18% of women* in menopause could quit due to a lack of support!
Research here in the UK revealed that 18%, which is one million women*, could quit due to a lack of support. And when I think about overloaded & exhausted recruiters, who are already struggling in this candidate-owned market, having to recruit even more people – just to backfill roles created by leaders that choose not to support their menopausal employees – well, I want to scream on your behalf! 😱
Yes, this is about menopause and is for all recruiters! Men too!
I also want to celebrate that I will officially be post-menopause on the 29th 🥳 because in the 5+ year lead up to my last period, I experienced debilitating peri-menopausal symptoms that impacted my ability to work. But when I looked around for support, it was still all too hush-hush.
Why do we talk about puberty and not menopause? Is it because puberty impacts all genders and menopause does not? 🤷♀️
Why the stigma about menopause when it will happen to 49.58% of people?
Your wives, girlfriends, partners, mothers, aunts, cousins, daughters, friends, and colleagues. The global population of females is c 3.9 billion, which is 49.58% of the world population.
And all of them will go through stages of menopause. All of them.
And then consider this…
You have more employees who are likely to need menopause support. More who could depart without it… and remember the stigma? They won’t tell you that’s why they’re leaving. 😶
Though I could tell you plenty about my experience, before finding saviour in bio-identical hormones, I’m not an expert and everyone is different. Did you know there are 34 different symptoms?
To learn more check out this video from Julie Dennis, this podcast from Andrea Newton, and consider this awareness kit from Clare-Louise Knox.
Back to those unnecessary vacancies…
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you didn’t have to backfill any roles due to menopause! 🤩
Imagine if your leaders understood how this perfectly natural occurrence can impact productivity and offered support instead of putting their heads in the sand.
1. Speak up
When it hit me, I didn’t even know about peri-menopause! All I knew was that I’d got pudgy around the middle, was three quarters of the way up a mountain in Peru wondering why I was struggling when I’d summited much higher Kilimanjaro, and, ummm, what were we talking about? I suddenly couldn’t remember anything. And just like the Gif I used above, then came the indignation, “But I’m too young!” and the sadness of a chapter ending.
Let’s give menopause a voice! Speak up. Speak to each other. Let’s not let another woman* commence peri-menopause without them knowing what to expect! And get it on your leaders’ radar before people start resigning and you, my recruiter reader, are left backfilling their job on top of all the others… in this market!
2. Get HR involved
People of talent acquisition, you bring in the people. HR should be the people looking after your people. But if HR aren’t looking after your company’s menopausal people, well you are going to need to fill even more roles! 😫
So work with them! Show them data, and show what your competitors are doing. Get HR in the know, get it on the agenda, and get support in place. And get a policy in place so that those who are suffering through it know there is help at hand.
As Colin Lock pointed out in this vulnerable post. In the UK the “Employment Appeal Tribunal declared that, and here I summarise, the menopause was a disability. By that they meant that it was a medically based condition that was likely to last for 12 months or more.” and he went on to say:
Businesses are going to have to rethink their channels of communication and in some cases their very infrastructures. If you doubt me, ask a 50 + year old women if this is a subject she would be comfortable discussing with her 32 year old male line manager.
Whether your country has this as law or not, before your company loses people, HR must get involved.
3. Shout about your menopause support!
Like Reward Gateway do on their careers site; listing it under Wellbeing benefits. Or like BMJ do on their Work At BMJ page, which directly links to a detailed, Menopause & Menstruation policy. Add it proudly where people can see it easily, without having to feel embarrassed asking for it.
Let’s lose the stigma!
Leaders, your recruiters don’t need more roles to fill in this candidate-owned market, not when you can retain your menopausal employees. Don’t let people leave without a word! Don’t shut the door to this amazing pool of talent. Get a policy in place and support your women.* Do it before they leave and join a company that does care about their wellbeing.
Recruiters, if you don’t feel you can confidently have this conversation with HR or your leaders, check out the Mastermind, which is opening soon.
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*The menopause can impact women, trans people & intersex people.
Originally posted on LinkedIn as part of the Recruitment Isn’t Broken newsletter.
