Making menopause an inclusive subject that no one is afraid or embarrassed to talk about helps make an organisation a great place to work, giving women the confidence to ask for help and support if they need it.
Educating and informing leaders and managers to understand what menopause is, how it can affect a woman and how your business can help means they can have great conversations and provide the right support.
It’s the right thing to do, and if that’s not enough, it helps your organisations performance and financial bottom line too:
Great companies invest in their employees, and experienced employees are your business’s biggest asset. If menopausal symptoms are affecting performance or relationships, whether that’s obvious or hidden by the employee implementing ‘coping mechanisms’, your support can make a huge difference.
According to the Office of National Statistics, in 2016, the groups who experienced the highest rates of sickness absence included women, older workers and those working in the largest organisations. It is not clear how much absence is a result of menopause because this is not surveyed, however, 75-80% of women experience symptoms, 25% severe. So it makes sense that absence can be reduced with some simple, low-cost changes to support women experiencing symptoms.
Research last year said that 1 in 4 women had considered leaving work because they couldn’t cope with their menopause symptoms. According to a 2014 HR Review magazine review, replacing leavers costs in the region of £30,000, including direct recruitment costs as well as the less tangible elements of bringing a new member of the team up to speed through induction to the required level of performance.
Increasingly, women are winning tribunals when their employer hasn’t taken menopausal symptoms into account. The average cost of defending a tribunal is £8,500, which doesn’t include any awards or claimant’s legal fees, which you need to pay if they win.
Working closely with organisations, we help them introduce the right solution for them. These are often simple or minor changes with a small investment that could potentially achieve swift and significant returns.
Menopause isn’t a women’s issue. It’s time we all talked about it.