Basis Technologies was in the right business when the pandemic hit in 2020 and sent office workers to home offices. Basis builds software that helps standardize business practices and fosters remote collaboration.
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“One of the core features of the platform is to unite remote teams through in-app messaging and communications,” Katie Risch, chief marketing officer of Basis Technologies, said in a recent phone interview. “And that’s actually been tremendously helpful for us and an unintended benefit of the platform.”
The Chicago-based software company, formerly named Centro, also doubled its diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Risch said that 40% of new hires are from the BIPOC community, starting after the first quarter of 2021.
Basis—which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021—publicly filed for an IPO Jan. 14. Despite the growth ahead, it remains committed to a “manifesto” of values that the founder and CEO Shawn Riegsecker penned at the start. The founding document emphasized the success of the individual over the corporation, Risch said. “It is still very central to how we operate today and what we strive to be as a corporation,” she said.
Basis has programs that exemplify how it strives to uplift employees, Risch said. There is an emphasis on personal, not just professional, growth, by offering life coaching, parental support and mental wellness programs. “There are a few benefits that we offer to help our employees deal with additional stress and anxiety,” Risch said.
Employees also recently united in community groups to support one another, Risch said. There are 11 such groups centered on categories including Black excellence, women at work and principles of giving. Risch said that there is a new attitude among today’s workforce that Basis is trying to promote. No longer are companies recruiting based on perks such as video games, snack rooms and beer on tap. “What people are looking for today is probably a lot more meaningful than that,” Risch said.
