America's top-rated CEO isn't a household name
The top-rated corporate chief executive in America might not be well known, but he runs a brand that's a household staple.
The most highly rated CEO in North America is the Clorox Company's (CLX) Benno Dorer, who has earned a 99 percent approval rating from his employees, according to an analysis from employment site Glassdoor.
Dorer, who was appointed as CEO in 2014, previously oversaw the company's laundry, home care and international businesses, and before that worked at Procter & Gamble. The German native has focused on innovating within the staid world of household products, such as introducing a new line of natural lipsticks from Burt's Bees, which is one of its brands. Employees give him high ratings for leadership and investing in a culture of growth and career development.
"It's not a big surprise to see a newcomer and a non-celebrity CEO take the top spot," said Glassdoor expert Scott Dobroski. "We've seen no correlation that name recognition translates into good leadership."
Indeed, many of the names in the top 10 CEOs won't be familiar to most Americans, although it does include a few well-known leaders, such as Tesla's Elon Musk. Only a handful of CEOs who made the list of the top-ranked leaders are outside the tech industry. Those include Memorial Sloan Kettering's Craig B. Thompson, who ranked fourth, and Bain & Company's Bob Bechek, who was in 7th place.
"This is the first year we see a consumer goods company take the number one spot," Dobroski said. "It shows that leadership can cross boundaries."
Dorer's employees singled out his transparency and encouragement of leadership skills among his workers, Dobroski said. Encouraging employees to take on new challenges and learn new skills helps keep workers engaged and motivated, he added.
The ratings are based on employee reviews, with Glassdoor asking them to also report whether they approve, disapprove or are neutral about their CEO's leadership. More than 700,000 employers have received reviews on Glassdoor, which says the average CEO rating is 67 percent.
The top ten Highest Rated CEOs in 2017 in the U.S. are:
1. The Clorox Company's Benno Dorer (99 percent approval)
2. World Wide Technology's Jim Kavanaugh (99 percent approval)
3. Boston Scientific's Michael F. Mahoney (99 percent approval)
4. Memorial Sloan Kettering's Craig B. Thompson (99 percent approval)
5. Fast Enterprises' Martin Rankin (99 percent approval)
6. NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang (99 percent approval)
7. Bain & Company's Bob Bechek (98 percent approval)
8. SpaceX's Elon Musk (98 percent approval)
9. HubSpot's Brian Halligan (98 percent approval)
10. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg (98 percent approval)
