Travel bosses are amongst the worst in the UK, according analysis published today.
The sector sits in the bottom two of 16 sectors analysed by Vestd’s CEO Approval Index, just above logistics.
Hospitality bosses also ranked lowly in the table, just above CEOs in travel and retail. The banking and legal sectors topped the table.
The index is based on analysis of Glassdoor and LinkedIn data of 500 CEOs from businesses across 25 of the UK’s biggest towns and cities.
It ranks business leaders by average ‘CEO approval’ ratings and ‘recommend to a friend’ scores on Glassdoor, as well as the median employee tenure on LinkedIn.
In travel, 64% of staff gave their bosses a big thumbs up and 58% would recommend their company to a friend.
Despite this, travel workers stayed with their company with more than five years on average, which was relatively high compared to other sectors.
Explaining the findings, Ifty Nasir, CEO of Vestd, said: “The travel sector is at a crucial point as the country faces a cost-of living crisis, so it is key for the bosses at the top of these firms to be among the most trusted and well-respected in the industry.
“The travel industry is facing a range of challenges right now and it’s unfortunate to see its leaders towards the bottom of our rankings, but an employee tenure of just over more than five years points to strong leadership.”
The Index also found which town and cities had the best CEOs, with London scooping top spot overall.
Its business leaders average a ‘CEO approval rating’ of 80% on Glassdoor, as well as an average 74% ‘recommend to a friend’ score.
The capital also scored highly for employee retention, with an average median tenure of 5.7 years.
Other towns and cities at the top of the rankings include Belfast, Hull and Reading. CEOs in Liverpool were at the bottom of the table.
Ifty added: “Being a CEO is not an easy task and the role varies across sectors and individual businesses.
“There are, however, some skills which are shared by most successful leaders. While the CEO is often the figurehead, and influences how the company is run, their employees are absolutely critical to the growth and success of the business.
“The ability to win the hearts and minds of staff is a vital trait for all CEOs – you only need to look at some high-profile examples to see the impact that losing the approval of your key people can have – and a strong leader is likely to mean that employees stay around for longer.
