Put simply, because it is the right thing to do. One of Mantel’s principles is to ‘Make Things Better’, so fostering a family-friendly workplace culture was an obvious choice. Our people-first culture focuses on individualised experiences, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, especially when it comes to family.
We spend a lot of time at work, so we want it to be an environment where career and family don’t just co-exist, they truly thrive – making things better for our people, our clients, and our communities.
The reality is, technology consulting remains a male dominated industry, so we also aim to do our part as an organisation to support more women in entering and sustaining careers in tech, while also empowering our male team members to play more active roles in their family lives, whatever that might look like for them.
The FFW Certification provided a credible external benchmark that validated the culture we have worked hard to build over the last 8 years – one that puts our people first and celebrates their individuality.
We are incredibly proud of our family-friendly initiatives designed to support parents and carers, including:
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Our team members and their families have access to free and confidential counseling sessions through our EAP, tailored to their specific support needs.
Taking an individualised approach has had unique impacts for each of our team – enabling team members to find innovative ways of making their career and family life work together. In addition to a significant increase in the uptake of paid parental leave (increased by 50% for men and 100% for women), and 13% increase in utilisation of Wellbeing, Caring & Sustainability MyDeals, below is a snapshot of the positive feedback received from our team since our enhanced parental support and My Deal program has been launched:
“Watching the update on Mantel’s family and caring support and getting a bit teary at all the awesome support we have for parents and carers. Does it impact me? Nope. Am I immensely proud to work for a company that offers such great support? Absolutely!”
“As a first time mum, I’ve had my doubts about being able to have a sustainable work life in the fast-paced world of consulting whilst having enough time and energy to enjoy time with my little one. However, the leadership team at Mantel and my fellow team mates have all been incredibly accommodating and understanding, ensuring that I’m able to enjoy a fulfilling career whilst being able to dedicate time to what I value most in this season of my life, my young family…Mantel Group have been nothing but understanding and accommodating, making me feel heard and valued as an employee. For as long as I’m able to stay a Mantel Group employee, I’ll be nothing but grateful for the opportunities I have to joyfully grow and thrive as a consulting working mama.”
“I’m really proud of the refreshed approach to parental leave and being a family inclusive workplace. Being able to work flexibly helps me perform at my best without sacrificing commitments in my personal life.”
“The MyDeal structure is a fantastic benefit which is unique to Mantel Group. After returning from parental leave I was given the opportunity to have a MyDeal conversation to cover the one that I had missed while away (which I felt was very generous) and then benefitted from the opportunity to use my next MyDeal to help pay for childcare; something that really is priceless for my family at the moment! Being able to tailor your benefits to suit what you need at the time is amazing.”
A powerful benefit has been significantly improved sentiment through our annual Great Place to Work survey around family inclusiveness, parental leave, genuine care from leaders and trust in our team to balance work and family.
Championing family inclusive initiatives has also supported us to retain and attract top female talent, increasing female representation in senior technology, sales and leadership roles, which has seen a marked reduction in our gender pay gap.
We’ve seen a significant increase in the uptake of paid parental leave across our business, as well as a retention rate of over 90% for team members in the 12 months following their return from parental leave.
Overall, being known as a family inclusive workplace has strengthened our brand in the market and our employee value proposition, affording us a sustainable pipeline of top technologists and leaders eager to join our business.
Gui Lopes is a Principal Consultant and leader across Mantel’s Google Cloud & Data teams. Gui champions flexibility and healthy work life balance at Mantel and is a trusted advisor to our clients.
Gui has been with Mantel for over 4 years. Gui and his wife welcomed their first child in October 2024, and quickly realised their eagerness to travel back to Brazil to spend time with their family during these important early months with their little one, and ensure they had their support network around them.
Gui was able to access 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and Mantel and our clients supported him to travel to and work from Brazil for 5 months following the birth of his child. In the initial period, his preference was to continue working a 9 day fortnight, and he later transitioned to working 3 days per week, taking the remaining 2 days flexibly as paid parental leave. When Gui and his family returned to Australia in July 2025, we supported him to extend the timeframe for his remaining paid parental leave out to 18 months, so that he could take the rest of his paid parental leave to help with his wife’s return to work and the transition to childcare after her time off.
Gui was also able to use his Year 3 My Deal to pay for his home nursery setup costs, and his Year 4 My Deal to contribute to childcare fees.
As a leader at Mantel, Gui has exemplified what flexibility and a family friendly culture in consulting can look like. He’s leading by example, role modelling for his peers, how he has created balance as a new dad, and is now able to support his wife to do the same.
“Being able to live and work overseas for an extended period, working part-time while accessing paid parental leave allowed me to bond and spend quality time with my first son as well as take in all the advice and experience from my parents on how to raise a kid without having to worry about financial implications. It definitely gave me the time and support needed to transition to a new phase of my life!
The most important thing for me and my wife is family. Both our fathers had life changing health circumstances a couple of years ago, so being able to share raising our child with them for a few months, while they can still remember and actively participate was not only important for us, but also such a joy for them. It was a time we will forever cherish in our memories.
While going back to full-time work for me was not a big adjustment, for my wife who had spent a year taking full time care of Tomi to now go back to work, was not an easy decision. However, knowing that I was able to take time-off when required to help with child care transition, the inevitable sick days, bumps and bruises that come along with a healthy playful kid lifestyle, really helped her be comfortable and feel supported that she made the right decision.”
For Mantel, creating a family-inclusive workplace isn't just about doing the right thing, it’s about smart business. We've seen firsthand that when team members feel supported in their roles as parents and caregivers, they bring their best selves to work. This approach helps us attract and retain top talent, build a happy and engaged team, and helps our team to live our principles and make things better for our clients. This isn’t a fad, it’s the new standard for how modern, successful companies will operate, and we're proud to be leading the way.
