Hunters Furniture is on journey to raise awareness around the menopause has emerged due to the efforts of our team of Culture & Wellbeing Champions at Hunters Furniture.
Alongside various initiatives to raise awareness around the importance of good physical and mental health, the menopause kept surfacing as a topic that the team felt needed more focus.
National statistics suggest 1 in 10 women leave employment due to menopause symptoms. A staggering 81% state menopause has an impact on their performance at work. Those numbers felt too significant to ignore. Not only was this a potential issue for our female colleagues, who make up 50% of our company, our male colleagues may well have family or friends who are experiencing symptoms.
The Hunters' team want to focus on removing the stigmas, taboos and negative stereotypes associated with menopause in the workplace. In addition to that, we are committed to ensuring our compliance with pertinent legal regulations, including the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Safety at Work Acts.
The team met with external providers to gain more insight into what support is available. Our leadership team were presented with options from the findings. A plan for internal communications and the creation of a resource hub is underway. Reassuringly, the leadership team are fully supportive of our proposal to have face-to face sessions. Those sessions will take place across the business in November.
We are just beginning our journey but it feels good to have started!