Working in HR can be challenging, emotional, but ultimately very rewarding. You learn to wear lots of different hats, from caretaker to problem solver, all the while continually ensuring that you are working for the strategic purpose of the company.
At Hodge, this strategy is the same as it is for our clients as it is for our customers – to help in the moments that matter.
And let’s be honest, all moments matter when you are at work for so much of the time, and that’s why the health and wellbeing of our colleagues is paramount to everything we do.
Without their expertise we wouldn’t have a viable business, so we have to ensure that they are happy and well looked after. It’s essential to us as a business.
The financial services sector is often seen as quite traditional in its approach to HR and employment policies.
Being an inclusive company, both as an employer and as for our customers is one of the ways Hodge is trying to break this mould. Allyship is innate to our values, and we recognise the value of diversity and inclusion, both in the eyes of our colleagues and our customers.
We understand that we will always have learning to do, that the world is not static, and so we’re trying remain on the front foot of change in creating an environment that is fundamentally fair for our colleagues.
This is particularly key for us when attracting new talent to the business.
At 30, I’m a relatively young chief people officer, and I know what people of my generation are looking for in a job and workplace – which is a company that offers flexibility, and an employer with a social purpose.
Our Colleague Alliance and Inclusion Network are groups of active employees at Hodge which regularly meet to offer feedback and ideas to the senior management team, helping to improve our colleagues’ working lives.
They are wonderful initiatives which really make a difference to what we are now working towards HR-wise at Hodge.
Thanks to the Inclusion Network, we’ve introduced augmented parental leave across the business. Regardless of gender or sexuality, we recognise parenthood is parenthood, and so our colleagues have access to an equal amount of fully paid leave within the first year of their child’s birth.
This initiative hasn’t just helped attract younger colleagues but has also been beneficial in the retention of colleagues of all ages.
We also introduced paid carer leave, neonatal leave, as well as changes to flexible working requests more than 12 months before the legal requirement to do so, as we recognised the benefit it would bring to our colleagues, and therefore our business.
The key to the success of these initiatives has been to continually review our policies, learning from our colleagues and enhancing them when it’s the right thing to do.
Equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) overall is a key driver for us at Hodge and again our colleagues play a pivotal role in this area.
The well-established Inclusion Network has led the way on recent ED&I initiatives and has proved to be truly impactful in embedding inclusivity into our culture.
So, long gone are the days for those working in banking dressing in power suits and carrying Filofaxes – we’re a diverse bunch, all bringing our own skills, experience and backgrounds to bear on what we do day in day out for our customers and colleagues.
And while the battle to recruit and retain that diverse workforce is one I continue to tackle every day, we’re also working hard to stand out in a competitive market, and I think we have the balance right here at Hodge.
We have a social purpose (being 79% owned by the Hodge Foundation), we’re transparent, flexible and family orientated, which goes a long way to attracting the right people – Hodge people – to our ranks.
Charlie Ellaway is chief people officer at Hodge
