From donuts to real conversations: how Athena listens with Hoogly
Athena's engagement scores were good, but hard to see beneath. With Hoogly, people just talk, stay anonymous, and managers can act straight away.
Athena Home Loans used to coax people into completing its engagement survey with the promise of donuts. The scores that came back were good, but it was hard to see beneath them. Since moving to Hoogly, Athena’s people have honest, anonymous conversations about their day, and managers can explore the results the moment they land.
| Company | Athena Home Loans |
| Industry | Home lending |
| Headquarters | Sydney |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Size | Around 150 people |
| Mission | To change home loans for good |
| Challenge | Good survey scores, but no easy way to see beneath them without a second round of workshops |
| Solution | Anonymous one-to-one conversations with Hoogly, with managers able to question the results |
| Results | Participation across the organisation that no longer needs incentives |
Challenge
Athena is a home lending company started in 2019 with a mission to change home loans for good, and it now has roughly 150 people. Its engagement scores were good, and interesting, but Liana Mawston, Chief of People & Community, found it hard to see what lay beneath them.
The usual next step is a round of workshops. Staff who had already filled in the survey are then asked to explain themselves in a room, and the exercise starts to feel futile. “I used to have to basically bribe people to participate in our surveys,” Liana says. “I’ll buy you donuts.”
Solution
With Hoogly, an employee simply has a conversation about their day. Their identity stays private, and the sentiment is pulled together across the team. Their verbatim comments are handled so they cannot give the person away, which means the sense of real anonymity is there.
Managers then see the results straight away and can talk to the tool. They can ask what a theme means, how many people raised it, or what people meant by a particular comment, and keep digging until they understand it.
Results
Participation across the whole organisation was high enough that the donuts are no longer needed. Liana also shared the story with Mohit Midha at Startup People Summit 2026, which we cover in Beyond engagement surveys: Athena and Hoogly at Startup People Summit.