Leadership

CEOs—They’re Just Like Us!

Job security. Flexibility. Colleagues. Korn Ferry’s workforce study finds that CEOs and their employees share the same concerns to a remarkable degree.

Three Issues CEOs and Employees Both Care About

It’s not uncommon for an executive to be on the receiving end of some version of “my boss just doesn’t get it.” Whether discussing promotions, flexible work arrangements, or team dynamics, workers often feel that higher-ups—particularly the CEO—are out of touch with them or don't share the same concerns.

Turns out, they actually do.

In a new Korn Ferry study of more than 15,000 professionals—including hundreds of CEOs—only small differences existed between executives and workers in their approaches to hot-button workplace issues. For example, when asked for the top reason a person might join a new organization, 88% of all respondents, including 86% of CEOs, cited pay and compensation. Similarly, when asked about the importance of flexible work hours in potentially moving to a new organization, 47% of all respondents and 52% of CEOs rated it as “very important.” “CEOs are like everyone else, just perhaps with higher blood pressure,” says Lesley Uren, CEO of Korn Ferry Consulting. “They’re dealing with the same stuff in their lives as employees.”

The difference, of course, comes down to CEOS’ significantly higher level of influence and autonomy. It’s much easier to work from home on Fridays as a boss with 30 years of workforce experience than it is as an employee who’s six months out of college. But the survey did find that if you take a look at the three issues that repeatedly appear atop lists of employee concerns, CEOs aren’t too far behind.

1 RTO

As the return-to-office debate rages on, many workers have lamented everything from losing time in commutes to not being able to do a load of laundry between work calls. Many CEOs in the survey feel that a lack of face-to-face interaction has hurt both innovation and productivity. Still, when asked if they would stay at a job—even if they hated it—that allowed flexibility, 64% of CEOs said they would, as compared with 58% of the overall group.

For his part, Mark Royal, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry, calls remote work—in which higher tiers on the corporate ladder can dictate their own flexibility—“the new have or have-not.” That said, experts point out that a C-suite member’s greater knowledge base of the firm and its colleagues may reduce the need for in-person meetings.

2 Job Security

Turns out entry and midlevel employees aren’t the only ones sweating over the effects on their roles of an uncertain economy and potential recession.

The same percentage of respondents who cited pay and compensation as most important, 88%, also said that job security would be a big reason to switch roles—or to stay in their current one (86%). Among CEOs specifically, 84% cited job security as an important or very important reason to stay in their current role, and 83% cited it as a critical factor in switching to a new one. When asked if someone would go so far as to switch industries for better job security, 63% of overall respondents and 69% of CEOs agreed or strongly agreed that they would. “No one wants to be paid well, but have poor job security or vice versa,” Uren said.

3 Colleagues

For all the griping about jobs, workers at all levels place a surprisingly high level of importance on who their colleagues are.

Indeed, nearly 80% of both overall respondents and CEOs ranked their workmates as an important or very important factor for staying in their role. Similarly, 71% of all employees and 76% of CEOs said “collegiate connections” were one of the most important aspects of their job. “Today, the CEO needs their team more than ever.” says Jane Edison Stevenson, global vice chair of the Board and CEO Services practice at Korn Ferry. “One of the biggest derailers for a CEO can be the lack of a strong team.” After all, everyone needs good colleagues.