Overview

Client

Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices

Industry

Corporate social impact & inclusion

Context

A global Women in STEM programme had been designed centrally, with limited input from the local markets and women it was intended to support. As a result, its structure and communications did not sufficiently reflect the realities of the people it was meant to reach. ACT was brought in to reconnect the programme with local insight and create an approach that could work across markets.

Services

  • Programme strategy
  • Audience insight
  • Employee engagement
  • Stakeholder coordination
  • Multi-market programme delivery

The programme had clear potential; the task was to make it work in practice across different markets

The Challenge
Designed centrally, the programme did not sufficiently reflect how women in lower-paid operational roles across local markets received information, assessed opportunities or fitted development into their working lives. Its structure and communications made sense at central level, but did not consistently translate into an accessible, relevant opportunity for the intended participants.
People & partners
We worked directly with women in the programme’s target group, alongside regional HR and DEI teams, senior leaders, compliance stakeholders, local programme partners and market teams. Their lived experience and local insight helped reshape the programme around what would work in practice.
The opportunity
Reworking the programme offered more than a chance to improve participation. It gave Johnson & Johnson the opportunity to understand where centrally designed initiatives can lose connection with local realities, and to build a practical, repeatable approach for designing, adapting and rolling out future programmes across different markets.

What ACT did

We worked with participants, local teams and central stakeholders to reconnect the programme with the realities of the women it was designed to support. The work moved through three connected stages.

Listen and diagnose

Understand where the centrally designed programme was losing connection with local realities.

Redesign for participation

Reshape the programme experience and communications so that participation was practical, relevant and accessible across markets.

Embed a repeatable model

Create clearer ways of working that enabled local ownership and gave teams a stronger blueprint for future programmes.

Here is how that work unfolded in practice

Phase 1: Reframing the programme around its intended participants

1

Review the existing programme

Examine its structure, eligibility, target markets and communications through the realities of the intended participants.

2

Work with the people closest to delivery

Bring together women in the target group with market teams, HR, DEI, leadership, compliance and programme partners.
3

Redefine where and how the programme should reach people

Identify the gaps between central assumptions and local realities, including the regions and countries where the programme could have the greatest relevance.

Phase 2: Rebuilding access and activating participation

1

Reshape the programme offer

Adjust the programme structure and participation approach so it better reflected the circumstances of the women it was designed to support.
2

Localise outreach

Develop market-specific communications and use appropriate local channels to reach potential participants directly.
3

Create momentum on the ground

Coordinate programme-drive activities and partnerships that helped turn awareness into enrolment.

Phase 3: Turning the work into a scalable model

1

Capture what worked

Turn the learning from the redesign into practical ways of working for local and central teams.

2

Support consistent delivery

Create a clearer framework for adapting the programme while retaining its core purpose across different countries.

3

Build the case for growth

Full enrolment and sustained delivery created the confidence to expand the programme from three to seventeen countries.

The Impact

1

Full enrolment

All available places were filled after the programme was reshaped to better connect with its intended participants.
2

Reach expanded from 3 to 17 countries

A more locally relevant approach helped the programme reach women across fourteen additional markets.
3

Long-term continuation

The programme was repeated over several years, showing that it had become a viable ongoing initiative.
4

A more repeatable way of working

The project created practical templates and workflows that teams could use when adapting future programmes across markets.
Driving Behaviour Change to Reduce Single-Use Plastic

Singapore Environment Council

Driving Behaviour Change to Reduce Single-Use Plastic

Building a Global Learning Community That Supported Growth

SWOOP Analytics

Building a Global Learning Community That Supported Growth

Building Internal Alignment and Client Engagement Around Sustainability Services

TÜV Rheinland

Building Internal Alignment and Client Engagement Around Sustainability Services