2013 Choice Employers, 25 to 100 Employees No. 3*: GeoEngineers Inc.

With 19 full- and seven part-time employees, GeoEngineers Inc. offers no-waiting-period 401(k) and 403(b) plans with a 1 percent to 3 percent automatic match of employee’s annual salary. The company offers more than 20 paid days off and pays 100 percent of health insurance premiums for all employees. GeoEngineers also covers 76 to 99 percent of insurance premiums for dependents and benefits are extended to domestic partners and employees caring for aging parents. The company also offers tuition reimbursement for continuing education and transportation assistance and recently began offering a $20 per month subsidy for employees who ride their bikes to work at least three days per week.

Editor’s note: Answers provided by spokeswoman Jennie Hart.

What tools does the company use to recruit and retain staff? 
“To recruit the best staff we can find, GeoEngineers maintains active relationships with universities within our communities, offers referral bonuses for staff to recruit trusted connections within their networks and is dedicated to advertising open positions to attract diverse candidates.

To retain our staff, GeoEngineers allows staff to focus on strengths and collaborate on a variety of projects; offers competitive compensation and benefits; and strongly encourages continuing professional growth and development via professional registration, association activities and attendance at conventions and conferences. Internally, our business of professional consulting program helps employees advance within their careers by reinforcing key factors that lead to success in the consulting field. The program consists of a series of on-the-job technical, project management and senior-level leadership training programs designed to assist our staff in their career development.”

What is the average length of employment among staff, and what fosters such loyalty?
“The average length of employment is seven years. GeoEngineers believes in broad-based employee ownership, and the majority of our staff has a financial stake in the company. Our staff is truly invested, and that inspires loyalty.

We revamped our employee referral program to provide greater monetary incentives for quality referrals. In the past 12 months, nearly 30 percent of our new hires have come from employee referrals.”

What innovative ways have you developed to reward employees?
“We strive to recognize our employees in spontaneous and immediate ways, which was one of the main drivers behind the Take My Wheel Award implemented last year. One of GeoEngineers’ leading principals took time to honor a colleague with the first Take My Wheel Award – an actual bike wheel, painted gold and mounted on a trophy stand. In bike racing, a team member who has been in the lead and expending a lot of energy will temporarily drop behind a teammate and take a wheel, giving the first rider a chance to benefit from the other rider’s slipstream and recharge for another lead run. It is a small way to underscore the important role GeoEngineers’ staff plays in picking each other up when needed, and it can be shared with any employee to recognize their success.

This year, GeoEngineers rewarded its staff in another spontaneous and immediate way by adding a ninth paid holiday for 2013, giving all holiday-eligible staff a paid day off on the Friday after Independence Day, with the flexibility to use the day as a floating holiday.”[[In-content Ad]]