A Pause for Menopause

Just writing this post has been hard for me, despite the fact that every woman, 50% of the potential workforce, will go through the menopause, I personally find it very difficult to think about, let alone talk about, it is one of those subjects that I feel, or felt should be taboo, even when it occasionally comes up with my friends as we inevitably get closer to ‘that age’ and start to perhaps experience some memory loss, hot flashes and many other (up to 34) perimenopause, or menopausal symptoms.

Watching Davina McCall on Channel 4’s programme Sex, Mind and the Menopause, I was amazed at just how little I and I am sure many knew and found the programme informative, insightful and in some respects shocking.

From a business perspective, every day I hear directly from the board room, how there is a lack of talent, succession, or capability.

I talk to companies who are crying out for female talent and diverse shortlists, yet here we are with the fastest growing demographic in the workforce, women of menopausal age, and we are losing 10% of this workforce every year due to their symptoms. The stigma is clearly huge.

The documentary shared that from a survey of 4,000, 45-55 year olds, seventy per cent reported suffering from brain fog.  Davina herself shared that she thought she would have to give up presenting and felt ‘ashamed’ of what was happening to her. Another lady Paula, a senior executive, told of how she had joined a big tech firm in her early forties, it was ‘a great job’ Paula said and she had a lot to learn, yet she couldn’t remember what she was doing, Paula said ‘I thought I had early onset dementia.’

Earlier this year the UK Government’s Women and Equalities Committee released a report into menopause and the workplace. The report centred around a survey completed by working women of menopause age, and revealed numerous findings;

• 31% had been forced to take time off work due to menopause symptoms
• Less than one third had told anyone at work that they were suffering
• Only 11% had requested adjustments to make their working lives easier
• Almost one in five respondents had no idea whom they should speak to in order to ask for extra support

The Fawcett Society have also recently produced a Menopause and the Workplace report, with key findings as follows:

• One in ten women who worked during the menopause have left a job due to their symptoms.
• Eight out of ten women say their employer hasn’t shared information, trained staff, or put in place a menopause absence policy
• Almost half of women haven’t approached their GPs and three in ten have seen delays in diagnosis
• Only four in ten women were offered HRT in a timely fashion

In the Channel 4 documentary we heard from neuroscientists Dr Lisa Mosconi and Dr Roberta Brinton who say women should begin taking HRT at the age hormone levels decrease, because later on, their brain will eventually become more unreceptive to therapy. This is why the fact that many women don’t reach out to their employers and or GP’s and GP’s won’t prescribe HRT until much later on, it is so important for us all to be aware of this as it could make such a huge difference to how these women feel.

Unfortunately, the menopause is not a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act, which means many women are leaving or being removed from roles potentially due to their symptoms.

The menopause is a key recruitment and retention issue, as women going through it are often at the peak of their professional career. We know that many companies are experiencing chronic shortages of top performing talent, we also know that a more diverse workforce and diverse leadership drive better business performance.

Here are a few simple steps that employers can take to help.

• Have a menopause policy/action plan
• Provide training and education to leaders and managers
• Offer flexibility
• Start the conversation

If you have any thoughts or experiences you would like to share, or if you would like me to signpost you to more information on menopause and the workplace, please do drop me a note at michelle@douglas-jackson.com

Michelle Ansell is a Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, a high-end retained executive search firm exclusively focused on customer (B2B and B2C), consumer centric and digital led business, delivering high performance, diverse, impactful leadership. For start-up, scale-up, award-winning, large scale transformation. PE/VC backed business. Growth, Exit, Turnaround. Positions we can support you with at C-suite, SVP, VP, Director and subject matter expert level for

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