Disconnect Found Between CEOs, Top Officers

Rank-and-file employees often complain that CEOs don't understand what motivates them. It turns out, CEOs aren't much better at naming what motivates their "C-level" direct reports, either.

Nearly 13% of chief financial officers, chief marketing officers, and other C-level executives say that having input into company decisions is their top reason to stay with a company, according to a survey by ExecuNet Inc., a professional network for executives. But only 7% of CEOs think that's a central reason their C-level direct reports stick around.

The survey found perception gaps in other areas of work, too.

While only 4.4% of CEOs thought work-life balance was important to their subordinates, about 9.6% of C-level executives said it was. And about 9.6% of C-level executives also said their work location was important.

More than 14% of CEOs thought their reports stay because they like the actual work they do; whereas only 5% of the C-level executives gave that as a top reason.

"CEOs often hear what they want to hear rather than what really is on the minds of their subordinates," said Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet. "CEOs think of guiding the ship as their purview."

CEOs and C-level reports agreed on some things. Both put high emphasis on relationships with co-workers and subordinates, while neither believed relationships with shareholders were reasons to stick around.

More than 4% of CEOs thought their reports considered their trust with the company's owner as a top reason for reports to stay, but almost no C-level executives named that as a reason.

The divide between what motivates executives and what CEOs think motivates them mirrors boss-employee thought gaps at all levels of companies, said Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

"When we talk about hourly employees, we think that things like personal relationships and work flexibility motivate them, but when we talk about executives, suddenly everyone talks about money," he said. "But that difference is simply a falsehood."

According to the survey, 4.7% of C-level executives said total cash compensation was a reason to stay, while 7.1% of CEOs thought that was a top reason for their reports to stay.

ExecuNet conducted the survey of 2,463 respondents in December.

Thanks to Joe Light / Onlight WSJ