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Today is World Menopause Day. A moment to raise awareness about menopause and perimenopause and learn from each other about the impact it can have on our day-to-day lives.
As part of our commitment to breaking down taboos in the workplace, Diageo employees from across the globe have trained to be menopause champions. Their aim is to help colleagues and managers understand the impact of menopause, normalise conversations about it, and signpost our people to a range of supportive resources.
Below, two of our menopause champions, Nora Ochoa, Government Compliance Manager for USA and Canada, and Jeanette Roberts, Health & Safety Specialist, Europe, tell us how menopause has impacted their lives and share their advice on how we can best support those who have directly, and indirectly, experienced its effects.
Talk about what you are experiencing and how you are feeling – which can be 100 different things in a day!”
To create a culture of openness, It’s important employers help to nurture an environment where employees are empowered to talk about their personal experiences, even when it’s challenging.
Jeanette said; “Opening up to my friends, family and husband helped me realise that there were causes behind my symptoms, and that I wasn’t depressed, losing my mind, or needing to quit my job.”
“My mum’s symptoms made her face a lot of physical and emotional challenges. Sometimes I found it difficult to relate and that created a tense environment at home. I will experience the same with my children, so I want to learn and be prepared so we can navigate the changes together, in a much more empathetic way.”
An essential part of raising awareness of menopause is to listen and learn from others. Nora Ochoa, shared a story of how her mum experienced menopause when she was a teenager, and how she learned from it to deal with her own perimenopause.
It is very likely that if I understood what my mom was going through, I may have been much more supportive.
Menopause is a life phase that has previously been considered a taboo subject due to lack of understanding.
We are encouraging conversation around how menopause impacts people in the workplace, and their personal lives, so people build understanding of the many ways the menopause can be experienced.
“When I heard Diageo had menopause champions, I signed up immediately. I saw being a champion as an opportunity to learn from others and develop my understanding further.” Jeanette Roberts
One of the things which helped me understand menopause the most was watching and listening to podcasts – and of course the Diageo guidelines helped too!
There are lots of resources available which can help build understanding. In March 2021, we launched our own global Menopause Guidelines ‘Thriving Through Menopause’, to employees and line managers. Now live in over 55 countries across all regions, the guidelines are in place to support employees and line managers to have confident and meaningful conversations without embarrassment.
I want to learn and be prepared, so as a family we can navigate the changes of menopause in a much more empathetic way.
We remain committed to opening up conversations, even on challenging subjects.
“It took me several years to figure out the wild, varied and sometimes scary symptoms. We need to make menopause part of normal, everyday conversations, so others can understand more, and be better prepared for this stage of life,” said Jeanette Roberts.
We’re proud of what we do to support our people, and our commitment to raising awareness throughout the year, as well as the role of our Spirited Women Network groups who so brilliantly encourage conversations around the world. We know there is always more we can do and we are learning every day from our menopause champions and others across the business.
For more information on our Global menopause Awareness Guidelines, take a look here.