For many employers, your team’s hormones may not be front of mind. However, hormonal conditions can affect both men and women, and with a huge amount of the UK workforce sitting in the age bracket for perimenopause, menopause and the andropause (male menopause), employers need to start taking note and implementing policies to better support their workforce.
Hormones are our body’s communication messenger system. They are chemicals released in the bloodstream which act a bit like instantaneous text messages, telling the body what to do and when to do it. Hormonal balance is very often related to our lifestyle, and modern-day life means that dysfunction is common and causes widespread significant issues.
Every organ in the body, including the brain, has receptors for our reproductive hormones and thus a disturbance in the balance of hormones and loss of production in menopause and andropause has far-reaching consequences beyond that of hot flushes and sweats.
Hormonal dysfunction is not just a health issue; it is a business issue impacting millions of working-age adults across every industry. However, workplaces can still treat them like taboo topics or ignore them entirely.
Ignoring the hormonal health of your team can harm productivity, increase absenteeism, and silently drain your talent pipeline. With awareness, empathy, and a few simple policy shifts, businesses can transform the work environment to allow employees to navigate their health better and for the business to thrive; a win-win for all.
Hormonal health isn’t a niche issue — it’s a mainstream one. Here’s what many businesses can miss:
- Menopause affects half the population, typically between ages 45–55. Symptoms like brain fog, hot flushes, and mood shifts affect concentration and confidence. These women are often at the peak of their careers and have a huge amount of wisdom and life experience, which is at risk of being lost in the workplace.
- Pcos (polycystic ovary syndrome) affects around 1 in 10 women, causing irregular periods, fatigue, weight gain, acne and potential fertility issues, and of course impacts mental health. The condition is best managed by lifestyle changes prioritising unprocessed low-carb nutrition, movement and using some nutraceutical support with supplements.
- Endometriosis is a painful condition where endometrial tissue (lining of the womb) grows outside of the uterus, often in the pelvic area and affects over 1.5 million people in the UK. When these women have bleeds, they often have debilitating pain as a result of the ectopic tissue bleeding into the body’s cavity with no exit, causing inflammation within the body. This can lead to missed workdays, reduced productivity or even career derailment.
- Andropause (male menopause) – men are not immune from hormonal dysfunction, and andropause can hit men typically in their 40s–60s, causing fatigue, low mood, and decreased focus due to declining testosterone levels. Again, this is often best managed with lifestyle changes to support testosterone production, and hectic modern-day life is often not conducive to hormonal wellbeing.
Although these conditions are not rare, most employees suffer in silence and do not feel they can bring up their issues at work. According to a 2022 CIPD report, 67% of women didn’t tell their employer about their menopause symptoms because they feared embarrassment or a lack of support.
Unfortunately, if not recognised and addressed, it can lead to quiet quitting, burnout, talent loss and reduced productivity. Awareness of the issues and thinking about policies and support by business leaders can build a resilient, high-performing workforce, which is key for success in most businesses.
But here’s what businesses can do to ensure their teams are well supported, productive and happy:
Open the conversation
Start with education and awareness. It would be helpful to host seminars or webinars with qualified health professionals on hormonal health and the importance of the lifestyle pillars of nutrition, sleep, movement and relaxation. Normalising the conversation and adding hormonal health to your wellbeing calendar will show employees that it is as important as mental health or stress management. In fact, hormonal dysfunction can be a root cause of many mental health issues; having speakers from the functional medicine world and practitioners well-versed in bioidentical hormones can help the workforce have some agency in their health and share simple, actionable tips.
Train managers to respond, not react
Line managers are often the first point of contact; it would be important to train them well to understand and know what to say when an employee shares a health concern. It may be worth implementing wellbeing training that includes hormonal conditions.
Review your policies
Most sickness, flexibility, and occupational health policies don’t mention hormonal health. To be up to speed, it would be prudent to add specific references to hormonal conditions in HR policies and create a clear, confidential path for employees to request adjustments.
Offer practical flexibility
Hormonal symptoms are unpredictable; one day an employee may feel fine, the next they’re battling pain or exhaustion. Flexibility can be the difference between burnout and balance. This may require the option of hybrid working, flexible hours, or short-notice leave options with no attached stigma.
Review the workplace environment
Small things can matter. Ensuring the temperature is adjustable and making quiet spaces to decompress can make a difference. Flexibility in dress code to allow all to be comfortable allows employees to be able to focus more. It would be useful to ask your employees directly what they need and then show that you act on it.
Supporting hormonal health is about being inclusive and equitable, and importantly, it improves the productivity and performance of every layer of the workforce. Workplaces can be created where health is prioritised and encouraged, which keeps your workforce well-balanced and productive.
Mental health has rightly had increased acknowledgement in the workplace, and it is also time to treat hormonal health the same way, proactively with compassion and systemically. It is not necessary to have a full wellbeing department to make an impact. Starting small, acting with empathy, and backing it up with policy is a great start; your employees and your business will thank you.
