{"id":7816,"date":"2022-06-27T10:34:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T10:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/?p=7816"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:34:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T10:34:08","slug":"menopause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/?p=7816","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Menopause at Work in 2022\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"7816\" class=\"elementor elementor-7816\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3b51bf6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3b51bf6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-fbffa5b\" data-id=\"fbffa5b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37d370c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"37d370c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.17.0 - 08-11-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<blockquote><div dir=\"ltr\"><div dir=\"auto\"><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Each year 900,000 women leave work through lack of support around the menopause, this rate is eye opening and in a modern working world should not be the case. Women are the fastest growing working demographic and so it is crucial that businesses offer support, guidance and awareness to retain this valuable and significant sector in society. Often women who are experiencing peri menopause \/ menopause are suffering a silent battle, they feel isolated with no support because they feel it\u2019s too embarrassing or no one understands; all factors which risk sick days, feeling undervalued and under supported. We hope this article will inspire or at a minimum prompt your business to attain or revisit a menopause strategy and spark comfortable conversations about it- women should feel supported, understood, represented and safe at work and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Education<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Approximately 13 million women in the U.K are either peri- or post menopausal with symptoms that can last up to 15 years. The average age for a woman to go through the menopause is 51 however it can be earlier than this, naturally or due to surgery, or illness and symptoms may start years before the menopause- during the peri menopause phase. One way employers can support the menopause at work is through education and spreading awarness about these sorts of statistics. Approximately two thirds of women say there is a general lack of support and understanding around the menopause and so one way to better support women is by holding workshops or online classes to help your team become better informed. Workshops are a cost effective way to educate and enable empathy and understanding as for many people they are simply ignorant or unaware of the menopause unless they have been directly impacted by it through experiencing it themselves or through someone close to them. Workshops can help everyone become more understanding and even spot the signs of someone going through \u2018the change\u2019 in everyday life which gives an overall more supported work environment as more people can reason with why someone is having a harder day for example. The more people that are informed, the better the understanding and support can be given.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Be a leader<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">We understand that talking about sensitive subjects can be difficult, however attaining the right training can be especially useful when informing yourself and the team and becoming a leader in the working environment. Allowing your team to seek comfort in a well trained welfare team, HR team etc can be really useful and allows women to feel comfortable enough to perhaps make the first steps into speaking to someone about the changes they are experiencing. By becoming an internal \u2018expert\u2019 you are naturally filling the position of a leader who is trustworthy and dependable, which is the support most menopausal women seek. As the last 10 years have shown a new generation of individuals who are entering the work place, a wave of change has also followed this, things that were never publicly spoken about are surfacing, previous ideals are being challenged and becoming more acceptable and this should be encouraged at work too. Almost half of menopausal women say they feel depressed, A third of women say they suffer with anxiety and women commonly complain of feeling as though they are going mad, these are medical issues that should not be ignored, pushed aside or over looked. Get trained and become a leader in your team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Be understanding\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">One person in four with menopause symptoms is concerned about their ability to cope with life. Can we reiterate the fact that this is coping with LIFE. The menopause at work should be taken seriously and isn\u2019t just a tick box activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">A third of women will experience menopausal symptoms that can impact on the quality of their life but often these signs are invisible and symptoms are usually not apparent and comes in waves. The most commonly reported difficulties that menopausal women report at work include poor concentration, tiredness, poor memory, feeling low or depressed and lowered confidence. Creating a safe work environment and space for people to talk about what they are experiencing can help those who are going through \u2018invisible illnesses and disabilities\u2019 and this can be the case for the menopause too.\u00a0 All rooms for example can help realign employees and employers and create a calm space to destress and refocus which is hugely beneficial from a productive perspective as well as a mental health and well-being angle also. Every workplace has its own methods but the same narrative should flow throughout, that those who are experiencing the menopause have people who understand them and are willing to listen to them genuinely in a safe environment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Be adaptive and offer flexibility<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">1 in 4 women will experience severe debilitating symptoms when going through the menopause and so many women choose to go through this as privately as possible. Offering women hybrid working is a great solution to those who need privacy but still want to keep their hours and job. Offering flexible working, shorter working days or even four day weeks enable staff to feel supported at work without being singled out. Nuffield health have shown that 1 in 5 take time off to deal with menopausal symptoms, 1 in 50 are on long term sick leave and so offering adaptive and flexible working may lower this rate which ideally will increase retention of great members of staff. Currently there are only 29 NHS menopause clinics in the U.K (with waiting times for appointments up to 6 months) and so offering flexi work can be a really helpful benefit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Hire a coach<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">Trying to be an expert in a subject you don\u2019t know much about is unnecessary. Consider health cover for employers that includes the menopause. Having 1-to-1 menopause support for your team can be highly beneficial. For businesses with Bupa health cover for example, they have menopause-trained nurses on hand to offer personalised, clinical support and advice to your employees. The welfare of your team is paramount and so having a system in place with trained experts can be reassuring to the team, if your team is smaller perhaps offering more hypnotherapy based methods of coaching can be very beneficial.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">With a growing working population with one in three of the workforce to be over the age of 50, women experiencing the menopause whilst at work is significant and an ever important factor. According to the Nuffield research also, no less than 10 per cent of women seriously consider giving up work due to their symptoms. And females make up 77% of NHS staff, with an average age of 43! Employers should revisit current systems in place and be able to offer staff the essential support whilst going through the menopause. This intent will retain a hard working, significant and reliable portion of the workforce. Women should never be singled out or isolated at any stage whilst going through the menopause, we believe an educated population is the most important start to understanding subjects which may be out of our comfort zone yet that is the moment we meet growth. The menopause is a natural process of a woman\u2019s life-cycle thus clearer transparency on the subject will mean better understanding and support in the workplace and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each year 900,000 women leave work through lack of support around the menopause, this rate is eye opening and in a modern working world should not be the case. Women are the fastest growing working demographic and so it is crucial that businesses offer support, guidance and awareness to retain this valuable and significant sector [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-information","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diversifyconstruction.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}