International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, which also advocates for accelerating gender parity. To recognize this important day, we’ll be celebrating some of our own inspiring female leaders and their careers in the tech industry and at Netchex.
CeCe Boudreaux | Human Resources Director
Joining the Netchex team only a short while ago, CeCe Boudreaux has made her presence known as Human Resources Director by adding a Recruiter and HR Admin to her department, as well as increased employee engagement by instituting monthly birthday celebrations of cupcakes and champagne and an Employee Engagement Committee to ensure all of Netchex’s staff feels welcome, heard, and a member of the team. Jamie Lemoine, HR and payroll admin, states, “CeCe is a great manager and leader who is encouraging and supporting the continual development of her team while implementing new and innovative strategies to support Netchex and its employees in reaching their fullest potential.”
Tell us a little bit about your Netchex journey!
In these last 8 months, I have had the chance to learn more about the organization, the culture, and the people. I’ve been able to assess my department’s strengths and areas of opportunity so the Human Resources Team can contribute to the organization’s growth and employment brand. A few changes have already been made, to include adding two new full-time HR Team members that provide ongoing support in talent and back-office so that my role can focus more on the long term priorities, pro-active people management, training, coaching and support for our leadership team. I’m also very excited about several initiatives my team has been working on for the 2019 year to include an overhaul of the company’s performance evaluation process utilizing a new performance platform, PerformYard, a new hire onboarding/online orientation and Manager University via Talent LMS. Additionally, we’ve recently brought recruiting in-house which allows us to move the needle forward, rather than sit back, so Netchex can continue to stand out of the crowd as we are competing for the same talent as other local Northshore organizations.
What is your favorite part about working in the Tech/Software industry?
I started off as a Netchex client, almost 9 years ago and through those years, I have had the opportunity to use all the new different modules after they were launched. (NetBenefits, NetGuide, the first NetRecruiter, NetCOBRA) Now as the company’s Director of Human Resources, I get to test the products first before they are launched to our clients and provide important insight and feedback to our Product Design and Dev Team as an HR professional and end user.
Above all, I love using technology to solve problems for our customers that have a real world impact. Problem solving is hardly easy. Seeing the results of your hard work and the impact you’ve had makes it all the more rewarding.
How important is it for companies to have equal representation throughout all levels of employees?
Wow! There are so many reasons to list from the from the need of diverse voices, resolving pay equity issues, the need for more women mentors, having balanced representation etc. However, in the interest of this article, I would say that it’s important for our organization because we build and support a platform that is used in an industry that is highly dominated by women. We can’t create the best technology solutions if the teams building them don’t represent the public using them. Additionally, women bring a perspective that values not only competition but also collaboration and empathy to organizations and teams. One of the reasons I think our company is a top front runner for HRIS systems is because we surround ourselves with diverse voices and honor and acknowledge different perspectives during decision making, therefore we are able to make better decisions that lead to better results.
What are your hopes for Netchex as a tech company moving forward?
Improving the ratio of women in tech. The need for talent is only increasing and innovative enterprises, such as our own, cannot meet the rising demands if we don’t unlock the potential of our female talent. The good news is that the tide is turning. According to a recent study, as a result of efforts by universities to enroll more women in computer science programs, women now make up more than half of new computer science graduates and junior developers entering the workforce. This is reflected within our own organization where we have increased the number of women hired in our technology openings by 9% since 2017. We have an opportunity here, it’s just a matter of time.
As Netchex continues to experience rapid growth, CeCe and her team are always looking for candidates to join the team. If you’re interested in joining Team Netchex, click below to see our openings!
