Are menopause policies as effective as we like to think?

You might have noticed a number of articles (such as this one: Three-quarters of businesses still have no menopause policy, study finds) highlighting how not enough UK organisations have a menopause policy in place. I wanted to share with you my own opinion about menopause policies.

Menopause policies have the following benefits:

Signpost towards support available
Provide a framework for managers to apply consistently
Show your acknowledgement that menopause is a workplace issue

However, a menopause policy is just a starting point.

At the end of every menopause awareness session that I deliver, I ask attendees what would they like further help with from their organisation, when it comes to menopause support.

And what always stands out are these three things:

“Menopause training for line managers, so they are better informed and therefore able to support their teams and colleagues through this time.”
“Further sessions on how to manage symptoms”
“More sessions like this one – a refresh possibly every 6 months or so”

It’s quite rare that employees express a need for a menopause policy.

Typically, a policy doesn’t cover the following 2 aspects:

It’s not helping line managers and team members to feel comfortable to talk about menopause; and so they might not even get to a point where they will use that policy; or they will not necessarily use it in a collaborative way that enhances relationships in the workplace.
It isn’t motivating employees to help themselves; and therefore you will continue to see menopause-related absenteeism, a drop in their performance and in some cases menopause-related resignations. The opposite happens when employees are given the tools and resources to manage their symptoms, because they start taking responsibility for how they’re feeling and how they are treating their menopause symptoms.

At Your Work and Life in Balance we help organisations to educate and increase awareness about menopause, as well as empower those suffering from it to manage their symptoms.

We do this through the following solutions:

Menopause training sessions – for all employees within the organisation and specifically for line managers
Workshops that equip those suffering with menopause symptoms with tools and techniques that will reduce or eliminate those symptoms
1:1 Coaching for mid-senior female employees within the organisation who suffer with menopause symptoms

Organisations that are able to offer a comprehensive menopause initiative that includes training and practical workshops will reap the benefits of increased productivity, reduced menopause-related absence and huge cost savings from retaining highly experienced and able employees.