Computer consultant retains workers, clients with unusual policies.(The Dallas Morning News)

Cynthia Driskill had to learn that bestowing perks on her employees did not make her a great boss.

It shouldn't be about her. It needed to be about them.

"I thought I could get employees to like me by giving them extra time off, dispensation to ignore deadlines and Christmas presents," says the 54-year-old founder and president of CDG & Associates, a computer consulting firm in Carrollton. "It was all ego-driven. I wanted to be the hero."

The CEO came to realize that this ran counter to creating a work environment where people flourish. "Being the best place to work is not primarily about providing benefits. It's about allowing employees to be the best they can be by providing them growth opportunities."

Employee benefits have to make good business sense. That's important to CDG staffers, too, because they're shareholders through an ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan.

It apparently works. Since giving the staff a piece of the action five years ago, CDG has grown 400 percent.

CDG helps companies customize and maintain software to manage payroll, personnel and benefits needs. Clients such as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Neiman Marcus and Wyndham Hotels will pay CDG (the "G" is the vestige of a former marriage) about $20 million this year for its guidance.

Happy long-term employees make for happy long-term clients, Driskill contends. CDG's retention rate for both is about 90 percent.

Want to bond with your newborn? Bring the baby to work for the first six months.

Want to gear down? Go on an hourly basis and work as little as you like.

Burned…