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Best Places to Work vs. 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 – Comparing Glassdoor and Fortune Rankings

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:40:53 +0000

Today Fortune released their list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For 2010”, and we wanted to do a little side by side comparison to see how their list stacks up against Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work. While both lists rely on employee feedback, Glassdoor’s list exclusively represents Employees’ Choice as it takes into account all the anonymous company reviews submitted throughout the year, instead of a short period of time, and does not allow companies to nominate themselves – employees do that through surveys in which they rate and review their employer*.

What we found most interesting was that Glassdoor’s Best Place to Work, Southwest Airlines, was absent from their list, and our #2 slot, General Mills, was ranked #90. It was #1 on our list last year, and barely made Fortune’s rankings at #99. The number one company on Fortune’s listing, SAS, did not make the Best Places to Work top 50 because it had too few reviews to qualify, but it does have a 4.0 rating on Glassdoor, and the CEO, Jim Goodnight, has a 73% approval rating. Fortune’s #2 company, Edward Jones, was also lauded by employees on Glassdoor, however, it was #24 on our list.

Surprisingly Apple, which has been a mainstay on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work and Top Rated CEO lists, was also missing from among Fortune’s ranks. It was also interesting to see Genetech noted as #19 – while most employees surveyed on Glassdoor as “satisfied” with their company, new CEO Pascal Soriat has a low 28% approval rating, which made Genentech ineligible for the company from Glassdoor’s list. (Last year, Genentech ranked #17 on the 2009 Best Places to Work list under then CEO Art Levinson, who had a 94% approval rating)

In all, only 10 of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work cracked Fortune’s top 50, and 21 companies in total that were honored by Glassdoor made their “100 Best Companies to Work For 2010”.

Here’s how Fortune’s list compares to Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work:

How do you think the lists compare? Have they left off a really great place to work, or awarded a company that is only so-so? We welcome your opinion!

• NOTE: Folks at Glassdoor.com have participated in the Fortune application process at previous companies, and it typically has management dedicating considerable staff time and money in an attempt to “wow” the Fortune/Best Companies to Work For committee. In creating Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work, we decided our list would simply let employees voice be heard loud and clear.

Best Places to Work vs. 100 Best Companies to Work For 2010 – Comparing Glassdoor and Fortune Rankings is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Roche and Genentech Seal the Deal

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:38:42 +0000

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche agreed to pay $46.8 billion to buy the 44 percent of biotech pioneer Genentech that it doesn’t already own, ending a long corporate struggle with its U.S.-based cancer drug partner.

A Roche Research Associate commented “Company is losing plenty of talent due to their Genentech offer.”

See what other employees had to say in the days leading up to the final bid.

Roche said its Pharma commercial operations in the U.S. will be moved from Nutley, N.J., to Genentech’s site in South San Francisco, which will become headquarters of the combined company’s U.S. commercial operations in pharmaceuticals and operate under the Genentech name. In addition, Roche stated that research and early development will operate as an independent center within Roche from its existing campus in South San Francisco.

How will employees be impacted with this merger moving forward?

Roche and Genentech Seal the Deal is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Employees Sound Off on the Future of Genentech: 100% Roche?

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:24:18 +0000

In this week’s news, the future of Genentech crept up as word that Roche, a Swiss drug maker which has owned all or majority parts of Genentech since 1990, was planning on an aggressive bid to take over the company in its entirety – which would account for 44% of Genentech shares it does not already own. In spite of Roche’s significant ownership, Genentech has long been recognized for its independence. Perhaps Genentech’s autonomous corporate attitude is what has led to the success of the company. As you’ll see from the snapshot below that compares Genentech and Roche, Art Levinson’s (CEO of Genentech) noted commitment to science may be just the thing that has led to high employee satisfaction at the workplace, but would this continue if Genentech were to become Roche? Genentech CEO Art Levinson garners 93% approval rating where as Roche CEO Franz Humer receives a low 33% approval rating.

Glassdoor Report: Genentech v. Roche
	Company Rating	CEO Name	CEO Rating
Genentech	3.9 (Satisfied)	Art Levinson	93%
Roche	3.3 (Neutral)	Franz B. Humer	33%

Talk about the potential Roche buyout has been in the news for some months now, so it’s no surprise that employees in both camps are talking about the impact this would have – not all positive.

Below are some highlights of what employees at Genentech are saying about the possible Roche takeover. It’s interesting to note that these employees fear that morale will suffer if Roche has a bigger role at the company and if Art Levinson is pushed aside. Currently, employees at Genentech give the company a high satisfaction rating (4.3) when it comes to employee morale whereas Roche has a neutral rating at 3.3.

Clinical Specialist (Atlanta, GA)
“ART LEVINSON!! Don’t under estimate the employee trust in him. It’s the best company in the US. The culture is laid back, real, and we have a great time working and playing. This is one of the most fulfilling jobs I have had…Genentech is invested in providing drugs to anyone and everyone that may benefit from their products.”

Engineer I (South San Francisco, CA)
“The company is growing at a very fast pace and sometimes it is hard to keep up with everything that is going on. Also the impending Roche takeover might spell the end of the Genentech culture. The Genentech culture is very important towards sustaining the creativity and productivity of the employees. It is hard to determine whether Roche will be able to provide a similar environment especially in the current economy.”

Senior Clinical Specialist (Location unlisted)
“The pending Roche buy out makes some of us a little concerned that our great thing will change. None of us know for sure what the future but I would guess most of us wish Roche never offered to buy the rest of us.”

Just as we see with the company reviews from Genentech employees, Roche employees are also wary of the consequences of a complete acquisition of Genentech. Concerns from Roche employees vary from employee morale to job security.

Account Manager (Location unlisted)
“Roche is in this business for the long-haul, not to appease Wall Street analyst’s quarterly expectations…Much uncertainty around the impending Genentech acquisition. Even though Roche is buying Genentech, it certainly feels like the new organization is going to be more like Genentech than Roche. (Wanting to preserve Genentech culture….moving commercial operations from NJ to South San Francisco).”

Principal Research Scientist (Palo Alto, CA)
“Projects are varied and interesting – plenty of opportunity to do good science…Top company management are good bankers, but not particularly at developing new drugs.” In advice to senior management, this employee adds: “Move as quickly as possible on merger with Genentech. Currently, you have chaos at three sites (Palo Alto, Nutley, and South San Francisco). The sooner this is resolved the better.”

Anonymous (Palo Alto, CA)
“The work environment is also easy to operate in. They try to boost morale as much as possible…Until the purchase of Genentech is complete it is hard to throw yourself in work 100%. It has been a great run but we need to know when it is ending.”

Note that one of the Roche Palo Alto reviews above refers to ‘chaos’ at three sites within the company – It could be more musical chairs. Roche plans to move 150 people in its virology business, 100 in its pharmaceutical development unit and about 30 in its informatics unit – all currently housed at its 1,000-employee Palo Alto campus – to South San Francisco in August or September. Another 180 positions from Palo Alto will move to a Roche facility in New Jersey, and commercial operations in New Jersey will move to South San Francisco. Due to all the shifting away from the Roche Palo Alto facility we see CEO Franz Humer’s approval rating drop 13 points (20%) based on feedback from employees specific to this location. Stay tuned to see how these geographic shifts will effect employee satisfaction, company ratings and CEO approval ratings. And we’ll keep you updated should this bid request by Roche progress.

If you work for Genentech or Roche, let us know what you think.

Employees Sound Off on the Future of Genentech: 100% Roche? is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Which CEOs Have Been Naughty or Nice According to Their Employees?

Glassdoor Team — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:25:39 +0000

Yes, that’s right. It’s that time of year where we’re making our list and checking it twice trying to find out which CEO’s rated on Glassdoor.com have been naughty or nice in the eyes of their employees this year.

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.”

Nice CEOs
Company	Company Rating	CEO	CEO Approval Rating (%)
Genentech	3.8	Art Levinson	93
Apple	3.8	Steve Jobs	90
Goldman Sachs	3.8	Lloyd C. Blankfein	88
Google	4.0	Eric E. Schmidt	88
Procter & Gamble	4.0	A.G. Lafley	88
McKinsey & Company	4.0	Ian Davis	86
American Express	3.6	Ken Chenault	80
NVIDIA	3.4	Jen-Hsun Huang	80
Adobe	4.2	Shantanu Narayen	79
NetApp	3.9	Dan Warmenhoven	78

NAUGHTY: A Department Manager at Office Depot in Dallas, Texas writes “Fire Odla nd and k ill r idiculous 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.

Naughty CEOs
Company	Company Rating	CEO	CEO Approval Rating (%)	CEO Disapproval Rating (%)
Office Depot	2.2	Steve Odland	4	80
Rain Bird	2.1	Anthony LaFetra	9	75
AOL	2.7	Randy Falco	13	68
Motorola	2.6	Greg Brown	10	66
EDS	2.6	Ron Rittenmeyer	12	65
CSAA Inter-Insurance Bureau	2.2	James R. Pouliot	12	62
Amgen	3.2	Kevin W. Sharer	15	54
Affiliated Computer Services	2.4	Lynn R. Blodgett	10	53
Sun Microsystems	3.2	Jonathan I. Schwartz	26	50
eBay	2.8	John J. Donahoe	20	49

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