Support everyone
around you.
Here are 2 ways workplaces can be supportive of their midlife women:
1. Learn about perimenopause and the menopause transition.
Although the perimenopause and menopause transition (peri/menopause for short) is natural, it can be incredibly challenging. Peri/menopause occurs between the early forties and mid fifties and 75% of people will experience moderate to severe symptoms (there are 34) that will affect their quality of life and can impact how they show up at work. Want to be an ally? The first step is to be informed.
2. Support awareness in your team and organization.
In the same way that parents need to know their family life and kids are worthy of acknowledgement, care and flexibility on the work front, people experiencing peri/menopause impacts from their symptoms need to know that their organization and its managers are cognizant about their lived experience and flexible in their approach. If there are midlife women on your team, make sure you cultivate curiosity and empathy towards what they might be experiencing.
If your organization is intent on being equitable, inclusive and intersectional, engaging with peri/menopause knowledge is a no brainer and I can help you get the ball rolling. See my offerings below!
Lunch & Learn
During this 90 minutes Lunch & Learn, you and your colleagues will learn about basic facts about peri/menopause (including statistics, scientific data, symptoms, impacts, inaction risks and costs, etc.), we will move into exploring the lived experience of peri/menopause, I will then facilitate a mini workshop on how the impacts can be minimized and finally, we will co-design 3 achievable next steps to start embedding this topic in your management practices.
Coaching programs
If you are orienting towards an intersectional, capacity-building, human well-being organizational goal, let’s discuss co-designing stellar 1:1 or group coaching programs that will best support human potential.
If you want to start supporting your people, book a clarity call with me.
In many Western countries, older women represent an especially important portion of the total workforce.
In 2016 the Canadian labor force participation rate of women aged 55-64 reached 55%.
— Viotti et al. (2019) and Government of Canada (2022)
Women affected by important to severe menopausal symptoms report poor concentration, tiredness, poor memory, feeling low/depressed and lowered confidence. In the interaction with job demands, menopausal symptoms may overtax the psycho-physiological system and dysregulate the individual’s energy balance.
— Geukes (2017) and Viotti et al. (2019)
“The unpredictability of menopause symptoms and lack of awareness combined to create a sense of a menopause symptom minefield at work: ‘you just never know when something is going to hit.’”
— Steffan (2021)
“The development of training, policies, and activities specifically related to menopause may be crucial to improve women’s job sustainability across their entire working lifespans.”