let's say you're considering menopause awareness training for you your managers or your workplace
and you're wondering is menopause awareness training worth it I get it it's a cost
it's time away from the day job so you want to be sure it's worth it before investing
in this video I check out what the benefits are and then you can decide if it's the right type of
training for you your team your business or your organization but first of all let's start with
answering the big question what is menopause it's a natural stage of life when a woman's estrogen
hormone levels decline and she stops having periods now menopause typically happens between
the ages of 45 and 55 and the average age for women to undergo menopause in the uk is 51 but
around 1 in 100 experience it before the age of 40. now there are three stages
to menopause perimenopause menopause and post menopause so why is it so important to talk
about menopause in the workplace well most women will experience menopausal symptoms at some stage
during their life it's not optional for them and 100 of women will go through it the menopause can
be natural but it can also be brought on as a result of surgery illness or treatment in 2018
a menopause survey was done and 6 315 women were asked about what was going on for them now 76
said their menopause symptoms were moderately or extremely problematic at work
and 20 said they had considered leaving their jobs now this figure increased to
44 for those who said that their symptoms were extremely problematic so are the symptoms
that bad for women well menopause can cause a wide range of physical and psychological
symptoms that can last for several years and the majority of menopausal women experience
symptoms but everyone is different their symptoms can fluctuate and be felt to varying
degrees experiencing any of the typical symptoms can pose a challenge for women
as they go about their daily lives and that includes doing their job and coming to work
so it's worth you knowing that the symptoms can be divided into two types there's a physical and
psychological now for most it's the psychological symptoms that are the most debilitating so let's
find out what the most common physical symptoms are they can be irregular periods heavy periods
hot flushes muscle and joint pain night sweats chills sleep problems weight gain and slowed
metabolism and the most common psychological symptoms are anger and irritability anxiety
a loss of self-esteem a loss of confidence low mood and feelings of sadness or depression
poor concentration brain fog and forgetfulness so we've spoken there really about
menopause what it is and the most common symptoms that your colleagues can be going through
but how can managers depending on their day-to-day roles benefit from attending
menopause awareness training well let's look at how line managers can benefit first of all
line managers are most likely to have colleagues who report directly to them so if they were to
attend menopause awareness training they would become more aware of the potential
menopause symptoms and have a better understanding of how the symptoms can affect their colleague
they'll also know what they can do or what they can consider to support their colleague through
this time they can also gain an awareness of the law around menopause and therefore help avoid
expensive costly and embarrassing tribunals so what are the benefits to hr managers well
they can gain a better understanding of menopause too and this can help them to
ensure that your organization's policies guidelines and any required training
are in place other benefits to those high level managers in your organization absolutely
they can be much better prepared to grow develop and plan the culture and the general direction for
the business when they're more aware of menopause and how it can impact the colleagues that you have
but also how the workplace can impact them so they can look at what changes to put in place
you'll want to retain your talent people are at the heart of any business and organization
the cost of replacing leavers affected by their menopause symptoms can be as much as 30 000 pounds
per individual if you think about the time it takes to write the job descriptions get the ads
done maybe you use a recruitment agency then it's time to interview them and that whole process is
costly and time so there's the time to recruit any new talent that you potentially could lose
this the time it takes to train new recruits there's also an absence related cost to be
considered now menopause currently is costing the uk 7.3 million pounds per year
down to absences and there's also a loss of productivity which is costing the uk
approximately 14 million working days per year now data from the center for aging better in 2019
looked at a total of nearly four and a half million women and out of them
370 000 women had thought about or had quit because of their menopause symptoms and how
their symptoms were being aggravated or lack of understanding from managers in the workplace
so by providing menopausal awareness training you stand a much better chance of retaining your
invaluable talent so menopausal awareness training provides benefits for all in the organization
now currently it might be seen in your workplace as a taboo subject when you provide training
the more openly and easily it can become to talk about menopause it becomes less of a taboo subject
and it's normalized and also we need to remember everyone has the right to be fully supported
in their work environment so there you have it five unexpected benefits of menopause awareness
training for managers in the workplace let me help you have comfortable conversations
about menopause without the worry of saying or doing the wrong thing remember to subscribe
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