Chances are you’ll have noticed there’s a lot of talk about menopause awareness training for the workplace.
And perhaps you’re considering putting training in place for your workplace and one of the big questions you have is will it solve all the potential menopause related workplace problems that could occur.
Imagine this…
You’ve arranged your menopause awareness training.
It’s been delivered.
It’s gone well.
Your colleagues are chatting about it.
You’re motivated to make a difference.
Is your organisation suddenly the most menopause friendly organisation on the planet?
Nope.
So, in this blog we’ll be chatting about:
- How to get the most out of your menopause awareness training
- What to consider before you introduce menopause awareness training
- Why menopause awareness training isn’t all you have to do to be a menopause friendly organisation
- What to do after your menopause awareness training so it’s not all been a waste of everyone’s time
And more.
Get the most out of your menopause awareness training
Ask yourself:
“What’s the real purpose of menopause awareness training for our workplace?”
Consider:
- What your business needs are
- What your managers need are
- What your colleagues need are
- What you’re aiming to change and improve
Have a menopause awareness strategy.
It can be easy to arrange training without thinking about what you’re looking to achieve in the short and the long-term.
Get clear on what you want from your menopause awareness training because then you’re increasing your chances of the training helping you with your menopause related issues or concerns for your workplace.
It may be you provide a menopause awareness webinar or talk to your managers first, or for all your colleagues.
And then offer more in-depth training for managers only or for managers and colleagues.
You may want to keep the training in-house rather than going externally to a menopause training provider.
Training Options
The training you provide for managers may be different to what you offer colleagues.
Managers may want to know more about how they can help, support and have difficult conversations with colleagues should menopause related symptoms affect their productivity at work, relationships with colleagues, attendance etc
Colleagues may want to know more about how they can become more aware of potential changes to their body, know how to help themselves to manage their own symptoms, how to speak to their GP, how to speak to their manager etc
Format of training
It’s also worth considering what format(s) training is delivered in.
An online course that managers can complete that doesn’t take them out of the business for chunks
Or a workshop where they’re with others and learning directly from a menopause trainer.
A live webinar – or a pre-recorded webinar – that provides managers and colleagues an overview of menopause.
It may be that you want to do your own in-house menopause awareness training.
Consider what training format or option would work best.
The purpose and aims of the training
We both know this depends on what your organisation or business needs are.
An organisation benefits from menopause awareness training when, everyone knows what menopause is and what it isn’t, what support and help is in place, who to speak to, what policies or guidelines are in place and where they’re kept.
And not everyone will want to talk openly about menopause but with training they know what’s what when they want to or need to.
And not everyone will need to discuss their menopause-related symptoms.
If menopause training isn’t used to its full advantage you’re at risk of an employment tribunal, people leaving, becoming de-motivated and their productivity affected.
Menopause awareness training isn’t a magic wand.
It’s what your business or organisation and colleagues do with the information afterwards that makes the biggest difference.
Menopause awareness training can create more work
Time for a bit of honesty here. You’ll thank me for it – honest!
It’s after menopause training the real work begins.
For it to be effective you need to implement what you’ve learned.
Take action.
Talk more.
And that may mean:
- Reviewing and updating other workplace policies
- Creating and writing a menopause policy / guidelines
- Updating risk assessments
- Buying new equipment
And because we believe a two-pronged approach to menopause awareness training works best – train your managers /colleagues and those that will go through menopause – you may want to consider providing menopause awareness training for women to help them recognise their symptoms so they can help and support themselves.
It can be easy to believe providing menopause awareness training is all you have to do to create your menopause friendly workplace.
You have your pick of menopause training providers but you need to know that they’ll be able to provide what you need to help you action your menopause strategy, how their training is going to benefit the business, your managers and your colleagues or menopause awareness training isn’t going to be a benefit in the long run.
Want to know more about menopause awareness training for your workplace?
Here’s some further reading/watching:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external menopause awareness training?
5 factors that affect the cost of menopause awareness training
Video
5 reasons why it makes sense to outsource your menopause awareness training
Want to have a chat about your menopause awareness training and how we can help?
Email traceytait@menopausetrainingcompany.com
