How menopause impacts your business
Psycho-social care
67% of women say they are concerned about how menopause is impacting their mental health. Addressing the mental health impacts of menopause is key to ensuring the psychosocial care of your people.
Raising awareness about menopause and its potential impact on mental health is vital to ensuring your psychosocial care plan is comprehensive. Starting the conversation about menopause is a great first step in supporting women and encouraging them to seek help.
Attracting talent
Experienced and skilled people are sought after in today’s workforce. Highlighting your commitment to supporting colleagues at work is key to attracting talented leaders.
Become an employer of choice by acknowledging how menopause can impact colleagues in your workplace. By addressing the needs of women experiencing menopause, you attract talent by demonstrating you are a great place for people to work and thrive through all stages of life.
Diversity Equity & Inclusion
Supporting those experiencing menopause is key to achieving your DE&I targets. Menopause and leadership opportunities often coincide and some can feel overwhelmed by the changes that are impacting them both physically and emotionally.
In organisations where menopause is stigmatised, women avoid applying for promotions and many exit the workforce early. For the 25% of those with extreme symptoms, many quit work in their prime leadership years for fear of being typecast as emotionally unstable.
In Australia, women intend to retire at 64 years of age, but the average age of retirement is 52, just one year after that of the average age of menopause. 45% of women who retire before 55 years of age say their own wellbeing was the reason for retiring early.
There are simple steps you can take to elevate menopause support at work which can help you achieve your gender diversity targets.
Productivity
83% of women experiencing menopause say their symptoms negatively impact their work performance. For many women, the symptoms of menopause appear gradually over time starting in their early 40s. Many don’t identify the changes as being linked to menopause and others seek help but don’t get the right care.
Raising awareness of menopause at work and providing tools and advice to those experiencing symptoms can encourage colleagues to get the help they need. Not only will this ensure everyone can thrive at work, it could also improve your business productivity.
Turnover
1 in 5 women experiencing menopause are considering leaving work. The impact of high turnover is felt throughout organisations both financially and culturally.
The Australia and New Zealand HR Industry Benchmark Survey 2021 estimated the average cost of replacing one employee as $23,000.
Providing flexibility and adapting your workplace policies to become a menopause friendly workplace can help reduce your turnover.
Absenteeism
Menopause can bring a diverse range of symptoms. For 25% of women their symptoms are so extreme they cannot function in their day-to-day lives. Many menopause aged women take time off work to cope with these symptoms. Some don’t seek help and for those who do, they often don’t get the care they need.
Workplaces that raise awareness about menopause and encourage colleagues to seek help for their symptoms report lower rates of absenteeism and higher rates of satisfaction at work.
Becoming a menopause friendly workplace can help reduce the burden of absenteeism.
Menopause care involves everyone
Partners
Partners of those experiencing menopause may struggle to identify the cause of symptoms and don’t always know how to offer the right support.
Understanding what menopause is and how it affects those experiencing it can help partners support their loved ones.
Families
Women are living longer and having children later, and menopause symptoms are starting earlier in life. Many first experience symptoms in their early 40s.
Families feel the strain of menopause too. Symptoms such as low mood, anxiety, difficulty sleeping and irritability impacts on family units. 80% of those experiencing marital problems said menopause put further strain on their family life.
Raising awareness about menopause can help ease this challenging time and keep families strong.
Managers & Leaders
People experiencing menopause want support from their managers and leaders but they don’t always know whether it is appropriate to raise the topic.
Managers and leaders want to help their valued team members who may be struggling through menopause alone. Unfortunately, many managers don’t know how to raise conversations or deal with work related issues caused by menopause symptoms.
By providing support to managers and leaders, workplaces can be an environment in which colleagues feel safe to talk about how menopause is impacting them and get encouragement to seek the help they need.
