Firm’s Compassionate Policies Earn Praise from National Group

by Tracy Ostroff
Associate Editor

Summary: Tilton, Kelly + Bell (TKB), Chicago, has been named one of the most compassionate employers in the country by a nonprofit group called The Compassionate Friends, based in Oakbrook, Ill. The Chicago-based architecture and design firm is one of 81 employers, representing 33 states, recognized for showing extra sensitivity to bereaved employees following the death of a child or other close family member.

TKB received the award from Compassionate Friends, Principal Martha Bell, AIA, explains, after a former employee nominated them for the honor. The employee recalled the kindnesses TKB showed her when she lost her brother. Bell says the award came somewhat out of the blue.

“Support for our employees during a devastating personal loss is our responsibility and the very least we can do,” says Bell. “To be recognized for it is a kind gesture, but we do it because we truly care.”

TKB, a woman-owned business that employs about a dozen people, has officially been in business for seven years, but the legacy firm’s heritage goes back decades. The architects’ award-winning portfolio focuses on a collaborative problem-solving approach to understanding their client’s needs from a strategic, analytical, and cultural point of view to go beyond aesthetics to further the goals and aspirations of organizations. Its diverse clientele includes major developers, real estate brokers, contractors, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, corporations, and individuals in both ownership and tenant roles. There is a real care of people both inside and outside the firm and a real “esprit d’ corps” among employees.

TKB pays for and gives its employees every opportunity to take advantage of sick, disability, and other benefits. Bell says that many of the firm’s benefits, including short- and long-term disability, kick in if the employee works at least 17 hours a week, the minimum the providers allow. Bell says the firm intentionally dropped their minimum hour requirement for part-time work and allows employees to opt in to the benefits programs at the earliest possible date.

Born of necessity
These are benefits the firm applies across the board. “You have to be even-handed,” Bell says. “Our employee manual looks like most others,” she notes, but they find a way to make their policies work for employees at their particular stage in life. The attitude was born partly of necessity. In their seven-year firm history, they’ve had several employees, including Bell herself, take advantage of the disability and bereavement polices.

“We expect a lot from our employees,” Bell says, and the firm’s flexibility recognizes the many hours the architects pour into the practice. TKB works to be accommodating in return. For example, when a male employee and his wife had a baby, the firm encouraged him to “take time to enjoy the special time in his life,” Bell says. When another full-time employee has a commitment at her daughter’s school, she will work other hours to make up the time and complete her work.

Bell advises other firms to consider what their businesses will allow. “There’s nothing particularly special about what we do. We just look at how we can make our policies work for our employees. My partner is right alongside me with these policies, and in many ways he is ahead of me. It’s our firm culture and what we believe: ‘What you give you will receive.’”