How DCCEEW used evidence and targeted coaching to strengthen gender equality
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Rather than introducing more standalone programs, the focus was on building a clearer picture of employee needs and using those insights to target support where it could have the greatest impact.
The Challenge
Like many organisations, DCCEEW had already invested in inclusion initiatives, employee networks and leadership commitment.
The opportunity was to better understand:
● where employees were experiencing friction throughout their careers
● how leaders could be better equipped to support key transitions
● which initiatives were creating meaningful impact
● where future investment should be focused.
The Solution
Grace Papers combined multiple sources of insight to create a more complete understanding of the employee experience, including:
● our Respect@Work survey data
● aggregated coaching insights
● engagement with the Grace Papers Career Coaching platform
● organisational data and trends.
Rather than relying on a single survey or participation metric, these insights were used together to identify emerging themes and inform targeted interventions.
One of these was a proactive coaching pilot supporting employees and managers through parental leave transitions.
The Outcomes
Over the first 12 months, the partnership generated strong engagement across both employees and leaders.
Key outcomes included:
● 1,2K+ employee responses to the Respect@Work survey, demonstrating strong participation and trust.
● 667 leaders participated, building organisational capability and shared ownership.
● An average of 390 monthly platform engagements, providing ongoing insight into employee needs.
● Clear key themes that helped understand exactly where the opportunities for improvement were.
● Coaching insights that brought the data to life, revealing the behaviours, mindsets and experiences behind the trends and helping identify where targeted support could make the greatest difference.
Together, these insights enabled DCCEEW to move beyond measuring participation alone and make more informed decisions about where targeted support would have the greatest organisational impact.
Spotlight
Rather than offering coaching only when employees requested it, DCCEEW piloted proactive support during one of the most significant career transitions.
Providing coaching BEFORE challenges emerged helped equip both employees and managers with the confidence to navigate conversations, expectations and return-to-work planning more effectively.
This shifted parental leave support from an optional wellbeing initiative to an intentional capability-building strategy that supports employee experience, retention and compliance with Positive Duty obligations.
Why this matters
Combining employee feedback, coaching insights and behavioural data creates a richer understanding of the employee experience than any single measure alone.
For DCCEEW, this meant being able to:
● identify emerging workforce needs earlier
● target investment where it would have the greatest impact
● strengthen leadership capability
● continuously improve the employee experience using evidence.