Menopause at work

Warmly hosted by the wonderful Air New Zealander Amera Saouda at Air New Zealand for World Menopause Day, October 2022.

In 2019, I landed in perimenopause without knowing what that meant. In 2020, I launched Menopause Over Martinis* as a grassroots project to raise awareness of this normal, important and powerful stage of life.

Since mid-2021, as a guest speaker and advocate, I’ve facilitated conversations about menopause across Aotearoa for 30+ government organisations, businesses, associations and networks including: Air New Zealand; Commonsense Organics; Creative New Zealand; FMG; New Zealand Defence Force; Inland Revenue - Te Tari Taake; Kāinga Ora; Sharesies; University of Canterbury; Wellington City Council; WSP; Xero…

Starting a conversation about menopause/ruahinetanga with people of any age or gender is easier than you might think. When you give people permission to talk about something that’s been so taboo, many have a lot to say - in a positive and respectful way.

There are many reasons to understand and be supportive of people going through menopause at work, including the attraction and retention of experienced and valuable talent. To learn more, this article ‘Why It’s Time To Lose The Shame Around Menopause In The Workplace’, this interview and this TED talk are three great places to start.

  • I’m a passionate guest speaker and advocate for people going through menopause. Since 2019 when perimenopause impacted every aspect of my health, I’ve been researching, reading, talking and writing about this stage of life.

    I can share:

    • Some facts and figures about perimenopause and menopause – what it is, the various stages, and how it can impact people differently

    • My personal experience

    • Potential solutions and the importance of self-care

    • Misconceptions and the many upsides of menopause

    • Ideas for what to say and do (and what not to say and do!), and practical resources for managers and colleagues to support people through menopause

    • As part of the kōrero, people with varying levels of knowledge can ask questions and share their experiences, insights and cultural perspectives

    • And two randomly chosen people will go home with a beautifully-designed, awareness-raising tea towel to spark a conversation about menopause over the dishes!

  • One of the most common things I hear from women going through peri/menopause is that it makes a big difference to their health, wellbeing and performance when people around them understand what menopause is and how it can impact people differently. Leaders and managers obviously play a critical role in supporting people’s health and wellbeing; identifying and making appropriate changes so people can perform at their best; increasing the retention of valuable talent; and fostering a diverse and inclusive culture at work.

    I’d love to share my knowledge and experience of menopause with your leaders and managers, to help them lead the way.

  • An increasing number of open-source resources are available for you to access and modify to suit your workplace.

    The Menopause Information Pack for Organizations (MIPO) is a FREE suite of resources for workplaces to support people through menopause.

    The University of Canterbury (UC) has shared its Support Guide for Managers, AIA has shared its Menopause Support Toolkit and TAB has shared its menopause policy. You can also download free guidelines for people professionals and people managers from the CIPD (the UK’s professional body for HR and people development). Vodafone has shared its menopause toolkit. Channel 4 has shared its menopause policy, as has the UK creative agency Dark Horses.

    To learn more about menopause in general, check out my grassroots project menopauseovermartinis.org

Ten things everyone can do at work

Everyone can do something to raise awareness and support someone through menopause at work. I’ve thought of ten things for starters.

Testimonials

“A brilliant event. I was concerned that a workplace conversation about menopause could be awkward, but the opposite was true! Sarah is extremely relatable…it was a relief to talk about this important life stage that affects so many of us, either directly or indirectly. Suffering alone can be very isolating – knowing your experience is shared always makes it easier.”

— KB, 43, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“Sarah made everyone feel welcome, gave us practical tips and openly answered questions. We wanted to start a conversation about menopause at work because it impacts us all in some way. Sarah did a great job of achieving this. Through her own experience and the wealth of knowledge she has researched, she gave us practical advice and shared her own experience openly.”

— Cath Atkins, Deputy Commissioner, Inland Revenue.

“No one needs to whisper the word menopause at work any more. Sarah’s personal experience, knowledge and passion for change empowered us to talk about the thing we’ve all been wanting to talk about! Thank you for helping us start this important conversation.”

— Niki Keeley, 42, Chair of Women’s Network, Kāinga Ora.

“After running the numbers and realising that 34% of our people are women aged over 40 there was no way we could not do something! I’ve never seen so much vigorous nodding to a speaker before as we heard Sarah talk to experiences that so many of us have had. If you’re looking for a speaker to start this conversation in your workplace, we highly recommend Sarah.”
— Sarah Able, Chief People & Culture Officer, The Co-operative Bank

“Sarah brings a genuine and compassionate approach to discussing menopause, assisting to help de-stigmatise the topic, and provide a platform that brings everyone together to help create an inclusive society and for us, our workforce.”

— Katie Shaw, Health, Safety & Wellbeing Manager, Hutt City Council.

“Sarah is extremely engaging and knowledgeable about the ups and downs of menopause and provided simple, scare-free advice to the many attendees on our webinar. Her natural thoughtfulness and curiosity came through in spades. It’s so important that we de-mystify this topic so that women can live their fullest life!”

— Siobhan Procter, Chief Infrastructure Officer, Wellington City Council

“I highly recommend getting Sarah to talk about menopause in your workplace. The Q&A was informative, funny and relatable! The feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive - some have even started their own menopause groups to support each other.”
— LR, 51, Sharesies

“Sarah presented an engaging and informative session to our team of Kaihāpai Ruahinetanga / Menopause Supporters. Everyone enjoyed it immensely and we all came away feeling empowered to support our people.”

— Julie Stafford, Wellbeing Lead (Staff), University of Canterbury.

“As a guy, we don’t often get exposed to information related specifically to women’s health. If we are to effectively support our partner, workmates, family or friends going through menopause, we first need to understand it.”
— Peter, Nelson City Council

“Life-changing. It brought things to my attention I’ve never considered before. It also resulted in me speaking to friends about the topic of menopause which we had never spoken about before.”

— Anon, Sharesies

“We’ve used the kōrero as a catapult to make discussions about menopause in our workplace easier. Offering to share your story and time is a fantastic service. Thank you!”

— CF, 51

Get in touch

If you’d like me to facilitate a conversation about menopause for everyone in your workplace, in person or virtually, I’d love to hear from you.