Bringing it all together
With a bit of education, openness and flexibility, managers can offer meaningful support to menopausal team members, helping them navigate the ‘rollercoaster’ that Teresa describes.
Our Humans at Work series spotlights important life changes and struggles employees face in their personal lives, with the aim to give insight to how managers can sensitively approach in conversation and support. The video accounts are all anecdotal and subjective to the people interviewed.
Whether it’s ourselves, our team members, our partners or our parents - the menopause will impact all of us at various points in our lives.
This guide will help you master some menopause basics and bust some menopause myths. Crucially, we’ll also be sharing a whole host of tangible tips from the experts to help you show up for your team members during this hugely important life stage.
But first - grab a cup of tea and hit play on the video below to hear from Teresa about her lived experience of menopause at work - and what she wishes her manager had done to support her.
Between 75% and 80% of menopausal people are in work
Around one in 6 people (17%) have considered leaving their job due to a lack of support in relation to their menopause symptoms - and an additional 6% do, in fact leave, as Theresa did.
More than 10% of people feel discriminated against because of their symptoms.
With so many people feeling the impact, "it's vital to create a supportive culture and physical environment for your menopausal colleagues” says Angela Wilkins-Green, a Menopause Champion and Mindset Coach who focuses on supporting women struggling with their symptoms through her business Green Path Coaching.
"We need to open up and normalise the conversation around menopause. We can do this by learning about the signs and symptoms, ensuring workspaces are adapted if necessary and offering a safe space for women to express their needs and concerns."
The menopause is a natural transition experienced by anyone with a menstrual cycle, occurring when they stop producing eggs. Everyone’s experience is different, but it can be a turbulent time due to changing hormone levels. Medically, menopause occurs when there hasn’t been a period for 12 months straight.
The period of time before the menopause is called perimenopause and it can last for a number of years. During the perimenopause, people can experience significant changes including irregular or heavy periods and many other physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms.
Myth #1: menopause is a ‘women’s issue’
Menopause impacts anyone with a menstrual cycle - not just women, but also trans men and non-binary people. Naturally, going through this important life stage also has a ripple effect on partners, friends and family - so it’s an everyone issue.
Myth #2: it only happens after 40
We tend to think about menopause impacting the middle aged. Whilst it’s true that most people experience menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, the NHS estimates that 1 in every 100 women will experience early menopause - either naturally, or due to medical reasons such as going through certain treatments for cancer.
Myth #3 - it’s all about the hot flushes
There are actually over 30 documented menopause symptoms, from difficulty sleeping and headaches to anxiety and brain fog. As these symptoms show up differently for everyone, they can initially be easy to dismiss or put down to the pressures of a busy lifestyle.
Now we’ve got to grips with some menopause basics, it’s time to explore how you can support team members experiencing menopause as a manager.
According to Liz Afolabi, an experienced People + Culture Leader and Consultant, “being open with your team members is key to establishing yourself as a menopause friendly employer. Take the time to educate yourself and work with your People team to craft messaging about the support your organisation can offer.”
Start with compassion and curiosity. As Liz says, ‘everyone’s needs will be different depending on the symptoms they’re experiencing, so it’s important to invite the employee to share what they’ll find most helpful in terms of adjustments’.
Be aware that you might need to make meaningful changes to make work sustainable for your menopausal employees - explore things like adjusted working hours, reduced workload and changes to the physical environment if you work in an office. Something as simple as access to a quiet, private space to deal with severe onset of symptoms can be transformative.
Continue to educate yourself about different lived experiences of the menopause - Liz suggests exploring the wonderful library of resources curated by Balance by Newson Health. If you’re looking at how to get started with embedding your Menopause policy into your DEI strategy, read Flexa’s article which explains more.
Provide plenty of positive feedback - anxiety and imposter syndrome can rear its ugly head during the menopause, so it’s important to provide a confidence boost when needed.
Signpost team members to any relevant benefits your organisation offers, e.g. health insurance to obtain treatment for symptoms, or to coaching to help them navigate this new life stage.
Share anyone’s menopausal status without their consent - as Liz says ‘this is confidential, sensitive data. Some team members will feel comfortable self-disclosing to their colleagues, others won’t - it’s an entirely personal choice.’
Assume everyone will experience common symptoms - a whole host of factors influence how each individual experiences the menopause - from genetics and existing health conditions to race and ethnicity.
Sweat the small stuff - as Teresa points out in the video above, it doesn’t cost anything to normalise things like losing your train of thought.
Ignore different cultural conceptions of the menopause - in some cultures, the menopause might have associations of sadness due to loss of fertility. In contrast, the Japanese word for menopause, ‘konenki’ translates as ‘renewal’.
Make it awkward - even without lived experience of the menopause, it’s possible - and necessary - to develop the vocabulary to talk about what your team members are going through without discomfort.
With a bit of education, openness and flexibility, managers can offer meaningful support to menopausal team members, helping them navigate the ‘rollercoaster’ that Teresa describes.
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