When Aisha Bellel started talking to recruiters for Basis Technologies about a job in the accounting department, it sounded too good to be true.
The recruiters told her she’d be able to meet one-on-one with the company’s chief financial officer right away. And she’d be part of a team that cared about her as a person, not just as an employee.
“I was thinking, this can’t be serious,” Bellel said. “Surprisingly, everything they said was true.”
Bellel, who has spent the past 16 years working at Basis, now serves as the director of the accounts payable team — which she calls her “extended family.”
Basis Technologies, which is headquartered in Chicago and has about 250 employees in the metro area and 900 overall, is a digital platform for advertising agencies and brands. The software company serves as a “single source of truth” for marketers, where they can buy and manage ad campaigns all in one place, according to Katie McAdams, Basis’ chief marketing officer.
But the company, which ranks sixth among midsize employers on the Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces, as measured by consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania, isn’t just looking to succeed in the advertising space. In 2001, CEO Shawn Riegsecker laid out a plan in the company’s founding manifesto for Basis to be a “blueprint” for how other corporations should operate.
“If a company’s goal is to increase the numbers, they should stop focusing on them,” Riegsecker wrote. “They should begin focusing solely on the well-being of their employees and customers and, in turn, the numbers will take care of themselves.”
While its work has changed in its 23 years of operation, that mission has stayed the same. Basis remains a “people-centric” organization, said Emily Barron, chief people officer.
Employees said they appreciate the flexibility of working at Basis, which defies the traditional in-person, 9-to-5 model.
As a “remote-first” workplace, Basis has maintained its Chicago office but mostly uses it for meetings and training programs. It shifted to remote work during the pandemic and doesn’t plan to go back.
But Danielle Douglas, a recruiting manager at Basis, still sees other employees weekly.
“We meet at a coffee shop, or I have my one-on-one (meetings) with one of my direct reports walking along the lake,” Douglas said. “We find opportunities to connect.”
Basis has adopted a four-and-a-half-day workweek. Provided there aren’t any client needs, employees can log off at 12 p.m. on Fridays and get a head start on the weekend.
Many companies started offering a similar concept — logging off early on “Summer Fridays” — because of the pandemic. But Basis decided last year it would test the policy year-round.
“If we didn’t feel that the business was still able to perform with a shortened workweek, it wasn’t going to be something that we could offer,” Barron said.
It went even better than expected, she said. So the company rolled out “Flex Fridays” permanently at the beginning of 2024.
“If we really think about how we’re spending our time, we can work smarter and not have to work harder,” she said.
Employees use their extra time on Fridays in a variety of ways. Douglas, the recruiting manager, uses the time to pursue side projects. She runs an online cookie shop and teaches yoga part time.
“You have your 9-to-5 and your 5-to-9,” Douglas said. “Basis really unlocks that opportunity to explore other passions.”
“We’re treated like adults. We’re trusted to get our work done well,” she added.
The company has also held training sessions that focus on saving employees time by making meetings more effective.
“It’s, like, pausing. Do you really need this meeting? Does it really need to be 30 minutes, or can it be accomplished in 15 minutes?” Barron asked. “Can you cut it down to the five key stakeholders?”
Giving control to employees over how and when they work, Barron said, improves their mental well-being.
“People are finding time while their kids are still in school, they could go to a workout class. They can take a cooking class. They can read a book that they haven’t had a chance to read,” she said.
Every four years, employees also get to recharge on a three-week paid sabbatical offered on top of yearly paid time off. On her last break, Douglas said she spent a week in Greece with her husband, and the next week in Italy with friends. She also took some time to relax at home.
“It’s such a cool opportunity we get to pause and unplug,” Douglas said. “It is such a luxury.”
In 2020, Basis signaled its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, making a corporation donation to the Black Lives Matter movement and designating Juneteenth as an official company holiday.
The company has continued to emphasize the importance of DEI in the years since.
“We’re hearing other companies in this space kind of pull back a bit, or deprioritize the DEI efforts,” McAdams said. “Rather than (our CEO) following suit, he’s doubled down and said, ‘No, this is something that is really core to our culture.’’’
The company regularly holds virtual Basis Conversations, companywide discussions that often address diversity issues. One held recently focused on how to talk to your kids about race.
While hiring for new positions, Basis also focuses on seeking out and recruiting talent from diverse communities.
“We never are going to just search for talent within who comes to us,” Douglas said. “Who might be out there that could be the perfect hire?”
The company also has several employee resource groups, some of which are focused on racial and cultural identities. Bellel, who is part of the Black Excellence resource group, says she appreciates having safe spaces for employees to get together.
“We might talk about music one time, we might talk about our favorite recipes,” Bellel said. “And they’re not exclusive. They invite everyone.”
Bellel said Basis was implementing DEI initiatives before it became popular to do so.
“Even if we didn’t call it (DEI), we always believed in that,” she said. “I hope we continue doing this forever, even if we call it something else.”
Jenny Hellwig is a freelance writer.
