Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow
International Women’s Day (IWD), an annual event that takes places today, the 8th of March, celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
The origins of IWD were born over a century ago with more than a million people supporting the first IWD event in 1911.
The theme this year is #BreaktheBias and as the IWD state, “whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead”. We all have a part to play in breaking the bias as follows:
- Breaking the bias in our communities
- Breaking the bias in our workplaces
- Breaking the bias in our education settings
Within the workplace one way we can help break the bias is by supporting women during one of the most difficult times of their life, the menopause.
More than 700 respondents took part in a survey about their experience of menopause in the workplace as part of research carried out by HR platform Circle In and supported by the Victorian Women’s Trust. The study found that ‘there is a culture of ignorance and isolation around menopause in the workplace, and a glaring lack of support for employees and their managers’.
Menopause
The menopause affects more than five million working women aged 40 to 55 in the UK, with 80 per cent experiencing the symptoms of menopausal transition during their career (The Times).
More than 700 respondents took part in a survey about their experience of menopause in the workplace as part of research carried out by HR platform Circle In and supported by the Victorian Women’s Trust. The study found that ‘there is a culture of ignorance and isolation around menopause in the workplace, and a glaring lack of support for employees and their managers’.
Some of the survey’s findings are as follows:
- 83% of respondents said their work was negatively affected;
- More than half (58%) of respondents described managing work during their menopausal transition as ‘challenging’;
- 48% of all respondents struggled with their confidence dropping at work;
- Almost as many (46%) felt stressed by having to hide their experience.
One company hoping to change this culture is Diageo, one of the largest producers of beverage alcohol, which has launched its first ever global Menopause Guidelines Thriving Through Menopause, in the hope that this will raise awareness and understanding of the taboo subject, as they have cited that by 2025 there will be more than 1 billion women experiencing the menopause in the world – equivalent to 12% of the global population.
ACAS also advises companies to support women in the workplace by developing a menopause policy, which will cover the following:
- management training,
- menopause point of contact,
- define the company’s open stance on menopause discussions
For more information on International Women’s Day 2022 follow #BreakTheBias on social media.
If you would like any further support in this area or if you have any other HR queries please do not hesitate to contact me on people@aible.co.uk or give us a ring on 02922 360 260.
