Please share a brief about your journey of transformation to parent-friendly work culture.

Enhanced parental leave and a culture of flexibility have played a central role in our journey toward becoming a truly parent-friendly workplace. Since July 2023, we have offered 20 weeks of maternity leave and 8 weeks of paternity leave, supported by flexible work arrangements and targeted wellbeing initiatives. These include access to wellbeing applications for employees and their dependents, parenting-focused therapy sessions, and curated resources for caregivers.

Our support extends into day-to-day operations, with project contracts that incorporate personal priorities and clear, practical guidelines for working parents. These efforts reflect our broader commitment to fostering a more inclusive, empathetic, and resilient workplace.

What inspired you to join this movement towards building a parent-friendly workplace?

As our firm evolved and the number of working parents within our community grew, so did our understanding of what meaningful support truly looks like. With “Care” at the heart of our values, it was a natural progression to explore how we could better support parents and caregivers in a way that’s both practical and impactful.

Parenthood is one of life’s most significant roles, and we recognise the importance of minimising guilt, offering real flexibility, and providing systems that enable balance. This led us to strengthen our policies, expand our tools, and create support structures that reflect the realities of modern caregiving.

Our approach is grounded in the belief that when people feel supported through life’s defining moments, they’re better able to thrive—both personally and professionally. Supporting parents isn’t a separate initiative; it’s a core part of how we live our values and shape a workplace that works for everyone.

Please share ONE unique parent-friendly workplace initiative that your organization is particularly proud of and has made the biggest impact on your employees.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting parents in the workplace. A broad range of flexibility tools has been introduced to enable tailored solutions that reflect individual needs and circumstances.

Support mechanisms are integrated across multiple levels of how work is planned and delivered. Project contracts, set at the start of each engagement, establish clear expectations around working hours, travel, protected time, and communication norms—allowing parents to proactively shape their work arrangements. The personal priorities tool complements this by capturing individual working styles, wellbeing needs, and external commitments.

Working parent and pregnancy guidelines provide teams with practical direction on how to support caregivers effectively and consistently. In addition, flexible options are available to accommodate different stages of parenthood, including modified hours, remote work, internal role rotations, and extended leave.

In your opinion, what are the key benefits organizations can achieve by shifting to parent-friendly workplaces and culture?

When parents are empowered to be present at home while continuing to grow their careers, they bring greater focus, energy, and long-term commitment to their work. Parent-friendly practices do more than support individual wellbeing—they strengthen retention, drive engagement, and foster a workplace culture grounded in trust.

Offering flexibility through tools like tailored project planning, adjusted schedules, and internal rotations has allowed us to meet the real needs of working parents without compromising on performance or growth. These practices also play a critical role in advancing gender equity—helping to level the playing field for caregivers and creating a more inclusive, people-centered environment.

As the world of work continues to evolve, parent support is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a business imperative. It reflects our values, yes, but more importantly, it directly contributes to sustainable talent development and long-term success. Supporting parents is about meeting people where they are and enabling them to thrive, both at work and at home. In doing so, we build a resilient, future-ready organisation—one that attracts top talent, retains experience, and stays grounded in what truly matters.

Can you please share two to three quotes from your employees as positive testimonials to how your parent-friendly policies have supported them in their everyday lives?

Nour Oueidat – Principal
"As a mother of two young children working in a fast-paced and demanding consulting environment, I deeply value the parent-friendly culture at Strategy&. Over the past 11 years, the firm has enabled me to grow professionally without compromising on the presence and care my children need at this stage of their lives.
From extended maternity leave to flexible working arrangements, I have benefited firsthand from policies that are thoughtfully designed to support parents. These initiatives have significantly enhanced my wellbeing and allowed me to spend meaningful, quality time with my family. Just as important is the support of my team, who actively encourage setting healthy boundaries between work and home life.
What makes Strategy& truly stand out is that it is not just about having the right policies, it is about creating an inclusive culture where employees are empowered to shape the people agenda. I am proud to be part of a workplace that listens, evolves, and supports working parents, making long-term careers in consulting not only possible for us but sustainable."

Swati Chaudhary - Principal
"Strategy& combines strong, inclusive policies with a genuine willingness to understand and support individual circumstances - something I’ve experienced firsthand. When I relocated to the UAE with my 3-year-old, I was offered local projects for the first year to reduce travel, giving us the stability we needed to settle in. I’ve also had the flexibility to structure my hours and work remotely to protect pockets of quality time with my daughter. This kind of support is effective because it’s rooted in culture, not just policy—recognizing that parenting isn’t occasional, but an everyday balance that calls for ongoing understanding."

Carlos Monfa - Manager
"Strategy& has supported me throughout every stage of my parenting journey — from generous paternity leave and comprehensive wellbeing benefits to the flexibility that allows me to be more present in my home without compromising my professional growth. With three children born in just three years, I’ve experienced firsthand the firm’s continued commitment to supporting working parents."

Hala Maalouf - Digital Marketing Director
"Balancing work and family life isn’t always easy, but at Strategy& Middle East, I’ve never felt like I had to choose. From the very beginning, I’ve felt deeply supported – by my manager, by the policies and flexible work options, and by a culture that genuinely cares. My manager, who is homegrown at the firm, has inherited this beautiful culture. She leads with empathy and shows me every day what it means to lift others up.
And when I became a parent for the first time, the firm’s maternity leave gave me exactly what I needed: time. Time to adjust, to bond, to find my footing in a whole new world.
Thanks to the flexibility here, I’ve never had to miss a milestone with my daughters. I’ve been present (truly present) while still growing, achieving, and being recognized in my career.
The firm continues to show up for working parents in various ways, like wellbeing apps, and parenting info sessions with professionals. These sessions remind me that I’m not alone, and I always walk away with fresh ideas, reassurance, and a strong sense of community. This has made Strategy& not just a great place to work, but also family.”

You support your employees in a special way through offering remote working, staggered hours, flexibility around school events and accommodating caregiving responsibilities.

We aim to create an environment where parents feel both trusted and supported

A recent example comes from a first-time father who shared how our support made a meaningful difference:

"Becoming a parent for the first time last year was an incredible but overwhelming experience. I’m genuinely grateful for the support the firm offered during this time. The paternity leave gave me the space to be fully present with my family, without the pressure of juggling work. My wife and I also took part in several ParentWell 1-on-1 expert sessions, as part of the New Parent Program—the guidance on infant nutrition, lactation, and sleep support was extremely helpful. Another highlight was getting to know other parents at the firm via info-sharing sessions and chat groups—their openness and practical advice gave us a real sense of community during those early months. It’s rare to find a workplace that invests in families this meaningfully, and I’m proud to be part of one that does."

Stories like this are a reminder of why we continue to evolve our programs, like the New Parent Program, to meet the real needs of our people. Because when we support parents, we support the wellbeing and sustainability of our entire workforce.

Could you describe a moment where insights from collected data (such as employee surveys, system generated) played a key role in achieving a positive result or overcoming a challenge being faced by your employees?

Survey insights revealed that while many employees appreciated the support available to parents and caregivers, the full spectrum of our parent friendly tools and policies was not known to all. In response, we took deliberate action to close that gap and strengthen awareness and the connection between policy and day-to-day experience.

We enhanced our parental wellbeing support with expert-led sessions, simplified access to key resources, and introduced clear, practical guidelines for working parents and their teams. Tools like project contracts and personal priorities encouraged open dialogue around individual needs, while targeted manager guidance ensured leadership was equipped to respond with empathy and clarity.

These efforts made our support more accessible, impactful, and genuinely felt across the firm.