Keeping gender equity top-of-mind with HiBob’s HiBaby policy

Throughout this March, I’ve enjoyed seeing how different companies celebrate Women’s History Month and honor women on their teams, specifically on March 8th, International Women’s Day. I’ve especially appreciated seeing companies explain how they make gender equality a year-round priority. HiBob was no exception. 



Empowering women in today’s workplace is something I’ve been fortunate to experience since I started at HiBob. “Walking the walk” or, in Bobber language, “drinking your own Merlot,” is something that I’ve been witness to since my very first interview.  



How HiBob drinks its own Merlot



I started working at HiBob a month and a half before the birth of my second child. Yes, I was very pregnant. During my interview process, I mentioned my pregnancy every step of the way, expecting it to be an issue that I would be going on maternity leave very soon after starting a new position. 



A year and a half later, it’s safe to say that I was wrong in assuming that my pregnancy would be a hindrance. I knew HiBob considered itself a people-centric company, but the proof, as they say, was in the pudding. But actually, my journey to HiBob started with another woman. Someone strong and inspiring in my life who encouraged and empowered me to make the scary choice to switch jobs when I did.



We’re people first, employees second



When I decided to leave my previous job, friends, family, co-workers, and even interviewers for other companies asked me why I didn’t wait until I was on maternity leave. After all, why would anyone consider me? I had a job already with great managers, but the problem was that I didn’t feel passionate about the work I was doing there. It was actually my former CEO who convinced me to start looking for something that suited me better. 



I’m a big believer in transparency, so when she laid out her plans for my future at the company, I informed her that I didn’t think it would be the right move for me to come back after my maternity leave ended. Without missing a beat, she said, “Listen, I don’t want to lose you, but we are people first and workers second. If you’re not happy, you start looking now.” 



I argued, saying no one would give me a second thought when I was so far along. “The right company will,” she adamantly said. “Hiring is a long-term investment. A company that is so short-sighted that they will pass you up just because of that is not the company you belong in.” 



During this life-changing conversation with my former CEO, I didn’t realize how integrated the term “people first” would become into my life and my work. This philosophy, as well as her example of a good manager prioritizing what’s best for their people, is essentially what led me to HiBob.



Finding an organization where my professional path and passions meet



Since I already had a job, I had the luxury of only applying to companies whose work and mission I believed in. I was able to be picky and focus on the company culture , its values, and how they matched up with mine. It was the first time I had the fortune of being able to put the way a company made me feel over the need to pay my bills. 



During my search, I found that HiBob checked all of these boxes. Since I joined, the company has proven time and time again that it understands my needs as an individual with a life and priorities outside of work. As HiBob CEO Ronni Zehavi frequently says, “There is no such thing as work-life balance. It should be life-work balance. Life always comes first.”







What real people-first cultures look like 



My pre-mat leave time at the company turned out to be shorter than I had hoped. About two weeks after starting, I was put on bed rest and could no longer go into the office. No one batted an eye, and my manager and teammates told me over and over again that my health and the baby’s health were what mattered most. 



Bed rest turned into an urgent C-Section, and my maternity leave came quicker than expected. When my baby was born, I received gifts from the company,  my team, and individual co-workers. Some of my teammates even came to visit and celebrate with me. 



Four months later, I returned to work with my son starting daycare. HiBob’s flexible hybrid work model encourages us to put our work and personal responsibilities on equal terms. This made pumping for my baby as needed easy and low-stress because there was no stigma around pausing work for personal obligations like being a mother. I was able to pick my newborn and my older son up on most days, spend time with them, and resume working from home once they were asleep. True flexibility means being able to prioritize both my family and my job.



People-first policies make people-first culture official



During maternity leave, I received payment and benefits at a level that reflected that of someone who had been at a company for a year, not a month. If you had asked me at the time, I would have said that the company’s treatment of parents went far beyond expectations. HiBob, however, always looking to grow and improve, didn’t agree. A few months after I came back to work, they put out a new and improved Global Parental Leave Policy. 



In addition to providing all birth-giving Bobbers paid pregnancy and disability recovery for up to 15 weeks, the new policy (dubbed “HiBaby”) states that “all parents (birth-giver, non-birth giver, adoptive parent, foster parent, etc.) will now receive three weeks of