World Menopause Day: I'm a menopause consultant - this is how your business can create a menopause-friendly workplace

But if you’re an employer, why wait? Creating a menopause-friendly workplace isn’t just the right thing to do - it also makes good business sense. We simply cannot afford to let all this amazing talent go to waste.

With it being World Menopause Day today and Menopause Awareness Month throughout October, it’s the perfect time to start making changes to support your staff. And there are plenty of small, inexpensive adjustments that organisations can make which can make a big difference.

Your first step should be understanding what your staff really need. Don’t be tempted to skip this as it will ensure that the initiatives you put in place have the maximum impact. Use employee data to help you to get a picture of what approach may be best. Consult staff through a survey or questionnaire to identify issues such as any knowledge gaps and how your managers feel about having conversations. Then hold focus groups - involving your people will mean increased buy-in and noticeable results.

Meanwhile, create a psychologically-safe environment. This helps to encourage open conversations about menopause - hiding symptoms just increases stress levels, which in turn makes symptoms worse.

This is a natural stage of life, and women should feel comfortable speaking to their line manager, HR advisor or team members. And that includes women in very senior roles.

Educating all your staff is key, so invest in comprehensive training for everyone around menopause awareness. Once we understand it, we can be better prepared and/or be able to support someone else in need. Invest in separate training for managers so they can be confident to have the conversation, and never underestimate the power of 'in person' initiatives for learning from others.

Set up different 'champion' roles within your organisation, including at executive or senior leadership level. It’s important to also have Menopause Champions who your staff can turn to, and who can act as ambassadors for championing all things menopause. Buddies are another great idea - many menopausal people want to help others, so tap into that passion.

And finally, create a menopause policy. Employers I work with often think this should be the first step. But while a menopause policy makes a great addition to your other policies, why wait to put in place the easier, small initiatives which will make a huge difference? And simply having a menopause policy isn’t enough – you also need to keep it live. If used properly, it can be a really useful method to help with signposting to other resources.

Looking to the future, we need to switch our thinking around menopause. It’s a natural phase of life – not the end of it.

You might put the right support in place, but it’s so much more effective when combined with a positive approach to menopause.

And this will ultimately benefit all your employees, making them feel happier and more supported.

Kirsty Dixon is a menopause consultant, coach and educator who runs Pause for Thought Consultancy in York. She specialises in helping employers to create menopause-friendly workplaces.