Building a Family-Friendly, Inclusive Culture in Partnership with ADM
The Business Case
In 2021, ADM partnered with Parent and Professional (P&P) to strengthen support for parents navigating parental leave and return with confidence, alongside coaching for caregivers and working parents balancing career and family life — while equipping managers with the practical tools, language and confidence to offer empathetic, consistent support. In 2022, the partnership expanded to include menopause support — recognising it as a key Moment that Matters in many careers.
Together, these initiatives reflect ADM’s commitment to creating a culture where support is visible, practical and career-positive during the life stages that shape careers.
At the heart of the partnership was a shared belief that organisational culture is defined not by policy alone, but by how people are supported at critical moments in their career journeys.
Following a benchmarking survey with HR, several clear themes emerged:
- Career confidence after parental leave was often lower than anticipated
- Female and mid-career confidence during transition needed strengthening
- Dads didn’t always feel existing support was visible or culturally reinforced
- Workload, shift patterns and part-time transitions — particularly in male-dominated areas — could feel like barriers. Workload, shift patterns and part-time transitions — particularly in male-dominated areas — could feel like barriers to work/family balance and progression.
These insights helped shape a focused, practical response.
The Approach
Our support focused on key touchpoints that shape the parental transition and menopause experience — ensuring colleagues could access the right support, in the right way, at the right time.
- One-to-one coaching for employees navigating parental leave, balancing family and caregiving responsibilities, or managing menopause — helping them build confidence, reflect on priorities and plan their next steps with clarity.
- One-to-one coaching for managers, building just-in-time capability, empathy and practical confidence when supporting team members through these Moments that Matter.
- A dedicated digital portal, providing flexible, on-demand access to resources, guides, AI-led learning videos and policy information — particularly valuable for shift-based workers and operational teams who may not always access support during traditional office hours.
- Ongoing dialogue with HR, enabling us to adapt the programme, track impact and embed learning across the business.
By combining personalised coaching with accessible digital support, ADM ensured that support was not limited by role, location or working pattern.
Over time, this has contributed to a cultural shift — one where colleagues feel safe to talk about life stages, managers feel equipped to respond with confidence, and coaching is recognised as a practical tool for growth and retention.
The Results
The impact of the programme has been both meaningful and measurable – for individuals, teams, and the wider culture at ADM. For example, feedback from employees who participated in the coaching shows:
- 100% agreed the coaching has supported them to feel more confident
- 100% agreed the coaching has made them feel more supported by ADM
Repeating the benchmarking survey in 2025, the HR team collectively perceived:
- 19% increase in the strength of the female talent pipeline
- 14% increase in return from family-related leave
- 14% increase in retention following family-related leave
- 20% increase in how supported dads feel about taking leave
These indicators reflect not just improved systems, but real cultural progress — colleagues feeling more confident to stay, return and progress after key life events.
Within the digital portal, the parental transition and menopause coaching modules continue to be popular. Enhanced portal features, including AI-led videos and automated email prompts, help remind users of the support available and reinforce engagement over time.
Louise MacKay added: “What this partnership has given us is confidence — confidence that we are supporting our people at the moments that truly shape their careers. We’ve seen first-hand how the right support at the right time can strengthen confidence, improve retention and reinforce a genuine sense of belonging. For us, it’s about making sure our colleagues feel valued and supported when it matters most.”
Coachee feedback highlighted:
“I found working with my coach very beneficial to help me balance my family and work life. She was able to gain my trust very quickly and enable me to open up. My coach listened, challenged and supported me very well during the sessions giving lots of ideas and referencing books I can look into. The sessions were very beneficial for me, and I can’t praise the coaching support I had enough.”
“There are aspects to being a new parent that made me feel vulnerable. My coach assured me that all of the feelings / nerves I had were completely normal and it made me feel reassured and confident. I am still new to work and family balance, but my coach has prepared me with practical suggestions going forwards. Thank you very much!”
“I came away having information on how to handle myself in situations better. A more positive outlook for a negative overthinker, having the understanding that these steps are working towards not going to happen overnight and not beating myself up if I slip up.”
“Would highly recommend for life challenges and struggles we all face at some point of time. Perhaps more open conversation about mental health awareness and more detail around menopause effects, what to expect and challenges people face.”
“My coach was very open with me and used her wealth of knowledge to help during both of our sessions. She sent me an article that I found very insightful after our second session to buttress our last discussion. I thoroughly enjoyed the coaching and found it very useful at the time the opportunity was available to me. We explored how work integration could help alleviate stress associated with trying to juggle multiple things at the same time. Having my coach share her personal experience with some of the issues I have struggled with during our discussion was a great value add.”
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