Women in Finance

The Women in Finance Charter is a pledge for gender balance across financial services. By signing the charter, we pledge to be amongst the best businesses in sector, working to build a more balanced and fair industry in the UK. We believe diversity and inclusion is a simple concept – to have the right people, regardless of background, in the right role. We value individual talent within a team framework and respect that high standards and innovation contribute to our high performance culture.

Our progress in 2023

When we signed up to the Charter in September 2019, we had 35% female representation in senior management.

We were incredibly disappointed to not meet our initial target of 45% by 2022 and since this time, we have re-committed to the Charter with the revised target of 45-50% of senior leadership roles to be held by women by 2026. As of September 2023, we believe we are on track to meet our target.

Hodge is committed to achieving a truly diverse, equal and inclusive workforce for all colleagues across all aspects of diversity. We are committed to ensuring we continually gain feedback, educate our colleagues and review our policies and practices to ensure a culture where all colleagues can bring their best self to work, and have equitable access to career opportunities and growth.

Our progress in 2022

When we signed up to the Charter in September 2019, we had 35% female representation in senior management. We purposefully set ourselves a stretching and ambitious target of achieving 45% female representation at a senior level by 2022. On reporting to the HM Treasury this year, we were disappointed to confirm we have fallen short of our target with 38% female representation at a senior level . Whilst still above the industry average and an improvement from when we signed, we will endeavour to do more.

While we are incredibly disappointed that we will not be meeting our target by the end of the year, we remain committed to the Women in Finance Charter and all other aspects of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We have already re-committed to the Charter a new target of achieving 45-50% female representation in senior management with a revised date of 2026. Work is already underway for us to assess our areas of opportunities, our lessons learned and a revised ED&I strategy to continue to work towards becoming a truly inclusive, diverse employer for all colleagues and underrepresented groups.

Our progress in 2021

When we signed up to the Charter in September 2019, we had 35% female representation in senior management. As of 1st September 2021, we have 39% female representation in senior management. We are very proud to say that over the last year, we have further increased female representation on the Executive Committee from 20% to 37.5%.

In order to support our female employees internally, we have 29 female employees currently working towards a qualification in leadership or coaching, with 20 women currently working towards completing their ILM qualification. Additionally, we have a further 9 women working towards completing their professional qualifications in finance or compliance.

More broadly, Hodge remains committed to all aspects of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for colleagues from all backgrounds regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, faith or religion and age. It is our intention to be viewed as one of Wales’ most inclusive employer and we are actively undertaking activity for this ambition to become a reality. We have established our own ED&I network with colleagues from across the business and feedback channels to ensure our colleagues are able to share what we’re doing well and areas we need to prioritise. We are continually reviewing our internal processes and practices, including reviewing our parental leave policy to ensure inclusivity for all parents, regardless of gender or circumstance and refreshing our recruitment policies to ensure equitable opportunities for all applicants. Furthermore, we are committed to demonstrating our commitment both internally and externally to all facets of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion by aiming to be a Race at Work Charter signatory and Disability Confident Leader employer.

David Landen CEO: “Hodge has made progress toward our stated goals for building a diverse and inclusive business; we know we have more work to do to meet to our ambitions but we continue to work to understand, support and drive an organisation that truly wants to be inclusive. I believe a diverse organisation provides more diverse views; is more representative of our customers and ultimately will be more successful and I and the Board remain committed continuing to ensure Hodge is a progressive organisation where anyone can succeed regardless of their background”.