Team cohesion and familiarity between coworkers is invaluable, no matter how large or small your organization. This is why so many leaders are continually trying to find new ways to build and enhance team investment, emphasize teamwork, and make the workplace as inclusive and supportive as possible. For a nonprofit like yours, this is especially important given the difficulties you likely face recruiting new staff and the high cost of losing institutional knowledge when long-term team members leave.
The changing demographics of a modern workforce have created a greater emphasis on meeting people’s individual needs and making sure people from marginalized groups do not feel excluded. One of the emerging trends in inclusivity is offering benefits for women who are going through menopause. The growing popularity of this benefit makes sense; older workers are a growing part of the American workforce, as are women, who make up a greater percentage of the workforce than at any time in history. To help support this increasingly important demographic, organizations are now offering specific benefits to women who are going through menopause. Here’s why this matters and why you should consider offering these benefits:
Why menopause matters
Menopause is a natural condition that affects menstruating women mostly between the ages of 45 and 55 when hormonal changes in the body cause them to stop menstruating. Because this change involves significant changes to a woman’s physiology, it is often accompanied by multiple symptoms, which can include difficulty sleeping, anxiety, physical soreness, hot flashes, and weight gain, along with many other major and minor effects. Research has shown that these symptoms cause 15% of women to miss work, creating a global productivity loss of $150 billion per year. These symptoms also cause one in ten women to quit their jobs altogether, leaving the workforce before retirement age. Along with the symptoms is the stigma attached to discussing or experiencing menopause. Because many women do not feel comfortable discussing it, many feel less empowered to ask for help or support from their team or managers.
What does menopause care look like?
A clear and robust menopause policy
Working with your HR team, external experts, and other stakeholders to develop an effective company menopause policy is a great step toward promoting awareness and reducing stigma. Putting this policy in the employee handbook or other areas where it can be easily accessed by any team member helps everyone be aware of the what and why of menopause benefits. It also helps any team member who is going through menopause feel comfortable speaking up and asking for the benefits you outline in the policy.
Flexible scheduling
Because menopause symptoms can be wide-ranging and difficult to deal with, allowing menopausal employees greater flexibility on work hours or in-person work allows them to do work when they feel most able and to care for themselves when symptoms become harder to manage. Having this policy also helps other team members build this flexibility into their schedules, prompting them to adjust expectations and project timelines accordingly.
Mental health support
Because many women report feeling symptoms of depression, anxiety, and feelings of shame and loss during menopause, offering mental health support and benefits is highly beneficial. Giving them the support they need not only helps them get through this potentially difficult phase of their life but also helps them feel valued by the organization and by other team members.
Training for managers and other team members
Reducing the stigma around menopause and other women’s health issues requires training for managers and human resources professionals to understand and be able to communicate about them. Your managers will only be able to help menopausal reports if they feel comfortable speaking up, which means eliminating any stigma is essential.
Why you should support menopausal team members
Attract and support a diverse set of employees
Like other benefits geared towards marginalized or underserved communities, offering menopause benefits can help you attract a more diverse set of potential employees while helping to eliminate sexist and ageist bias in hiring practices. Additionally, even if there are no menopausal women currently in your organization, it can be an attractive benefit for employees to want to stick around on a longer-term basis, which helps with retention and team continuity.
Improve teamwork
Eliminating stigma and offering support and information will not just help employees going through menopause but your whole team. Helping everyone understand and support their team members means accounting for their needs, giving them time and space, and allowing them to ask for support without judgment. Creating this environment allows them to be more productive when they can be and not to feel guilt about asking for breaks or other allowances when needed.
Enjoy greater productivity
Because many women feel trapped between difficult-to-manage menopause symptoms and their responsibilities at work, they often get burnt out and have to take a step back or quit their jobs altogether. Flexible scheduling and other benefits allow you to avoid this loss in productivity, giving them space and time to deal with any issues without undue pressure to overwork themselves. This also allows them to view themselves as an asset to your organization, helping them avoid any added stigma or feelings of shame.
Have better employee health outcomes
Menopause can create greater health risks beyond the more common symptoms, including osteoporosis or heart issues. A good menopause policy, internal support, and information can help an employee going through menopause tackle any major health risks and deal with them before they become severe.
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The information contained in this article is not a substitute for legal advice or counsel and has been pulled from multiple sources.
