雇员对公司CEO的认可率到底由什么决定?
2010年是美国经济在金融危机之后“触底反弹”的一年,严格来说,底部应该在2009年的春天,2-3月份的样子,如果我们以股市的表现来看的话。问题是,股市作为经济状况的晴雨表,很多时候有大约半年左右的超前期。这样算来,经济的底部就应该是2009年8-9月份的样子。如此看来,员工最“不高兴”的一年,就该是2009年了。很多人在这一年没有拿到原本每年不可少的年终奖,就是一种“证明”吧。
那么,在危机之后开始开心的员工,在2010年对公司CEO的认可率,相比“艰难”的2009年,会有些什么变化呢?看看下表的结果,你可能会感到吃惊。
公司名称 | 2009年员工对CEO的认可率 | 2010年员工对CEO的认可率 | 2010年公司股价的变化率 |
APPLE | 98% | 95% | |
谷歌 | 93% | 96% | |
ORCAL | 77% | 73% | |
YAHOO | 77% | 50% | |
微软 | 46% | 40% | |
EBAY | 24% | 46% | |
那么,我要问:到底是什么因素决定了雇员对公司CEO的认可呢?注意到,这种认可还和普通民众对总统的认可不同,总统是民众选举产生的,民众是总统的“老板”。而公司的CEO是股东通过董事会“选举”产生的,代表的是股东的利益,股东才是CEO的“老板”。雇员充其量只是CEO的“幕僚”、“助手”。
这样一来,就有很多有趣的问题值得思考:
第一,股东的认可和雇员的认可有哪些差别?谷歌CEO的认可率上升,一定程度上是收买的效果:谷歌员工在2010年所获得的年度10%的加薪,外加公司持续的扩大雇员队伍,不仅给雇员带来了工作上的安全感,而且,还给雇员额外的实实在在的经济利益。这样的老板,当然是没有多少人会不喜欢的。而雅虎的老板,不仅没有钱可以用来收买雇员,而且还不得不“残酷”地继续裁员,让大家每天生活在吃饭不香,寝食不安的状态,这样的CEO,又怎么可能会有人喜欢上她呢?说到底,还是一个穷字,对吗?好像也不是。微软很有钱,它的雇员也不是很喜欢它的CEO。
第二,雇员的认可率和股东的认可率有什么关系吗?差别在哪里?
第三,这两者的认可率和公司的股价变化有什么关系吗?
第四,影响员工认可率巨大变化的是什么因素?从这里的比较看,似乎是公司业绩的巨大改进,至少对于EBAY的员工是这样。这家公司的股价表现,在这段时间内,在这些公司之间算是“业绩非凡”了,仅次于苹果公司。股价业绩最差是雅虎,还不及相关指数的业绩。其它的几家公司和指数相比,我看也就是个半斤八两的差别。
个人觉得,对于员工,工作职位有保障,工作环境让人愉快,工作结果带回家的收入让人满意,应该是最重要的几点了。在这里,雇员比较看重公司现在和未来一段时间的“业绩”,而不是短期的。这和长期投资公司的公司股东利益应该是一致的。至少,两者之间应该有很大的相关性吧。
但是,雇员毕竟不是股东。虽然都希望将公司做好,但是,做好之后,也还有个利益分配的问题。在这里,两者之间就有了矛盾和冲突。这也是为什么,历史上无数的人,想尽了脑子,试了无数的方法,也还是没有获得一个完美的法子,让雇员“以厂为家”。
雇员对CEO认可率过低的公司,基本上都是“江河日下”的“老朽”。即使是像微软这样的现金多多而且每年进账也多多的大鳄,雇员也还是不高兴,原因可能还是雇员对于公司前途的担忧所致。CEO作为公司至高无上的领导者,得带领大家奔好前程。鲍尔默看来不被雇员认可,很可能,还是大家觉得他能力有限!
而雇员认可率一直比较高的苹果公司和谷歌,则是正在“东升的太阳”,前途无量。这样的公司的CEO,当然就比较容易让雇员开心了。更别提,谷歌那给予雇员的“前所未有”的奢侈公司内部待遇了。只是,谷歌是不是该回忆一下:当初AT&T风光的时候,似乎是也这么大方过。其后,就是一蹶不振,甚至是几乎走到了破产的边缘。谷歌未来的日子会不会有这样的厄运?我们还是拭目以待吧。
世界上没有永远不倒的百年老店,也没有永恒的“太阳”。即使是太阳,也还有个早上升,下午落的周期规律呢。如果你想了解几个百年老店成功和败落的故事,看看我的《拐点》(长江文艺出版社,2010年版)吧,如果你不嫌弃的话。
更细的分析,看来,还是只能由专业人士来完成了。这需要大量的统计和分析工作。
附录:Yahoo CEO Bartz's Popularity Among Employees Declines -Report
7:09 AM ET 4/1/11 | Dow Jones
By John Letzing
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) Chief Executive Carol Bartz, hired slightly more than two years ago to revamp the embattled Internet giant, has seen her popularity among employees fall sharply during the past year, according to a report scheduled to be published Friday.
Career website Glassdoor.com said in the report that Bartz's approval rating among employees slid to 50% for the year ended March 15, compared with 77% in the prior year.
Despite the steep decline, Glassdoor.com notes that Bartz's rating remains above the 34% that her predecessor, company co-founder Jerry Yang, had when he stepped down in late 2008.
Other high-profile technology CEOs also saw their popularity among employees dip in the past year, the report said, including Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Steve Ballmer, whose approval rating fell to 40% from 46%, and Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) Larry Ellison, who saw his dip to 73% from 77%.
But Bartz, who has sought to instill a new sense of direction at Yahoo following a trying period that saw it fend off a takeover bid from Microsoft, and lose a significant portion of the online search market to Google Inc. (GOOG), saw the most noticeable decline.
A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment.
During her tenure, Yahoo's Bartz has sealed a partnership with Microsoft that has the two companies pooling resources in order to better compete with Google in the search market, while seeking to streamline operations, manage costs more efficiently and boost profit margins.
Bartz has also overseen rounds of layoffs: Yahoo announced plans in December to lay off 4% of its work force, which followed a 5% staff reduction in 2009.
Shares of Yahoo have risen about 38% since Bartz's appointment was announced Jan. 13, 2009, compared with a nearly 80% gain for the Nasdaq Composite Index over the same period. The shares closed Thursday down slightly at $16.68.
Some of Bartz's peers saw their approval ratings rise among employees during the past year, according to the Glassdoor report.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who is expected to step aside April 4, saw his approval rating among employees rise to 96% from 93% during the period, according to the report.
After reporting results for 2010 that included sharp gains in profit and sales, Google awarded a 10% salary increase to all employees this year, while it seeks to set a new annual record for hiring.
EBay Inc. (EBAY) CEO John Donahoe saw the sharpest improvement in approval rating among employees during the past year, as his mark improved to 46% from 24%, according to the report.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs's approval rating among employees fell to 95% in the past year from 98% in the prior year, the report said.