I was delighted to have been asked to be a panelist this week on the Menopause & The Workplace Roundtable, 3rd March 2022 hosted by Helen Tomlinson, Head of Talent, The Adecco Group UK&I with Guest Speaker, Carolyn Harris, MP, and founder of The All Party Parliamentary Group on Menopause and supported by The Purpose Coalition and The Social Mobility Pledge.
MP, Carolyn Harris shared some of her own experience of going through menopause and her struggle to maintain her usual performance and schedule, the myriad of symptoms, and the lack of recognition and support. Carolyn noted that some of that lack of recognition was also on her part and she was not knowledgeable enough about menopause to realise that this was what she was going through. It was only some 10 years later after starting HRT that she was able to realise the differences and symptoms herself.
So far Carolyn Harris and the APPG’s #MenopauseRevolution campaign has secured 3 key commitments from the Government:
- To amend the regulations to reduce the costs of repeatable prescriptions and improve access to HRT, so that instead of paying for a repeat prescription every month or every three months, women can receive a 12-month prescription for only one prescription charge.
- To establish a new a menopause taskforce, with Carolyn Harris as a co-chair, to encourage faster action and join up the dots across the system to take a coherent approach to improving support for those experiencing the menopause.
- Menopause will form a central part of the government’s Women’s Health Strategy and will consider how to improve access to HRT including through education and training for clinicians on symptoms of the menopause and to ensure HRT is being prescribed to women who would benefit from it.
More information on the APPG is available on Twitter at @APPGMenopause and www.menopause-appg.co.uk.
The roundtable discussion was an opportunity to raise awareness on the impact of menopause, hearing from Carolyn Harris MP and also from panel members on their experiences as leaders, managers and individuals.
The discussion was open, honest and with a real sense of understanding and connection. It was great that we also heard from male panel members sharing their experiences as husbands/partners, or honestly voicing their lack of knowledge and understanding about menopause. But more importantly, recognising their need as managers to commit to doing more to support their female staff in the workplace.
Carolyn mentioned a checklist of the symptoms of the menopause which everyone noted they’d like a copy of.
I am personally pleased that the issue of the menopause is beginning to receive a more open discussion. I, like many women, have had my own challenges with menopause and, as I shared with the panel, had no idea that there was a perimenopause or even what it meant. I didn’t realise I was going through it, and as I look back to my mothers’ life, I can now easily surmise from reflecting on some of her behaviours, that she was most likely going through menopause during the most difficult times.
Carolyn Harris MP shared some very startling statistics which I’m sure you will find interesting.
- Women over 50 are the fastest growing segment of the workforce
- 80% of menopausal women are in the workplace
- 14 million working days are lost in the UK due to menopause and perimenopause
- 42% of women have said the menopause affect their ability to do their job
- Six in ten menopausal women say it’s had a negative impact on their work – one in five women has left a job because of it
- Less than 10% of UK business have a Menopause Policy
- Effective menopause support can help organisations retain talent, reduce sickness levels and boost happiness at work.
Top this with the fact that 51% of the UK population is female, we really can no longer walk around with our heads in the sand and hope that it will go away. It is time for organisations to include menopause care in the workplace to be part of the provision.
Training of both managers and staff members will improve the understanding and acceptance of menopause and give it the place it deserves. What I mean by that, is an acceptance that menopause does not mean the end of a woman’s life or the value she has and is able to provide, but a natural and sometimes difficult period of change that can be managed and supported by all of us.
There was a reported 300+ delegates to this roundtable, which shows a need and an interest in this topic. Let’s break the bias. #Breakthebias
I’ll keep you posted on the continuing work on menopause and the workplace.
Panelists were:
- Helen Tomlinson – The Adecco Group
- Carolyn Harris MP
- Claire Jamieson, Talen Acquisition Manager, Jaguar Land Rover
- Helen Hill, Chief People Officer, DWF
- Jo Lawrence, HR Director, Exertis UK
- Vicky Thornton, Head of Operations, Three Sixty Company
- Nicola Saunders, HR & Rec Manager, Ormiston Academies Trust
- Angela Matthews, Head of Policy & Research, Business Disability Forum
- Sadia Bashir, HR Operations Manager, Shelter UK
- Gina Hine, Employability Director, Acacia Training
- Sarah Cox, Business Leader
- John Burt, Chairman, Loddon Social Enterprise
- David Taylor, VP Operational Excellence, Adecco, and
- Sandra Pollock OBE, Founder ^ CEO Open Mind Coaching UK.
Huge thanks to Helen Tomlinson for inviting me to take part. It was a pleasure.
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