Hippos are the heart of our business.

    At the heart of everything, we are human which is why ‘Human’ is one of our core values. We believe in maintaining our people-focused culture and creating a supportive environment for all our Hippos. Once someone joins the herd, they are given encouragement and opportunities to develop themselves and explore their unique talents.
    We recognise the importance diversity plays in creating a successful, balanced, and fair organisation which is why Hippo prides itself on having an inclusive culture that welcomes diversity. We believe that diversity is particularly important given the nature of our work.
    As a user centric organisation, we create and manage services for people across the country, covering almost every aspect of society through our public and private clients. Many people who use the services we build will have different backgrounds, needs and experiences.
    We know how important it is to have a good work-life balance and we do our best to allow every member of the team to establish a working pattern that suits them, whether that’s being around for school pickups or taking a longer lunch to walk the dog whilst recognising a professional working day and the needs of our clients. As long as your team and your client has been considered then we’re confident in our approach to treating everyone like adults.
    We regularly ask for feedback from Hippos to ensure that people’s perspectives are shared and we have the opportunity to respond to that feedback.
    We recognise how important it is to support those who identify with a community as well as providing opportunities for allies to connect, share and educate in relation to those communities. Our communities of belonging include:
    – disability
    – ethnic minorities
    – pride
    – women in tech
    Marker days help us identify and celebrate awareness days and cultural activities that are important to our Hippos and our communities of belonging help ensure that they are inclusive and positive events.
    We also have a number of interest groups such as Green Hippos which supports both the company’s sustainability agenda as well as our environmentally conscious Hippos.
    Social Value is also an important part of Hippo culture. We offer 2 volunteering days a year for Hippos to give something back to the community, using their skills or experiences in a positive way, whether it’s to support a local or broader initiative.

To proactively challenge our biases and call out inequalities to support the industry as a whole to become more diverse.
To create an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all team members are recognised and valued.
To create a working environment that promotes dignity and respect for every Hippo.
To not tolerate any form of intimidation, bullying, or harassment, and to discipline those that breach this policy.
To make training, development, and progression opportunities available to all.
To promote equality in the workplace, which Hippo believes is good management practice and makes sound business sense.
To encourage employees to treat everyone with dignity and respect.

2023/24 Objectives

Be more informed about the DI&B position of the company and continue to make it an increasingly accessible topic.

Ensure people feel they have an ability to help develop company culture and influence through sharing views and opinions.

Create a more inclusive and transparent culture where people feel they can raise issues for leadership to hear.

Ensure the leadership team is approachable, accessible and operates in an inclusive way and that we can effectively connect and engage with all those working in Hippo.

Minimise negativity within the organisation and reduce both conscious and unconscious bias.

Manage differences of opinions and contributions to the workplace.

Ensure that what happens within Hippo with the intention of creating an “inclusive” culture does not alienate others.

Be robust in collecting data and metrics and to be curious about what we are presented with and ensuring the data is meaningful in order to drive continuous improvements.

To ensure we’re working with best practices, learning from our peers and accessing data-driven resources, we are aligned with the following initiatives:
  • Tech Talent Charter
  • Disability Confidence Scheme
  • Mindful Employer
  • Armed Forces Covenant

We also work with the following organisations to sponsor and mentor industry new entrants and provide additional learning and development opportunities for our team:
  • Generation UK
  • Code First Girls
  • STEM Ambassadors
  • School of Code

Equal Pay

Under the Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Equality Act 2010, we will ensure all employees are treated fairly and equally, both in general, and specifically, in relation to pay. We regularly review our pay to ensure there is no unfair treatment between genders and all are paid equally and fairly for doing the same job.

Gender pay reporting requires all employers with more than 250 employees to report annually on their pay structures and the gaps in pay between male and female employees. We believe in being open and transparent which is why you will be able to review our gender pay report on the website soon and we commit to regularly reviewing this information to ensure we are fair and compliant.

Read out Gender Pay Gap Report 2023