Mandy Smith, Senior Human Resources Business Partner
No woman’s experience of the menopause is the same. Whilst some women experience little to no symptoms, others suffer significantly. For the latter, the menopause can have an enormous and debilitating impact on their everyday lives. Migraines, hot flushes, palpitations, problems with concentration and memory (commonly known as brain fog), are just a few of the many and various symptoms women experience.
It is no surprise that countless women leave their jobs and the workforce because of their experience of the menopause and its subsequent negative impact on the ability to perform their jobs. A hard-hitting reality which needs addressing. Here at Close Brothers Motor Finance, we have been working hard to support our menopausal employees and have implemented policies and measures to achieve this specific aim.
To make a change, you first need to acknowledge the problem and understand its causes. This importantly involves the encouragement and acceptance of employees having conversations about the menopause. We have recently created a MenoChat Forum for member colleagues to share their experiences and offer support at any time. Starting with only a few participants, our MenoChat group has grown with speed, now consisting of approximately 50 members. A safe place to talk is step number one to improving support for menopausal employees.
These important conversations allow employees to highlight where their life at work can be made easier and ways employers can be more supportive. For example, staff at Close Brothers are now able to book menopause related absences and sufferers have access to talk with mental health first aiders. Small changes can have a huge impact. Flexible working or providing fans are easy ways menopausal women can be supported.
Going hand in hand with creating a safe space for menopausal women to talk, employers should prioritise raising awareness about the menopause. In honour of World Menopause Day 2022 (18th October), we organised a company campaign to raise awareness and inform all staff members on the facts and realities of the menopause. As part of this campaign, our Gender Balance Group arranged for a specialist speaker from Bupa to run a discussion on the menopause and highlight support available for sufferers. We also hosted coffee and chat sessions across all our offices for colleagues, of all ages and genders, to talk openly. I strongly believe this is fundamental to breaking down the current existing barrier whereby discussions about the menopause stay within the realm of menopausal and post-menopausal women. Allies are so important in normalising the conversation and of course, the menopause affects friends and family at home, so the knowledge can support far and wide.
Last, but not least, as part of World Menopause Day, working with Over The Bloody Moon, we organised a Sales Team Meeting where our two Head of Sales wore a MenoVest, a technical piece of clothing that stimulates the experience and feeling of hot flushes. The response and feedback were fantastic. These actions significantly improve our collective understanding of what exactly the menopause is and how impactive it can be on someone’s life.
The campaign was a huge success and provided a voice and platform for us to continue improving the support available for colleagues. We’ve created an internal dedicated webpage and physical resources like a useful PowerPoint that provided a whole heap of information on the menopause and relevant advice, which staff members throughout the organisation at all levels have ongoing access to. The provision of support to sufferers is crucial, as is providing resources to staff to help better support sufferers both within and outside of work. We have also recently launched our Close Brothers Menopause Policy. Currently, supported by Henpicked, we are working towards our “Menopause Friendly Employer” accreditation.
These achievements show how far we have come, but we’re only part way up the hill and have a long journey ahead of us. We need to keep on talking and spread conversations and use what we have done to inspire other employers to better support their staff.
