Robert Lane, Deere and Co.- CEO Approval Rating: 71%

One Deere and Co. employee writes in: “Senior Management is pushing the company in the right direction and they continue to remain strong in a troubled economy.”

Another Deere employee says “Leadership seems to have solid long-term planning. It also seems very conservative in planning for dealing with the economic realities that everyone else is just now starting to come to grips with.”

John Finnigan, Chubb, Corp- CEO Approval Rating: 60%

A Chubb employee comments, “Chubb is a very stabile boring company. With the economy the way it is now that is really something that makes you feel good about the place.”

Whereas a Claims Supervisor at Chubb Corp states “Senior Management/Home Office needs to do a much better job at communicating in general and at communicating a vision for the company.”

Anne Mulcahy, Xerox- CEO Approval Rating: 48%

A Sales Executive notes that ”You may see others get preferential treatment. Management styles vary from micromanager to so lax there’s no support.”

A very recent employee comments “You are always worried you will be the next to be layed off since layoffs occur an average of once per year.”

What’s interesting to note with this snapshot is that the higher the CEO rating the more complimentary the comments are toward senior management.  We’ll be sure to keep an eye on any major CEO shifts and how they impact company reviews and ratings. Based on Fortune’s list, will the CEOs with lower ratings be the first to jump ship for ‘greener’ pastures? Or will those CEOs with high approval ratings and a decent list of accomplishments be looking for their next challenge?

As always, let us know what you have to say about your CEO and company.

CEO All-Stars; How Fortune’s Picks Stand with Employees is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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As you’ll see below from the snapshot of company and CEO approval ratings, both companies receive a satisfied company rating in terms of job satisfaction, but where we see the greatest difference is with CEO ratings…hopefully Yahoo!’s new CEO will garner the respect of the company’s employees and in turn receive a higher CEO approval rating.

And here are more current insights from Yahoo employees compiled since Yang’s imminent departure was announced two months ago:

“Use the most valuable resource Yahoo has that no other Internet giants have – audience and behavioral data – and apply a rational, data-based business model to figure out the company’s strategic directions. Don’t rely on gut-feel or what seems to sexy.”

“Please decide what YAHOO really is !!! is it a media company or search company?”

“The troops are sick of consultants, getting fit, and waiting for a direction. We need a technologist in charge who will present a clear vision for the future of Yahoo!”

And, based on the feedback from Autodesk employees that we combed through, here are some insights from employees about what worked at Autodesk and perhaps will benefit Yahoo too:

“The flexible work environment, work-life balance (although this aspect has been fading in recent years), and support for family time are really great. Employee training and focus on developing skills is also a great reason to work at Autodesk.”

“Autodesk is a great place to work simply because of the people. Folks here are very passionate about their job and it shows in meetings and discussions throughout the day. There’s also been a lot of improvement over the past couple years with regards to insight into things that are occurring at the senior management level. This help a lot with eliminating many of the rumors we’d otherwise have and definitely gives us (individual employees) a feeling that our voices are heard and we are indeed part of this organization.”

“Great company to work for. Large, great pay. You can find plenty of opportunity in this company. You will be able to work with your work schedule. If you need to work form home or move, there may be a time when you need to request more flexibility to accommodate life changing events that you are going through. They may be able to work with you on this.”

Good luck Carol as you take over the reigns. We look forward to seeing how things at Yahoo may change…

Yahoo’s New CEO Get Tips from Past and Future Employees is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Part 1:  Do You Love or Hate Your CEO?

Part 2: Can This Web Start Up Make Money?

Part 3: Who’s Getting a Bonus This Year?

Part 4: Michael Dell: Closer You Look, Less You Like

Part 5: Chrysler Workers Feel ‘Hopeless’

In addition, check out some of the polls CNBC is included at the bottom of the CNBC blogs. For example, CNBC polls readers of the Chrysler blog about their sentiments toward the approval and disapproval ratings of the Big Three Auto manufacturers. As of 3:30 p.m. PT, 106 readers voted:

Funny Business Poll

Do you agree with the approval/disapproval ratings for Bob Nardelli?   * 106 responses       Nardelli is the best of the three 3.8%     Nardelli deserves better than 19 percent 37%     19 percent is too kind to him 59% Not a scientific survey.

In another CNBC online poll, readers were asked who’s the worst CEO in tech, have a look at what more than 375 readers had to say:

Funny Business Poll

Who’s the worst CEO in tech?   * 376 responses       Jerry Yang 55%     Mark Hurd 11%     John Chambers 2.9%     Larry Ellison 9.8%     Steve Ballmer 17%     Steve Jobs 3.7% Not a scientific survey.

Both on Glassdoor.com and with the above CNBC poll, Jerry Yang pulls in the lowest ratings. On Glassdoor, Jerry Yang receives a low 35% approval rating, followed by: HP’s Mark Hurd (42%), Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer (44%), Oracle’s Larry Ellison (63%), Cisco’s John Chambers (77%) and Apple’s Steve Jobs (90%).  You can also check out our recent analysis on the naughty and nice CEOs of 2008 and how the chief execs rate for the best places to work… and the worst places to work.

If you haven’t had a chance to see Jane’s video reports (that show our Sausalito offices), you can visit the video at the bottom of the page on this link here.

CNBC Reports on CEO ratings, the Future of Glassdoor and Who’s Getting A Bonus is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Genentech‘s Art Levinson comes in as the #1 rated CEO (with at least 50 employees) with a 92% approval rating while and Office Depot‘s Steve Odland is the  least popular CEO with the highest disapproval rating of 80%.

NICE: Coming in at second place after Art Levinson is Apple’s Steve Jobs with a 90% approval rating. And despite a volatile year, four out of five Goldman Sachs’ employees approve of the job Lloyd Blankfein is doing.

Here are just a few of the reasons Art Levinson gets ranked so highly in Glassdoor.com reviews:

“Great products that make a difference in people’s lives, smart, interesting, fun people, company clearly values its employees and takes good care of them, very science and patient-driven, great perks and lovely campus.”

“A lot of employee centric benefits, along with the chance of working for a company that is very cutting edge. The company has a lot of potential for the future, and this is a great place to gain experience and to be able to include as part of my professional resume. This is a very friendly environment where employees are encouraged to network as well as take time off to be able to decompress. Every 6 years, a six week sabbatical is included to coincide with the 5 weeks of vacations that can be accrued for a total of 11 weeks off (that’s nearly 3 months off in 1 year.”

“A strong emphasis on communications and collaboration. A company wide decision-making structure that intrinsically forces authority downward to the lowest possible level providing many opportunities to exercise and test one’s judgment.”

NAUGHTY: A Department Manager at Office Depot in Dallas, Texas writes “Fire Odland and kill ridiculous programs like ones listed above. Please, Please, Please give this company back to its workers. The corporate office in Delray Beach, FL is asleep at the wheel and frankly incompetent. Maybe If some of them would listen to or maybe even spend a few hours in a store they would understand their own business a little better. This company will fail If you do not get back to basics! Cheap no hassle prices and fast checkout! NO MORE PROGRAMS PLEASE!”

The naughty list is synonymous with our “Watch List” – a term we coined for the CEOs with the highest disapproval ratings (with at least 50 reviews) and are at risk of being ousted. Other CEOs who’ve made the list, include recent additions like CSAA Inter-Insurance Bureau‘s James R. Pouliot (62% disapprove), Amgen‘s Kevin Sharer (54% disapprove), Sun Microsystems‘ Jonathan Schwartz (50% disapprove) and eBay‘s John Donahoe (49% disapprove). RainBird CEO Anthony LaFetra is a “Watch List” veteran who remains a close second, followed by AOL CEO Randy Falco who is the third least popular.

In looking back on our Watch List members this year, a few received their own pink slips.  Any opinions which CEO on the “naughty” list is next?  Anyone else who should be?

*CEO Approval Ratings are based on more than 50 employee reviews

Which CEOs Have Been Naughty or Nice According to Their Employees? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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Enrique T. Salem, Symantec’s current chief operating officer, will take the lead and replace Thompson as the top executive at the security software firm. 

So as a courtesy to the CEO, employees are offering up advice on what the company needs:

“Pay your employees better. Demand more – there are too many people that are doing too little, and when job cuts happen you need to cut them first. Other more competent people are ready to step into their place.”

“Stop attempting to force tech support in India down customers throats. Allow support engineers to specialize in specific product areas so they can become experts. Attempting to have support engineers know something about everything causes support cases longer to get resolved. Passing a customer who has multiple issues to different support technicians who are experts in the product area is not bad, it can help resolve a case faster. This is an example of a customer not necessarily knowing what is best for them when the complain about getting sent to different support engineers to resolve multiple problems.”

“Pick something you want Symantec to be the best at, and execute to that goal. Being the most diverse, least integrated conglomerate of little software companies in the world does not count as a goal. Best consumer anti-virus company, or best enterprise storage software company are valid goals. Execute toward one of those goals with innovation, action, integrity and respect, and customers will reward Symantec with market share.”

“Please come down into the trenches and see that the vast majority of your employees want to be better employees and they want to progress, just as you did, but in their own area of expertise. Please offer us training and viable career paths within the company.”

By adhering to some good constructive advice from employees, Salem’s future as CEO could be an all around positive experience. We’ll keep you updated on Symantec reviews and Symantec Salary details once Salem takes the reigns in April as to how employees are responding to his approach to company leadership.

Stay tuned…

Symantec Employees Forewarn New CEO is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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