At the heart of its menopause friendly work, Mansfield Building Society established and developed a great deal of support for its colleagues from training to setting up awareness cafés and supporting workplace champions to normalise the conversation to shaping a policy that encompasses the real needs of colleagues working through their menopause.
Mansfield Building Society’s menopause friendly journey stand-out has been Learning and Development Specialist, Bob Crowe, as heading up its training and awareness initiatives. “Bob has been the heart and drive behind all the great things we have achieved at the Society for menopause,” says Vickie. “We are very proud to have a man leading the charge and making a huge difference.”
The Menopause Friendly Accreditation was established by Henpicked: Menopause In The Workplace in 2020 to certify high standards and proven practices that embrace menopause in the workplace. The Accreditation is industry-recognised and the only accreditation that sets clear standards which must be met, it is truly meaningful and considered as a mark of excellence for menopause in the workplace.
In order to achieve the Menopause Friendly Accreditation, Mansfield Building Society was assessed by an Independent Panel and had to demonstrate evidence of its effectiveness in five key areas, namely: culture, policies and practices, training, engagement and working environment.
During the journey to become accredited, the organisation highlighted three things of which they were most proud:
- Training – which started with training all the Executives, Managers and Team Leaders on how to manage menopause in the workplace, giving them the tools and support they would need to support their team members. The training course was then adapted to create ‘Managing my Menopause’ which was open to all colleagues.
- Policy – shaping a real-life policy that supports the real needs of colleagues. For example, it took the brave step to include ‘paid leave’ for colleagues, instead of assigning the absence as ‘sick leave’ which felt inappropriate and inaccurate for the situation.
- Menopause Café – Menopause Champions host a Menopause Café three times a year to keep the level of awareness high and encourage open conversations which continue to aid the learning for everyone.
Of these, the training was the most important and influential initiative as it started the breakdown of barriers and introduced the education which led to the understanding and awareness that all colleagues now enjoy.
“Achieving the Menopause Friendly Accreditation has given us an important stamp of recognition of the work that we have done and that we are continuing to do the right thing for our colleagues,” says Vickie. “Not only does it let each of us know that we care for one another, it lets our customers know that we care about people. That is very important.”
“Mansfield Building Society understood from the start that education is at the heart of change,” says Deborah Garlick, CEO and Founder of Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace. “The management team sought to create a really thorough and supportive training system which is designed to grow and move with the times. It is also incredibly heartening to see the driving force behind the whole initiative is a man as we know taking such a bold stance is a great way to break barriers and taboos. We salute you, Bob Crowe!”