Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Apple chief Tim Cook have lost out to the boss of a consultancy firm many times smaller than their companies, when it comes to being the U.S.'s favorite CEO.
Bob Bechek, worldwide managing director of management consulting firm Bain & Company, has been named the U.S.'s highest rated CEO of 2016, after receiving a 99 percent approval rating from his employees, according to Glassdoor's latest annual rankings report.
One of the main reasons why Bechek and his management team scored so highly was for how they made time to support employees and focused on professional development, according to Glassdoor. Aside from Bechek, the bosses from Ultimate Software and McKinsey & Company, also received a 99 percent approval rating, placing them in second and third place.
Bechek took the number one spot from 2015's winner, Google's Larry Page. In August 2015, Google announced that Sundar Pichai would take over as the firm's CEO, with Page becoming the chief executive of Google's parent company, Alphabet.
While Pichai has only been in the position for less than a year, employees already have plenty of confidence in him, giving him a 96 percent approval rating overall; which has put him in seventh place.
Tech giants in general keep on receiving positive results when it comes to their CEOs, with Apple's Tim Cook coming in 8th place (up from 2015's 10th rank), LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner at number 5 (up from 2015's 12th rank) and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who retained his spot at number 4.
Other notable mentions on the Top 50 "Highest-Rated CEOs" list, include the CEOs from Salesforce (6th), Johnson & Johnson (16th), Goldman Sachs (33rd), and Costco Wholesale (46th).
Gender balance
With calls worldwide to see more women at the top, 2016's Glassdoor survey struck a positive note for the U.S.
Compared to 2015's figure of zero, four women featured on America's top 50, including In-N-Out Burger's Lynsi Snyder (17th), Staffmark's Lesa J. Francis (28th), Enterprise Holdings' Pamela M. Nicholson (31st), and Deloitte LLP's Cathy Engelbert (41st).
"These four women on our list are leading the way for others and providing optimism for the next generation of future women bosses," Mark Di-Toro, a Glassdoor spokesperson, told CNBC via email.
With 8 percent of the 2016's ranking being held by women, this "significantly outpaces" the amount of female CEOs found on the S&P 500 list, Di-Toro added, which is currently at 4.2 percent, according to Catalyst.
The results were based on employee reviews, uploaded on Glassdoor during May 2, 2015 to May 1, 2016. During the review, employees were asked to provide anonymous feedback on their employer and company, including comments on the work environment and management, and being asked whether they approve, disapprove or have no opinion of their CEO.
"What we learn (from these reviews) is quite simple. A good CEO leads from the front, is dedicated to delivering the company mission, believes in transparency and invests in their people," Di-Toro added.
What about the rest of the world's CEOs?
Aside from America's most-loved chief executives, Glassdoor broadened its annual list out to the likes of Canada and some countries in Europe. In 2015, the survey included CEOs from the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany; but in 2016, The Netherlands and France's top 10 bosses also entered the mix.
ATB Financial's Dave Mowat was Canada's top-rated CEO for 2016, receiving an employee rating of 99 percent; while the CEO's of Apple and EY were also among the nation's top-rated, coming in 6th and 5th respectively.
Overseas, banks came in top place for both the U.K. and France, with Metro Bank and Credit Agricole's bosses claiming the top spot for each respective country, after they both garnered 99 percent in employee approval.
Survey newcomer The Netherlands ranked Vodafone's Vittorio Colao as its best CEO, with 99 percent.
Despite the last year being a hard one for German automakers, popular car brands still dominated the Top 10 CEOs list, with BMW (2nd), Daimler (5th), Audi (10th) and car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen (4th) all receiving an overall employee approval rating of 93 percent or above.
Commenting on the diversity in businesses seen in the rankings worldwide, Di-Toro said the rankings highlighted that "good leaders can appear from anywhere."
"Proof that whatever industry or company you work for (and no matter the location), you can be a great leader and inspire your employees."
To see Glassdoor's 2016 rankings for highest rated CEOs, click here.