The hidden gender equity issue in your workplace

Menopause is an inevitable life stage impacting over a quarter of Australia's workforce, yet remains a silent issue in most workplaces. Addressing menopause is a powerful, practical way to advance gender equity, close the pay gap, retain top talent, and improve workplace wellbeing. By normalizing conversations and providing meaningful support, organisations can flip the switch to true inclusion and reap the benefits for everyone.

26% of the Australian workforce are at risk of a serious and inevitable health condition (ABS). They may experience anxiety, sleep disruption, depression, musculoskeletal and joint pain, headaches, suicidal thoughts on top of 28 other potential symptoms. They are you, your partners, your sisters, your daughters, your mothers, your friends, your colleagues. They are women and the condition is Menopause.

Full disclosure – before being approached by Grace Molloy, CEO of Menopause Friendly Australia, I had an embarrassing limited knowledge about menopause myself. Since then, I have developed an unwavering belief that menopause awareness and support are vital elements of the gender equity equation.

If your workplace has a gender pay gap, underrepresentation of women, substandard inclusion and psychosocial safety or a lack of women in leadership roles – menopause may hold the key!

How would you feel experiencing a hot flush during an important presentation, a wave of tiredness at a client meeting or being hit with brain fog during a performance appraisal? Those are just a few of the lived experiences of women trying to juggle work and menopause.

In the talent crisis every industry is facing, it’s significant that 1 in 4 of the women in your workplace will consider leaving work during menopause (Fawcett Report UK).  Women also retire 7.4 years earlier than men often at the peak of their careers contributing significantly to the lack of women in leadership roles and the gender pay gap. It’s no coincidence that the average age women retire is 52 and the average age of menopause is 51 (Menopause Friendly Australia).

Education and action to support employees experiencing menopause will not only help retain crucial talent, improve your productivity, and reduce safety risks, it will also attract crucial talent. Employees of today have high standards around gender equity and inclusion and diversity more broadly. They are looking at your website, your social media, annual reports and ESG reports for markers of a diverse and inclusive employer.

If all the above ‘carrot’ isn’t enough to inspire action, there is a ‘stick’ you should consider in the form of new WHS legislation which puts psychosocial hazards on the same footing as physical hazards. With 73% of women citing increased stress and anxiety during menopause (Circle In), acting now to improve understanding and support is key to minimising injuries never mind avoiding costly claims.  

Proof that Australia is in the dark ages when it comes to menopause comes from research by Circle In which showed that 70% of employees experiencing menopause don’t feel comfortable talking about it at work. In this day and age that is simply unacceptable.

Enough about the problem, now onto the solution! What can workplaces do to support employees experiencing menopause? My advice is to engage the experts. Menopause Friendly Australia is a one stop shop for all your needs from training to engagement through to policies and practices. CEO Grace Molloy and her team provide step-by-step guidance and support including monthly workshops, on demand education videos, best practice case studies, ready-to-use communication and engagement toolkits, training plans and resources to support menopause champions in your workplace.

CEOs and other leaders need to become aware and educated on menopause including the signs, symptoms, and stages. This knowledge needs to be filtered down to every single employee, regardless of gender. Menopause affects all employees either directly or through relationships with colleagues, family, and friends. We need to normalize the conversation on menopause, starting at the top. If the CEO and senior leaders aren’t openly discussing it, the rest of the business won’t follow suit or certainly not publicly which is the whole point.

If you really want to get serious about becoming a menopause friendly workplace, consider pursuing Menopause Friendly Accreditation. Grace and her team will guide you on the standards for achieving accreditation. They also provide CPD accredited manager training that is tried, trusted, and tested by hundreds of employers. Companies in the United Kingdom are already on the menopause friendly bandwagon and are reaping the benefits.

I’m all about working smarter, not harder. That’s why I love the solution of addressing menopause in the workplace. By shining a light on this inevitable life stage, we can positively impact multiple gender equity outcomes including the gender pay gap, workforce participation of women, gender balance in leadership and psychosocial safety and inclusion for all. The symptoms of menopause are very similar to stress related workplace injuries so as with many solutions to gender equity, acting on menopause benefits everyone. I also guarantee you will get thanks, loyalty, and appreciation not only from your female employees but also the broader workforce as they better understand their partners, sisters, mothers, friends, and colleagues.