As female executives continue to climb the corporate ranks in America—albeit slowly; at press time women CEOs are running a mere 18 of the Fortune 500 companies—a certain “Chief Happiness Officer” has elected to forego the CEO moniker in favor of one that better describes her executive mission.
Heidi Golledge is co-founder of CyberCoders and CareerBliss, two Irvine, Calif.-based companies that play complementary roles in providing the intelligence that both job seekers and companies need to find great career matches. “Chief Happiness Officer is a much more accurate description of both how I see my role, and what I do,” explains Golledge. “My mission as chief executive is not to “rule the roost” per se – but to be a living example of someone who has found that amazing job and is truly happy at work.”
And a shining example she is: Golledge was recently identified as a finalist in Ernst & Young’s 2012 Orange County Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, standing out as the only female in a pool of fifteen finalists. “I’m extremely proud to be representing everyone in the CyberCoders family with this nomination. This is a nod to everyone at the House of CC,” she says.
Golledge describes CyberCoders as an international recruiting firm that, despite having more than 200 employees, maintains a very familial culture. “It’s not just about finding a great candidate for our client companies,” Golledge explained. “The people at CyberCoders are experts when it comes to that. We believe in not only putting our clients and candidates’ happiness first but, also putting our employees’ needs first as well. Happy team members have the ability to make great matches for companies and job seekers.”
CyberCoders boasts a proprietary database of nearly 12 million candidates. The database also contains information on thousands of hiring companies. But it’s much more than an online recruiting tool. Matt Miller, CyberCoders chief technology officer, explained that while the technology does a great job of matching job seekers to companies, it also provides crucial info on what it’s really like to work at these companies. “A job can look great on paper,” explained Miller, “but there are many other attributes that matter, which can make or break that match.”
It makes sense. You put yourself out there and search for the right job with the right salary in the right location. You Google, you network at happy hours, you ask your neighbor’s cousin – you perform your due diligence and you make what you think is an informed decision. But somehow, a few months later it just doesn’t feel, well… right. CyberCoders collects information about companies that helps job seekers identify the best fit for the long term.
Golledge explains that she and Miller knew that they had to provide a depth of information that just wasn’t available. This is where CareerBliss comes in.
CareerBliss was created to help job candidates by providing cultural information about potential employers, such as: who offers the most vacation time?; who gives the best raises?; which management team has a reputation for mentoring their staff? Can I wear business casual attire? ; and more. “This information is crucial when you’ve received multiple job offers and you’re faced with what appears to be a level playing field of employers,” says Golledge. “Knowing what your daily life will look like at work–beyond your professional responsibilities—could mean the difference between true career growth and happiness or quick turnover.”
It’s clear that Heidi Golledge has done something right. CyberCoders is known for its happy employees, cool culture and innovative technology, and has less than a one percent turnover rate. The company recently expanded its offices in Irvine, Los Angeles and Boston, and opened up a new location in New York. Also, CyberCoders recently received the Association for Corporate Growth Orange County Chapter (ACG OC) annual growth award for 2012.
“Information is power,” says Golledge. “Using information to empower people to find happiness at work makes us happy at work.”
About CyberCoders
Founded in 1999, CyberCoders believes in the passionate pursuit of the right candidate for the right jobs and recruits professionals for all types of jobs including engineering, technology, sales, executive, financial, accounting, scientific, legal and operational positions across all industries. With a team of more than 200 recruiters and thousands of job openings, CyberCoders is the worldwide leader in recruiting and staffing. For more information, visit www.CyberCoders.com.
