DOES YOUR WORKPLACE HAVE A MENOPAUSE POLICY?

 I had the pleasure of doing an Instagram live (@shuvonshuvoff) interview with TraceyTait @TraceyTait_1 about the Menopause and the problems it causes so many women going through it at work.

It can be such a frightening time because they do not know what is really happening. They can suffer from sleepless nights, due to hot sweats and as a result become fatigued and forgetful and often their performance at work suffers and this pushes too many women to leave work, when all they really needed was some support from their workplace, to get through this hard time in their lives.

Tracey told me that five years ago she left the world of employment to work for herself teaching business owners how to do their marketing to enhance their income. During that initial period of self employment she started suffering from the menopause and in her own words "it hit me like a truck".

She said that it got her thinking to how would she have coped it she was still working in the Corporate world? She remembered seeing former colleagues who were getting hot and flustered, not coping and turning from the loveliest people, to what she said, were "complete dragons".

It took Tracey a while to realise that all her symptoms were being caused by the menopause. She then questioned how would managers, team leaders, bosses and colleagues know when someone was going through the perimenopause or the menopause. It can impact women from any age. She knew then that there was a need for some kind of Menopause Policy in the workplace.

She said she wanted to help women have that difficult conversation with their bosses, outlining what was wrong and what they needed to help them stay working. She teaches a four point plan they can follow to do that. 

Likewise she knew that many managers would be worried about saying the wrong thing to employees, so she wanted to draw up guidelines for them, enabling them to have the conversations with employees that would benefit both parties.

She spoke about how she helps them recognise that they both have legal protection, as they work out a way to create a more menopause friendly environment and culture in the workplace.

We talked about the impact that the menopause had on her life and her husband and son's life. She explained how she used that experience to formulate the four point training plan for women in the workplace. It helps them so that they can acknowledge what their problems are with the menopause symptoms, and to enable them to then go to their bosses to have that difficult conversation to raise awareness and to lessen the stigma and shame of talking about the menopause. She said that by addressing the issues they would both find a better working environment. Her course also outlines what their legal rights are during this time. If you want advice and help to draw up a Menopause Policy, then contact Tracey and she will show you the training tools she has available. She is so friendly and easy to chat to. It is great that the menopause is being talked about more and that there is a lot more help and advice out there. But there is still a long way to go.

EMAIL:hello@menopausetrainingcompany.com

TWITTER: twitter.com/MenopauseTC

INSTAGRAM: @traceytait.businesscoach

LINKEDIN:linkedin.com/company/menopause