Year-old NerveWire has 275 employees and is adding at a rapid clip -- 30 per month. A big reason for NerveWire's successful growth: Having an executive like Campanello, whose job it is to focus on building a corporate culture formed by employees, not, as Campanello says, "handed down on a tablet" with rules and attitudes for them to live by.

At NerveWire, that has meant making it "OK for 'communities of interest' (based on race, ethnicity or personal interests) to come together and have a voice in building the culture."

Call it a new approach to an age-old problem of hiring and retaining workers. But increasingly in the dot-com world, where workers have the advantage of choosing an employer rather than just plain finding a job, employees and prospective employees are focusing on more critical life issues, such as balancing work and family, or finding a company that will let them try a different job without having to abandon ship.

Campanello, who has 20-plus years in human resources management, speaks in terms of an employer "supporting, investing in, celebrating and energizing" the lives of its employees.

"A Chief People Officer does a lot of things that human resources has done," he said. "But it's saying now the people strategies are as critical to the business going forward" as are other departments, like sales and finance.

Campanello and four other experts on hiring and retention issues were panelists at the first monthly Internet Breakfast Forum hosted by internet.com and boston.internet.com, held Tuesday at the Boston Marriott in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

In addition to Campanello, panelists included Clark Waterfall, co-founder and managing director of Internet executive search firm Boston Search Group; David Hayes, founder of HireMinds, a professional staffing firm focusing on creative, technical and strategic Web professionals in Boston and New York; Matthew J. Penarczyk, a lawyer on the technology and emerging companies team of Holland & Knight LLP, and an expert on stock options and compensation; and Leslie Pelton, a senior manager at Human Capital Advisory Services at Deloitte & Touche, an expert on designing effective retention strategies for employers.

The event was moderated by Chris Nerney, boston.internet.com's senior stock analyst. Prime sponsors were Deloitte & Touche and Hook Media.

The event drew a cross-section of more than 150 Internet professionals from greater Boston. Under the topic "Navigating the New Internet Job Market," panelists weighed in on competitive strategies for hiring and retention in the fast-evolving dot-com world.

While Internet firms may be known for dangling high pay, stock options and on-site Foosball tables to attract workers, panelists said many of those things are taking a back seat following this year's Internet stock collapse and 80-hour work weeks.

Increasingly, employees are looking to other tangible benefits, including a job that lets them better balance work and home life. Pelton, of Deloitte & Touche, said smart businesses are learning to differentiate themselves based on the quality of the workplace rather than strictly compensation. Many workers are looking for a company that gives them a chance to try different jobs within the organization - an effective way to combat the 'free-agent' mentality of today's job-hoppers.

Managers have to ask, "How do we make (employees) feel like a free agent inside the organization?" she noted.

Hayes, of HireMinds, said workers are beginning to realize that long-term benefits of employment are not only monetary.

"When you're considering changing jobs...consider, 'Am I having a good time, am I getting the skills I want to acquire? ...Those are things that don't correlate to money," he said.

Waterfall, of Boston Search Group, said employers more than ever are finding themselves needing to articulate a vision for the company in the eyes of prospective workers.

"I think it is more about vision than it is about money...Money comes second. Vision and culture come first," he said.

One way to foster a workplace where employees feel connected is simply communicating with them about what's going on. Hayes said dialogue between a company and its employees about what's happening to the organization is essential.

"Seventy-five percent of people who leave jobs (base the decision on) erroneous information (including) concerns over leadership, that the company is not doing well, the stock is down."

The companies with the best level of retention meet regularly with employees and talk about how the business is doing. He said employers would be wise to ask themselves, "When was the last time I asked my employees how they feel about the organization?...Make sure you're staying in touch with your employees."