A community network set up by staff at Specsavers has supported women and educated managerial staff about the symptoms of the menopause.
The MenoTalk group was started by co-chairs Louise Furby and Caroline Millikenin in 2020 after they discussed their experiences of menopause with each other.
Furby worked in events and Milliken worked in learning and development as part of the Specsavers support office team.
During one conversation about how they had struggled with symptoms of the menopause, they agreed there would be other people at Specsavers who also needed support.
Furby told Optician: ‘We had one or two conversations over the months and eventually said, “You know what? We need to do something about this. Let’s start a group up and see where we go.” We always wanted the group to primarily be a support group. For lots of women going through menopause, one of the many debilitating parts of it is they struggle with their usual level of performance because of the symptoms.’
Furby explained it was not an active group where there was pressure to attend arranged events because if women were already struggling then giving them more responsibility would go against the principles of why they created MenoTalk.
‘It’s predominantly a support group. We’ve set it up on Microsoft Teams and anybody can join. We’ve got a private channel for confidential conversations, if needed. We’ve also got a channel for men and there’s a good level of attendance of men across the business. Some joined because they want to understand a bit more about what their partners and their wives are going through and others have joined simply because they’ve got team members who they can see are experiencing some challenges, and they want to be informed and educated on the topic.’
MenoTalk sought accreditation as a provider of guidance for menopause in the workplace and hoped to attain this in April.
Personal process
Furby shared that her own experience going through the menopause was an educational process for herself and her manager. She was unaware of the symptoms related to the menopause, such as brain fog and memory loss, which was stressful for an otherwise organised person.
‘I wasn’t sleeping, I was having hot flushes and losing my memory. I had bad migraines that came on in a heartbeat. I got heart palpitations and joint pain. I was irritable because I couldn’t manage the level of stress that I was normally used to,’ she said.
Furby conducted research online to work out why this was happening and spoke to her manager when she realised what the cause was.
‘Caroline heard stories from other women in the workplace about the lack of help and education. She thought, “I work in learning and development, I can help with this.”’
Their personal experiences led to the creation of a support group that provided information and advice to improve awareness and understanding of how the menopause affected women in work.
Providing flexibility
MenoTalk’s resources included two educational modules for colleagues and managers and an explainer video called Menopause in Minutes that was available via an online information hub. Specsavers staff could also access posters and podcasts, plus a further reading list. ‘We’ve tried to infiltrate every available platform where the menopause message fits,’ Furby said.
‘The importance of the group is to protect people that are going through that process, educate them and inform them to ensure that we, as a business, are giving the right care to those individuals through their journey.
‘It’s important that we don’t lose them from the business. Eight out of 10 women currently of menopausal age are in the workplace. It would be so easy for 50% of those women to say, “actually this is too hard.” We can’t afford to lose those skills, talent, experience and expertise.
‘We have to be able to provide them with a flexible work-life balance that enables them to get through this challenge. It’s about accommodating those people and understanding those symptoms. When a woman’s pregnant, we are understanding and recognise the additional support and considerations that we need to give to pregnant women. We need to do the same for menopause,’ she explained.
Creating understanding
Furby said information sharing by MenoTalk on social media platforms helped save an employee’s job. She was approached by a colleague who was ready to performance manage an individual out of the business until they saw MenoTalk’s messaging.
‘At the 11th hour, having seen some content that we’d shared around menopause and symptoms, they had a light bulb moment with this individual and thought “Hang on a minute, it sounds like she’s displaying some of these symptoms.” As it turned out, the individual didn’t know she was going through the menopause and neither did the store directors. There was a strong possibility that we could have lost her from the business because of that lack of understanding,’ she explained.
The situation was resolved, which Furby said was partly because of driving awareness through the support group.
Furby added she has been contacted by store colleagues who said they and their managers do not understand enough about the menopause. Training has been key to overcoming those barriers and creating an appreciation of what colleagues might be experiencing at work.
Once an understanding of menopause has been achieved between the staff member and the employer, Furby said accommodating the needs of the individual in the workplace was best delivered through flexibility.
‘For example, interrupted sleep means that you start the day feeling groggy, tired and worn out. It’s difficult to face challenges because you’re already exhausted. There has to be flexibility around whether it is easier to book appointments in the late morning rather than early morning. If you need that extra time to get yourself together, you’re able to do that. Decide whether you need those meetings or if travel is needed and can you do things virtually instead?’
Alleviating pressure
Part of that understanding process was about overcoming common misconceptions, Furby said: ‘Put simply, the main cause of menopause is changing hormones. You have less hormone balance than you would normally. Historically, people thought women who are going through menopause are just about mood and being short tempered. That’s because the hormone that would normally manage your stress levels is depleted. It’s not that you become moody, it’s because the hormone that helps you control that mood swing can’t do its job.’
Another key point to understand was the number of women affected by the menopause, which Furby said included one in four women who currently experienced severe menopausal symptoms.
‘How many jobs are lost due to women leaving their workplace during menopause because they can’t cope? Anybody of this age should not feel their career is in danger of being lost because they’re going through menopause,’ she added.
Furby had spoken to senior leaders in Specsavers who were of menopause age and their main concern was that they could not keep up with the male contemporaries. This could happen by eliminating stigma and external pressures, she said.
‘We need to talk openly about it. We need to be able to sit in meetings and say, “I’m having a hot flush because I’m menopausal. Can we turn the air-con up a little bit?” or “I need to go to the toilet. I can’t wait for us to have a break.”’
MenoTalk hoped to deliver further support by providing sanitary items in all the toilets at its support office and eventually rolling this out to practices.
Community engagement
Going forward, Furby said MenoTalk would build on the information and support available, such as through panel discussions to facilitate detailed conversations about the menopause.
The group would explore the reality of andropause, known as the male menopause, as well as how men can support women experiencing the menopause.
MenoTalk intended to engage with LGBTQ+, ethnic minority and neuro-diversity community groups within Specsavers.
‘There’s a strong correlation between ADHD and menopause. The symptoms are very similar and it’s hard to easily diagnose, but if you’ve got ADHD and you’re going through menopause, you’re essentially getting a double dose of menopause, which is tough, so we’re looking to provide more detailed education and support. Also, women of colour go through a different timeline of menopause. We want to ensure we’ve done enough with the basics and start drilling into some of the more specific minority impacts, like transgender, and make sure that we’ve got a clear suite of information that can help as many people as possible.’
Tips for managerial staff supporting menopausal employees
- Do not assume that your employee knows what they’re going through.
- Facilitate open and positive conversations.
- Be prepared to suggest that the colleague might need to seek further help.
- Educate yourself. You don’t need to know the details of menopause, but it’s helpful to understand the signs that many people exhibit.