) isn't a household name, but its software helps run the human-resources functions for companies ranging from P.F. Chang's China Bistro to the Chicago Cubs.
Its CEO, Scott Scherr, has a 95 percent approval rating from his employees. Scherr, who founded the company in 1990, told the South Florida Business Journal last year that the secret to his company's growth is "keeping your employees happy."
4. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
The social media giant may get mixed reviews from some users, but Facebook (FB) employees give CEO Mark Zuckerberg high marks -- a 95 percent approval rating.
Zuckerberg, who created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room, has talked about how passion is important for any venture, giving employees encouragement to work on projects they're interested in. "I think as a company, if you can get those two things right -- having a clear direction on what you are trying to do and bringing in great people who can execute on the stuff -- then you can do pretty well," Zuckerberg has said, according to Inc Magazine.
3. Charles C. Butt, H-E-B
Privately held H-E-B is a familiar grocery chain in Texas and Mexico, and much of that is thanks to the management of CEO Charles C. Butt, who took over the company from his father in 1971. (The chain's name comes from his father's initials.)
Butt, who has a 96 percent approval rating from employees, started his career at the company by bagging groceries when he was eight-years-old, according to Texas Monthly. Under his leadership, the company has expanded to $19 billion in revenue and now employs more than 80,000 workers.
Butt, who describes himself as shy, told a newspaper in 1996 that his goal is "to find good people and then empower them to use their own creativity and good judgement."
2. Mark G. Parker, Nike
With a 97 percent approval rate from employees, Nike CEO Mark Parker is not only just doing it, he's doing it well. A competitive runner at Penn State University, Parker joined Nike as a footwear designer in 1979. He was named CEO in 2006.
In an interview with the Portland Business Journal, he credited his background as a runner as helping him succeed in leadership. "It's where I developed confidence, a sense of commitment to a team (and myself), the discipline it takes to achieve goals and the importance of listening to leadership," he said. "Sport is one of life's great teachers. It made all the difference in my life."
1. Larry Page, Google
Google (GOOG) co-founder and CEO Larry Page moved up to Glassdoor's top spot this year, with a 97 percent approval rating from employees. Last year, Page was ranked at No. 11 in the same survey.
"Over the past year, we see a stronger theme in Page's leadership, among his employees, citing his brilliant, personable and transparent style of leading," Glassdoor's Hohman told CBS MoneyWatch. "We also saw a stronger theme of employees talking about increased accessibility, mentioning that they commonly see him at happy hours and other company events."
In an interview with Wired in 2013, Page said he tries to get his employees to focus on the big picture, not just small improvements to the company's products.
"It's natural for people to want to work on things that they know aren't going to fail," he said. "But incremental improvement is guaranteed to be obsolete over time."