It is time to recognise the greatest CEOs in the UK for 2021. Glassdoor’s Employees Choice Awards honoured the leading thought-leaders for 2021 who are, not only driving their companies forward with their exceptional strategy and execution, but they are also engaging and motivating their employees, so much so that their employees have left stunning reviews on Glassdoor.

It is proven and evident that CEOs make more money when compared to regular workers. For example, Tim Steiner, chief executive of online supermarket Ocado is one of the highest paying bosses in the UK. Similarly, Denise Coates was paid a total of 421 million in GBP last year due to her successful year with bet365 online betting platform and casino. Whether this discrepancy is justified remains subject to great debate. However, Daniel Pryor, head of programmes at the Adam Smith Institute claims that

‘CEOs are key to success… It’s quite clear there are a limited number of people that have the skills, the personality and disposition to be the CEO of a top company, and those limited number of people are highly sought after.’

In 2021’s Employees’ Choice Awards, Glassdoor has revealed the top 50 CEOs, featuring chief executives across various industries including technology, finance, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and more.

Glassdoor’s own CEO, Christian Sutherland-Wong, claims that ‘company leaders around the world faced unprecedented challenges to support employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the employees have spoken and it’s clear that these CEOs excelled and found new ways to support their people when the world of work flipped upside down.’

He also claims that ‘it’s inspiring to see Top CEOs who, according to their employees, adapted to change, redefined visions and led with transparency while putting the health and safety of employees first.’

BlackRock’s CEO Laurence D. Fink earned first place in 2021’s Awards. He had been featured in the Top 50 CEOs in the UK list each year ever since 2017. Fink has pushed towards sustainability to transition to a net-zero economy. BlackRock and Fink are setting a great example by aiming to make the commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. According to reviews, Fink has been admired to have strong executive leadership while also handling frequent communications with his employees.

Glassdoor’s list includes 80% newcomers in 2021 including British Heart Foundation’s Dr Charmaine Griffiths and the LEGO Group’s Niels B. Christiansen. The Top 10 CEOs in 2021 in the UK are:

  1. BlackRock’s Laurence D. Fink (99 percent approval)
  2. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella (99 percent approval)
  3. Softcat’s Graeme Watt (99 percent approval)
  4. The LEGO Group’s Niels B. Christiansen (98 percent approval)
  5. British Heart Foundation’s Dr. Charmaine Griffiths (98 percent approval)
  6. UBS’s Ralph Hamers (98 percent approval)
  7. Roche’s Severin Schwan (98 percent approval)
  8. Unilever’s Alan Jope (98 percent approval)
  9. Airbus’s Guillaume Faury (98 percent approval)
  10. PepsiCo’s Ramon Laguarta (98 percent approval)

Congratulations to all the CEOs honoured in 2021 and thank you for trying to make the workplace a better place for your employees!

Gold and Strategic Partners