Usually chief executive officers are judged by their financial performance, but a new Canadian ranking rates them based on what their employees think.
Careers website Glassdoor.com published its annual list of the highest-rated CEOs on Wednesday, including a first-ever list for Canada. Separate lists for the U.K. and Germany were also released, in addition to the original U.S. ranking.
The lists are based on a year-round survey run by the site, which asks employees to voluntarily but anonymously review their employers using a range of metrics – including answering the question: "Do you approve of the way your CEO is leading the company?"
CEOs must run a company of at least 1,000 employees and have received at least 20 ratings from Canada-based employees between April, 2014, and April, 2015, to be included in the ranking.
In total, more than 10,000 companies with operations in Canada, though not necessarily Canadian companies, received feedback on Glassdoor, while 39,000 Canadian employees left reviews.
Below are the top five CEOs on Glassdoor's Canadian list, and their approval ratings:
Laurent Potdevin (Lululemon Athletica Inc.)
93% approval
The athletic apparel company CEO topped the list as the highest-rated chief executive of a Canadian company. Mr. Potdevin has held key roles at Toms Shoes, Burton Snowboards and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. Mr. Potdevin took over from former CEO Christine Day and proceeded to move the company past the sheer-pants era.
Bill McDermott (SAP SE)
93% approval
The CEO of the German software company, which has operations in Canada, calls himself a “relentless optimist” on his Twitter profile. He has good reason to be, as one employee said of him in a Glassdoor review: “Bill McDermott, laying the competition to rest.” Mr. McDermott published a book last year on his life and career called Winners Dream.
David Ossip (Ceridian HCM Inc.)
93% approval
Named one of Canada’s Top 40 under 40 in 2004, it’s good to know that the CEO of a human resources firm is doing well on the human resources front. Mr. Ossip had always been in the workplace solutions field, founding two companies – Workbrain and Dayforce – before Ceridian acquired Dayforce.
Donald Guloein (Manulife Financial Corp.)
90% approval
The University of Toronto graduate is a 34-year veteran at the insurance company, and took the reins in May, 2009. Mr. Guloien is active on a range of non-profit, academic and industry boards, which might explain why some employees rate Manulife as “innovative” and “progressive.”
Steve Williams (Suncor Energy Inc.)
88% approval
Mr. Williams was Canada’s top-rated CEO just two years ago in an informal survey also conducted by Glassdoor. A transplant from Exxon Mobil, he moved to Suncor in 2002 and became CEO in 2012.
The next five
Rounding out the top 10 CEOs in the Canada list are Rich Kruger of Imperial Oil Ltd. (88 per cent), Bharat Masrani of Toronto-Dominion Bank (88 per cent), Bill Lennie of Home Depot Canada (88 per cent), Pierre Nanterme of Accenture PLC (85 per cent) and Howard Schultz of Starbucks Corp. (85 per cent).
The top five in the U.S.
In the United States, the top five highest-rated CEOs were Larry Page of Google Inc. (97 per cent), Mark Parker of Nike Inc. (97 per cent), Charles Butt of H-E-B Grocery (96 per cent), Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook Inc. (95 per cent) and Scott Scherr of Ultimate Software Group Inc. (95 per cent).