Gill Wetherill, head of people at Progeny, said: “It’s part of our first step to being a menopause friendly workplace. We started off by launching menopause support policy, which aims to recognise the impact that menopause can have on women.”
The firm organised sessions to raise awareness and invited general practitioner Sarah Hattam from Concilio Health to hold a virtual discussion. Since then, the firm has hosted informative text and support links on its website.
In January, Progeny held a ‘menopause café’, which allowed staff members to speak informally about their experiences with perimenopause and menopause.
Wetherill said: “What was really lovely with all of these sessions and the training sessions that we’ve run, is that we have such a range of people.
“We had young people there who aren’t yet at the stage of menopause or perimenopause but from the awareness that has been raised they have started recognising symptoms in their Mum or partners.
“This has been really positive in terms of them understanding how they need to have a better awareness of these things to be able to support women in their teams.”
Progeny has a workforce of 226, spanning across mortgage advice, conveyancing and financial planning. Of those, 58 per cent of employees are women and the within this, 56 per cent are aged between 45 and 55, when perimenopause and menopause is most likely to affect them.
Wetherill said the sessions had been an eye opener for the firm, which aims to put its staff’s wellbeing “at the center of everything that we do”.
“We’ve got people in the in the workplace, not only at different stages in menopause, but might have had an early onset of menopause, or might have had an illness that then triggered early menopause as well,” she added.
While the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can impact a woman’s performance at work, Wetherill said it was important not to introduce policies which pushed women out of the workplace.
“What we’re really trying to do is prevent people from leaving the organisation because of the menopause,” she added.
To counter this, Progeny encourages its staff to speak their GP if they are experiencing symptoms and the firm’s intranet has a forum which allows employees to ask questions and find out information.
Employees are also able to take frequent breaks and adjust working hours if needed.
She continued: “Women have so much to deal with throughout their lives anyway. What we’re seeing is a lot of women have built up careers, and they’re balancing careers that with families as well.
“We want to support women to be successful, and people shouldn’t have to leave their job or take long periods of time out, because of the menopause.”
Wetherill said Progeny’s menopause policy sat alongside a wider focus on health and wellbeing at the firm.
The firm has wellbeing champions who meet once a month and are there to support staff through any personal issues and concerns.
It recently also held a weeklong campaign where employees were able to learn about the importance of sleep, good nutrition in relation to mental health.
