menopauseintheworkplace

“Menopause is the last wellbeing taboo”.

 

Those are the words of today’s guest, Sharon MacArthur, founder of Miss Menopause, and workplace educator for womens’ health & wellbeing at work.

 

Sharon explains how only an embarrassingly tiny percentage of companies are REALLY giving menopause wellbeing support any prmoper attention. Many UK companies mistakenly believe they are, but they aren’t.

 

We touch upon everything from how we can do more to educate our companies’ staff to become aware of this health issue (ALL women face in their lives) and other unspoken implications when coming of menopause age…like mental health.

Menopause is a chapter of every woman’s life, and with 80% of women experiencing menopausal symptoms it can also mean that many partners, colleagues, friends also experience menopause indirectly. It can be a difficult time knowing when, how or what to do to support so I hope this is a helpful guide.

I’m joined by Steve Foulger (Director of HR Services & Organisational Design at Connor) – you may have heard my episode about menopause in the workplace with Steve for Connor Conversations podcast (link below if you haven’t) but this time we’re switching roles and Steve is guest and so I’d like to know his thoughts on menopause in the workplace and his experience of supporting women going through the menopause.

1. Do you know much about menopause?
2. Examples of where you’ve experienced complex menopause absence cases?
3. Advice on starting a menopause conversation
4. From a partner point of view, what would you advise?
5. Does male menopause exist?

Menopause awareness is building in terms of awareness of symptom management options and also how partners, friends and colleagues can support women through this chapter. If you follow me on social media you may have seen I spoke at the BMS annual conference in Apr. I spoke about nutrition and menopause, and as a menopause specialist (in addition to being a nutritionist) I’m passionate about supporting both women and the workplace to raise awareness.

If you’d like menopause awareness webinars for employees, manager training or menopause 1:1 consultations in your workplace reach out to me at hello@managingthechange.co.uk

Links

CIPD Line Manager Guide https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/line-manager-guide-to-menopause_tcm18-95174.pdf

Connor Conversations podcast https://connor.co.uk/landing-pages/connor-conversations/

Menopause will impact around half the UK population directly, and indirectly will impact all of us. Employers risk losing talent and facing expensive employment tribunals for failing to support women appropriately, and this week we hear from Sarah Airey, Head of HR at Biffa, a leading UK waste management company with a predominantly male workforce, who are doing fabulous things around diversity, inclusion and family friendly policies. As many as 1 in 4 women think of quitting their jobs, 90% saying they have no support from their employer. 18th October is World Menopause Day is designed to raise awareness and it's time for more employers to engage in this Really Useful Conversation and take positive steps. Start by downloading our free resource

As many as 1 in four women will think about quitting their jobs as a result of having to deal with menopause symptoms, and more Employment Tribunals are citing menopause as a factor, so today we have a Really Useful Conversation, at the start of Menopause Awareness Month, to help employers consider what they need to be doing to support women during this life stage, in order to avoid losing talent, experience, expertise and knowledge and avoid claims of unfair treatment or even dismissal with menopause as the reason.