Jill Ross and Sarah Garton on developing a community of MenoWarriors at Accenture

Middling Along

In this episode I welcome Jill Ross and Sarah Garton, both of whom are Managing Directors at Accenture in the UK. Jill and Sarah are the driving force behind Accenture’s MenoWarriors affinity group, and take us through how the group was established, and what Accenture has done to become accredited as a Menopause Friendly Employer here in the UK.

Sarah shares her personal story of ‘outing’ herself as menopausal in a room full of colleagues in dramatic style - far from putting the kibosh on her career trajectory at Accenture, she feels the opposite has happened - despite, or perhaps because of, her willingness to be vulnerable and open about her struggles. Jill also candidly shares her experiences of anxiety and loss of confidence at work - and what has helped her.

We also cover:

• the importance of male allies and how Accenture support male allies to confidently have those conversations in the workplace;
• how companies can support the emotional symptoms of menopause as well as the physical ones;
• the business case for making menopause an integral part of inclusion strategies;
• that businesses don’t necessarily need blockbuster budgets to make a big difference*;
• geographical differences in opening up conversations in the workplace and how the UK is leading from the front;
• the impressive results of their survey that clearly demonstrate the impact of their work around menopause support on employee retention

* the BSI has some great free resources you can share with your HR team or senior management here: https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/our-services/events/events/2023/menstrual-and-menopausal-health-in-the-workplace/

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