Dive Brief:
- Republic Services President & CEO Don Slager was ranked 41st on Glassdoor's 2017 Highest Rated CEOs list, based on a recent survey conducted by the employment review website.
- According to anonymous reviews, Slager had a 94% approval rating and 82% of employees would recommend working for him.
- "I'm truly overwhelmed and appreciative of this feedback from our employees," said Slager in a press release. "One of the greatest joys of my job is serving our great team of employees ... This recognition tells me that our employees feel fulfilled in their work and they have trust in our senior leadership, which contributes to employee engagement and our company's long-term success. This is an honor for our entire organization."
Dive Insight:
Slager's background includes more than 30 years in the industry, starting as a recycling truck washer in his teenage years and continuing on through various positions at National Waste Services and Allied Waste. Following the company's 2008 merge with Republic Services, he served as president and COO until taking over as CEO in 2011. Since then, Slager has presided over a period of growth for the industry's second-largest company. Republic's first quarter results showed revenue increases and the company was recently ranked 299 on the Fortune 500 list.
Both in public appearances and earnings calls, Slager's latest motto has been that "you can't have sustainability without profitability." This refers to the company's decision over the past year or so to move away from what it considers high-risk recycling contract models and make more targeted decisions about material diversion that factor in the financial realities behind it.
This is Slager's first year on the Glassdoor list since it began in 2013. The 2017 list was topped by Clorox CEO Benno Dorer and also included high-profile names such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Bloomberg, Tim Cook, Mary Barra, Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon. Though they have fewer reviews, Waste Management CEO Jim Fish currently has a 90% approval score on Glassdoor and Waste Connections CEO Ron Mittelstaedt has a 91% score.
