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[Gilla999]

I work for a large global company and prior to the Menopause hitting (unexpectedly, at 40) I was flying high. I'm not married and have no children, so work really has been a huge focus point in my life. I was always getting really positive feedback and made to feel valued etc.

.... and then the Menopause hit! For the first 18 months I was really quite ill - not sleeping more than a couple of hours a night for 2 weeks out of every 4. In a very high pressured role that doesn't mix very well! It took me almost a year to understand what was causing it / be listened to by doctors etc so during this time I ended up taking a "step back" into an unofficially more junior role (official job title stayed the same). My bosses are fully aware of what happened and in general I felt were supportive.

Since starting HRT in April I have been much improved, apart from the odd dip of a week or two when I've adjusted my HRT. I've been back to my old self at work and (I feel) contributing even more than I did prior to Meno. At the end of last year I took over a new role that was being played by someone three career stages higher than I currently am. However when it comes to promotion (in line with company policy) I have been continuously fobbed off - not for reasons such as "we won't promote you because you need to improve/work on X" but always "external" reasons outside of anyone's control that then turn out not to be true.

In general I think I'm quite a perceptive person and my real sense is that - despite being a global organisation that has a menopause policy - what has happened over the last 18 months has really not been perceived well by the leadership. It is as though everything I gave and contributed prior to Meno has been erased because of the last 18 months (I have been at the company for 8 years) and it's now viewed with a sub-conscious "Gill is unreliable".... "Gill is fragile"... etc etc etc

I wondered if this resonates with anyone or anyone else has experienced issues in the workplace to do with the menopause? It seems to be that maternity is very well protected by law and rights, but we still have a long way to go to see menopause in the same way....

[Terri]

Hi Gill, I could have written most of that post myself. Your story does resonate with me.

I also work for a large organization and we don't have a menopause policy. Fortunately, my leadership team are mainly females around the age group 42-55, so when this sh*t storm hit me out of the blue in April, not knowing what was wrong at the time, they did fully support me by reducing the workload and encouraging me to take the time I needed to figure out what was going on medically and emotionally. Jump forward a few months and countless GP's / consultants, I started HRT.

I've gradually improved and have had more energy and fire in me than I have for a long time, on reflection I was probably slowly declining a few years before although I didn't recognize it until the acute anxiety hit in April.

Whilst my workload and responsibilities have gone back to what they were, I still get the sense I am being overlooked or fobbed off for high-profile or large scale projects that would normally have been assigned to me.  It's not been mentioned but I think they think I'm still fragile and couldn't be relied upon. Worse part is that my chief exec level colleagues are requesting for me to lead on certain project (I was always in high demand and built a solid reputation for getting things fixed), it seems my immediate boss keeps giving them excuses saying I'm busy with other work, yet I'm working on assignments that are more for junior members, that can be done by my junior colleagues.   I appreciate it all sounds a bit braggy. It's not my intention, it's just to say I can relate.

On the other-hand, I am not having to travel for business like I used to, and I don't feel quite ready to do that to the same level I did, which involved flying somewhere every week, and is still expected when the world properly opens up again. I try and remind myself that I am fortunate that I still have my job given the pandemic situation (and that I'm in the travel industry) and I have a supportive boss that is looking out for me - after what happened with me she is pushing our HR dept for a menopause policy and to be covered under our health insurance. There are hundreds of ladies in the age range where I work, surely I wasn't the only one to suffer.??!

Terri xx


 

[Gilla999]

Wow - do we work for the same company?!    I related to so much of what you said.

I'm grateful for the support my company showed at the time as I'm sure you also are, but that doesn't mean that it should be "held against you" afterwards, or you should be penalised for it in terms of promotions etc, which is what I feel is (consciously or sub-consciously) happening. Is a woman who went through being pregnant considered "fragile" afterwards?

There is still so much that is not recognised about the menopause - the degree that it impacts your physical and mental health at the time. I feel like women (not just in the workplace) are being labelled as "fragile", "anxious" and all sorts of other things because of a lack of understanding and recognition of what's medically causing it at that time.

Thanks for sharing your story Terri, it helps me to at least not to feel alone in this situation!

PS. I also wrote and re-wrote some of my original post as I was concerned I sounded too "braggy" 

[CLKD]

U Bragg Girls !  well done on getting this far.   


Because you will always be a small cog in a large wheel and because upper management don't understand how the lower levels get their tasks done each day, always work for your own ends, try not to become a 'company person'.  Or you will take personally every little over sight where you would have liked a different role but didn't get it.  I would blame that on the fact that you are women .........

Were the positions advertised within/outside of the Company and were they 'filled' within a time scale?  If this Company Gilla is part of a larger concomlorate (sp) issues may well be out of 'their control'.  It's rare that employees get the whole picture which then looks like cover ups and constant un-truths.  (similar happening to us right now with Mums' Care).

It is tiring trying to get to the bottom of the whys and 'what ifs'.  Been there, walked away