How To Keep Employees AroundHow To Keep Employees Around

Hiring is on the upswing and that has some employers worried: If I'm hiring, then my competitors probably are, too, and where better for them to look than at my employees. So companies are re-evaluating the perks they offer to make sure they're on par with wherever employees might be tempted to stray.

Bigger paychecks, the perk of choice, aren't always possible or enough, leading some companies to expand programs that help employees balance work and family life and provide career development opportunities. Such is the case at Digineer, a small consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn., that provides project management, business analysis, and technology services related to Microsoft products.

Digineer has 63 employees and is ready to hire more BizTalk consultants, business analysts, and .Net developers. It added 30 employees last year and lost no one. With revenue of more than $7.6 million in 2005, it expects to grow to 120 people this year.

To make sure it keeps growing, Digineer is launching a program for its employees. Digineer University--or Digi U--offers job-related instruction, such as technology classes, consulting tips, time-management advice, and project troubleshooting, as well as courses that tap into nonwork facets of people's lives such as nutrition, health and wellness, and exercise.

Digi U will help workers grow professionally and personally, which ultimately helps business by providing Digineer clients with "deep technology expertise," says CEO Michael Lacey. Digineer consultants earn credits for each course and can trade them for merchandise--like coffee mugs or sweatpants--or $500 shopping sprees at stores like Nordstrom.

Consultant Lara Rubbelke joined Digineer in September and has participated in Digi U's coffee talks, informal breakfast discussions. Having spent six years at a large consulting firm, she finds the development opportunities to be better than those at the larger firm. "When you're a consultant, you're often only as good as your current project," she says. "But Digineer looks at its consultants as an entire package and helps you develop to the next level."