As an HR Director you’ll know the difference between good intentions and measurable impact. And when it comes to supporting colleagues through menopause and menstruation, this distinction is critical. Too often, initiatives begin with good intent but fall short of delivering lasting cultural change.
Why independent assessment matters
It’s easy to say your organisation is menopause friendly. It’s harder to prove it. That’s why the industry-recognised Menopause Friendly Accreditation and Menopause Friendly Employer Awards are independently assessed by an expert panel. We deliberately don’t assess our own members – because that would be like marking our own homework.
We prepare organisations for their accreditation assessment through training, resources, support and connection with our membership community. But the recognition itself is earned, not claimed. This independence is what gives the Menopause Friendly Accreditation its credibility – and why it matters in a crowded space where intent alone isn’t enough.
Being menopause friendly isn’t the preserve of large corporates with big budgets. Among our 170+ Menopause Friendly Accredited member organisations are charities, care homes, councils, government departments and even football clubs. From the private sector to the public and voluntary sectors, impact is accessible to all.
Celebrating and Sharing What Works
When it comes to being menopause and menstruation friendly, there is no greater inspiration than seeing the impact of organisations and individuals who are truly committed to improving the lived experience of colleagues in the workplace.
Last week’s Menopause & Menstruation Friendly Employer Awards illustrate this perfectly. Judged by an independent panel, these awards recognise organisations and individuals who have made a real, measurable difference to the lived experiences of their colleagues.
At this year’s Awards, winners spanned sectors and sizes: HSBC UK, first direct and M&S Bank, Huddersfield Town Football Club, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, Mars, Alzheimer’s Society, and Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, to name just a few.
These organisations are not only normalising menopause and menstruation in the workplace – they’re creating practical solutions, providing resources, and driving real cultural change. Their work shows what is possible when impact, not intent, leads the way.
Importantly, the awards are not simply about celebrating excellence. They are about sharing it. Which is why this year’s awards were embedded in a full-day community event – with panels, talks, networking and knowledge exchange seeing members swapping ideas and solutions to accelerate change across sectors.
This spirit of collaboration is the hallmark of our Menopause Friendly membership community which works together to change workplace culture and, ultimately, change lives.
World Menopause Day: springboard, not sideshow
With World Menopause Day just around the corner, we will soon see the familiar flurry of downloadable pledges, free toolkits and branded banners. While well-intentioned, too often these activities remain surface-level. You need to look beyond the toolkit and find the evidence-based, experienced team that has the proven track record and expertise to take you step by step from starting the conversation to becoming truly menopause friendly.
World Menopause Day should never be the destination of a PR campaign. It must be the springboard for genuine action: embedding training, providing support, making workplace adjustments and driving culture change. Please don’t let World Menopause Day end with a toolkit download. Use it as the catalyst to start conversations, embed support and make lasting cultural change. This is where the impact lies – and it is impact, not intention, that matters most.
