Imagine returning from maternity leave, you’re settling into a new chapter of your career, new routines and new realities of life with tiny humans. Aside from the parental tiredness and squiggly navigation of this fresh life set up, something doesn’t feel quite right. You start to mention a few symptoms to a colleague and they give you the gentle nudge that you could be experiencing peri-menopause.
That’s a tiny slice of the story of what happened to Anna Allerton.
Her experiences escalated and Anna found herself leaving a decorated career in broadcasting because the combination of stepping out of maternity leave and into peri-menopause wasn’t the heady mix she was looking for (not sure anybody would be).
Anna isn’t alone in her story. This is happening to so many women who are quietly trying to push through and finding the back to back life transitions are too much when the right support isn’t in place.
Where do we start?
We’ve seen a much needed increase in the conversations about perimenopause and menopause in the workplace, along with a range of support strategies. But there’s still lots more we can do. When we throw in the reality of navigating it alongside parenting responsibilities and wanting to maintain a career, there’s an abundance of considered support we can go after.
I’ll be blunt – this isn’t about ‘adding another thing’ to consider to anybody’s list. That’s the danger zone of tick box performative action. These conversations can be so much more, and far more organic than feeling like you need to scrabble for another batch of training.
It might not be the advice you’re expecting, but you don’t suddenly have to have a new plan. Of course, having a menopause and peri-menopause strategy is advisable. Nothing new there from me! However, the day to day realities could be met based on other crossovers if you step back for a sec.
What to consider…
1. Look at what you already have in place
Particularly when it comes to training or resources you have particularly focused on the power of conversation and curiosity. Could you add anything into these with examples of supporting people going through a parental leave return and peri-menopause or menopause?
For example, I recently worked with a client to bring in conversation examples you might need to have with a parent preparing to go on leave. They built it into an existing line manager development programme, so rather than create something totally new, they took what was already working and supercharged it.
2. Where’s the next communication opportunity?
Where can you start to talk about this double shift some people might be putting in? Perhaps it’s part of your next all colleague event, maybe it’s a conversation one of your ERGs or networks could spark, or maybe forward this newsletter on to your line managers as the beginning of an awareness campaign.
3. Can you bring in storytelling?
There’s nothing quite like hearing directly from the person who is going through it to understand the realities.
If you have an opportunity to pass the mic and let someone talk about their experiences, there’s no time like the present. It could be a fireside chat kind of format, an internal podcast episode or a Q&A session if it feels like your organisation is ready for that. Remember not everybody will be ready to share publicly, so offer an anonymous option here too – written articles is a great way to do that.
What’s the impact?
Anna shared with me that 1 in 10 women are leaving the workforce because of the impact of the menopause and the lack of support they have access to.
A lot of this help doesn’t need to be all jazz hands and sparkles – it’s often in the day to day, seemingly mundane. It’s good for individuals, and it’s good for business. Someone on a salary of £25,000 has an average cost to recruit of £30,000 – they’re not figures many businesses want to be on the wrong side of.
You can now find Anna changing the world of work through her coaching business and putting all of those experiences and insights to incredible use for employers. She’s also got a newsletter you might want to get signed up to!
Find out more about Anna https://www.allertoncoaching.com/ and we’ve recorded a podcast episode too – have a listen here: https://power-of-the-parent.com/power-of-the-parent-4-s7-ep4-perimenopause-and-motherhood-when-youve-got-young-kids-with-anna-allerton-founder-of-allerton-coaching/ It’s got lots of practical advice on what you can be doing as an employer to blend the need to get the work done, support your employees and create workplaces where people can thrive no matter what life stage they’re in.