Beyond Awareness: Is Your Workplace Ready for Menopause?
Building organizational capacity to support employees through perimenopause and menopause through five progressive maturity levels.
Where Do We Start? A Maturity Model for Menopause Leadership
In my last article, I shared a personal story about experiencing tunnel vision while driving—an unexpected symptom of perimenopause that changed the way I think about leadership. I argued that menopause isn't simply a women's health issue. It's a workplace issue, a leadership issue, and ultimately, a business issue.
The response was overwhelming.
Many readers agreed the conversation was overdue.
But almost everyone asked the same follow-up question:
"Where do we start?"
It's the right question.
Because awareness, by itself, doesn't change organizations.
Most companies don't become more inclusive because they attended one webinar. They don't improve communication because they updated one policy. And they certainly don't transform culture overnight.
Real organizational change happens through maturity.
As someone who has spent more than 20 years helping organizations develop leaders, I often think about maturity models. Whether we're talking about leadership development, cybersecurity, safety, quality improvement, or employee engagement, organizations grow through stages. They learn. They improve. They build systems that reinforce the behaviors they value.
I believe menopause support is no different.
Rather than asking, "Do we have a menopause policy?" I encourage organizations to ask a better question:
"How mature are we in supporting employees through this stage of life?"
Here's one way to think about that journey.
Level One: Awareness
Every organization starts here.
Leaders recognize that perimenopause and menopause exist and understand that symptoms extend far beyond hot flashes. They begin learning that sleep disruption, anxiety, cognitive changes, fatigue, joint pain, and reduced concentration can all affect someone's experience at work.
This level isn't about becoming experts.
It's about replacing surprise with understanding.
Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has found that many HR professionals acknowledge menopause affects the workplace, yet relatively few organizations have formal education or manager training in place. Awareness remains the exception rather than the norm.
The goal at this stage is simple:
People stop saying, "I had no idea."
Level Two: Conversation
Awareness creates knowledge.
Conversation creates trust.
This is often where organizations become uncomfortable.
- Managers worry they'll say the wrong thing.
- Employees worry they'll be judged.
- Everyone waits for someone else to bring it up.
- Meanwhile, nothing changes.
Psychological safety researcher Amy Edmondson has spent decades demonstrating that organizations perform better when employees feel safe speaking up about concerns, asking for help, and sharing challenges without fear of embarrassment or negative consequences.
That principle applies here as well.
Employees don't expect managers to have medical expertise.
They do expect managers to create an environment where honest conversations are possible.
Level Three: Leadership
This is where I believe the greatest opportunity exists.
When organizations think about menopause support, they often focus on policies.
I think they should focus on leaders.
Managers influence an employee's daily experience far more than an employee handbook ever will.
- A leader who notices behavioral changes without making assumptions.
- A supervisor who asks thoughtful questions.
- An executive who models empathy without lowering expectations.
Those behaviors don't just support employees experiencing perimenopause or menopause.
They improve leadership across the board.
After all, today's leaders are navigating employees through caregiving responsibilities, grief, mental health challenges, chronic illness, new parenthood, and countless other life transitions.
The leadership skills required are remarkably similar:
- Curiosity.
- Communication.
- Trust.
- Flexibility.
- Empathy.
Those aren't menopause skills.
They're leadership skills.
Level Four: Systems
Strong cultures are reinforced by strong systems.
This is where organizations begin asking operational questions.
- Do managers know what resources are available?
- Are wellness programs inclusive of midlife health?
- Do flexible work practices support employees during temporary challenges?
- Have employee benefits been reviewed through the lens of today's workforce demographics?
The workforce itself is changing.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women between the ages of 45 and 64 represent one of the fastest-growing and most experienced segments of today's labor force. These are often the employees leading projects, mentoring future leaders, and carrying decades of institutional knowledge.
Designing systems that help retain this talent isn't simply compassionate.
It's strategic.
Level Five: Culture
This is the destination.
Culture isn't measured by the policies hanging on a bulletin board.
It's measured by what people feel safe talking about.
- Do employees believe they'll be supported?
- Do leaders respond with curiosity instead of assumptions?
- Do conversations about health and well-being happen without stigma?
At this level, menopause is no longer viewed as an uncomfortable exception.
It's simply one of many life experiences employees navigate while continuing to contribute meaningful work.
Organizations often ask me which level matters most.
The truth is, they all do.
But if I had to choose one place to begin, I wouldn't start with a policy.
I'd start with leadership.
Gallup has consistently found that managers account for as much as 70% of the variance in employee engagement. That statistic should give every executive pause.
- Managers shape employee experience.
- Managers shape trust.
- Managers shape culture.
- Policies matter.
- Benefits matter.
- Education matters.
But culture is experienced one conversation at a time.
Five years from now, I don't believe organizations will be asking whether menopause belongs in the workplace conversation.
That question has already been answered.
The organizations that stand out won't be the ones that reacted to a trend.
They'll be the ones that recognized an opportunity to become better employers.
Not because they had all the answers.
But because they were willing to build leaders who know how to navigate change with empathy, confidence, and curiosity.
Every organization eventually becomes a reflection of the conversations it is willing to have.
The question isn't whether your employees are experiencing perimenopause or menopause.
They are.
The question is whether your workplace is ready to meet them there.
