Midlife women face unique challenges in the workplace. They have often had to take time off of work to care for children, meaning that they may be behind their colleagues in terms of career progression. They may also be dealing with health issues such as those related to menopause, with this resulting in symptoms that are difficult to cope with whilst remaining productive at work.
There is a societal expectation for midlife women to be adept at balancing their career and family life. This can prove difficult, and they may find themselves torn between their caregiving responsibilities and focusing on their job role.
We recently hosted a webinar where industry leaders shared their valuable insights — walking us through the strategies you can put in place to support your midlife women and help them reach their full potential. We’ve summarised the key takeaways below, so you can start putting them into practice.
Speakers
- Georgie Mack – CEO of Peopleful
- Lisa Hand – People Experience Director at Ogi
- Sarah Moulton – Head of People at Argyll
Using Data to Drive Change – Georgie Mack
Georgie Mack, CEO of Peopleful, set the stage by emphasising the crucial role of using data from insights to transform your business. She stressed the need for objective metrics and evidence-based approaches to understand and tackle the challenges faced by midlife women effectively. Using statistics ensures that you can be sure of the challenges these women are facing, using this to tailor your support approach.
Georgie talked about the important rules to follow when measuring how to support midlife women, especially the need to avoid broad assumptions and acknowledge that your business is made up of unique people. By considering all aspects, you can gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by these individuals.
Georgie also looked at how job demands and resources are balanced. Focusing on the importance of energy and motivation, she uncovered challenges around burnout and the lack of support for midlife women.
By highlighting the cost implications of burnout and turnover, Georgie showed the importance of making a strong investment case to drive organisational change. This makes it more likely that HR departments will be approved to budget for key strategies for support. She concluded by advising against rushing into solutions without understanding the context and stressed the need for consistent measurement over time to track progress effectively.
Ogi’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Lisa Hand
Lisa Hand, People Experience Director at Ogi, provided valuable insights into Ogi’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, with a specific focus on supporting midlife women in the workplace.
Lisa highlighted Ogi’s values of transparency and authenticity in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. She suggested that this has helped the team become aware of what strategies are in place and are being explored to help them. She outlined the challenges faced by midlife women, such as looking after their wellbeing while focusing on work, emphasising Ogi’s efforts to address these hurdles. Efforts include creating an inclusive approach to recruitment, with a belief that Ogi can teach the skills needed to perform effectively in a role, but cannot teach a good attitude and caring nature.
After making progress in capturing diversity data, Ogi was able to put several processes in place, including…
- Investing in learning and development to support employees’ potential
- Offering a benefits package tailored to the diverse needs of their workforce
- Prioritising transparency in pay and rewards
Comprehensive Benefits for Midlife Women – Sarah Moulton
Sarah Moulton, Head of People at Argyll, shared insights into the importance of comprehensive benefits for midlife women in the workplace. Drawing from her personal experience, Sarah shared the need for organisations to provide support tailored to the unique challenges faced by these people.
Sarah highlighted the importance of recognising and openly discussing menopause. It can significantly impact women’s mental and physical health, work performance, and overall wellbeing, and yet it rarely gets discussed by business leaders. Menopause symptoms can make women experience issues such as brain fog, hot flushes, and an inability to sleep well, causing them to lack clarity at work.
She stressed the need for comprehensive benefits, including paid time off for menopause-related issues, access to coaching, self-help resources, education, and support networks. Research shows that 1 in 10 women have quit their job due to menopause symptoms, so offering support around this is sure to have a positive impact on your businesses employee retention.
Moreover, Sarah framed the issue as a commercial imperative, stating that supporting midlife women is essential for talent retention, equality, and equity in the workplace. By viewing menopause as a natural life stage and providing holistic support, you can create a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce, which benefits everyone.
Listener Questions: Insights from Lisa’s Response
During the webinar, Lisa addressed a question from a listener about feedback platforms, providing valuable insights into Ogi’s approach to employee feedback. She highlighted the importance of anonymity when collecting feedback, allowing employees to submit questions with complete confidence.
Lisa emphasised the importance of transparency and honesty in communication, noting that their HR team chooses to answer questions truthfully, publishing responses at the company’s monthly all-hands meeting. By offering multiple avenues for feedback and prioritising transparency, you can ensure that all employees have the opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns in a safe space.
Supporting Midlife Women: Keys to Organisational Success
In conclusion, our webinar provided valuable insights into supporting midlife women in the workplace. Here are the key takeaways…
- Be aware that midlife women face unique challenges like career progression setbacks and menopause symptoms.
- Use data-driven approaches to clearly understand the challenges they’re facing.
- Helping these individuals balance job demands and resources is essential to prevent burnout and improve productivity.
- Show commitment to DEI efforts such as transparency around policies in place to help, tailored benefits and pay equity.
- Offer a comprehensive benefits package to improve employee retention and wellbeing.
- Support midlife women to improve talent retention
The Mintago platform can help your organisation support midlife women, offering a hub of benefits, tools, and resources to improve their financial wellbeing and overall health.
Book a call with a member of the team to find out how we can support you and your employees.