QBE Champions Menopause Support

QBE is a founding partner of Family Friendly Workplaces and proudly one of the first organisations to be certified as a Family Inclusive Workplace.  Menopause at Work® Asia Pacific has been supporting them to embed menopause awareness and support through advisory services and workplace programs for employees, managers and leaders.

When Krystine received an email from her employer QBE Insurance about a new menopause support program, she applied immediately. The night sweats, sleep deprivation, brain fog and emotional ups and downs were beginning to affect her confidence and trigger career-limiting thoughts. “I was thinking that I couldn’t do my job anymore or that I needed to cut back,” Krystine admits.

QBE’s menopause support includes a sponsored place in a seven-week program created by Menopause at Work®, as well as education events, awareness-raising efforts, a menopause workplace guide, an internal social media channel, and four extra days of paid leave. These resources have given Krystine the confidence to manage her symptoms better and maintain her job performance. “Now if I have a bad day, instead of catastrophizing, I simply make adjustments,” she says.

Flexible work arrangements have also been crucial. “If I’ve been awake half the night, I know I can start a little later and take rest breaks if I need to. The four extra flex days feel like a safety net,” Krystine explains.

What’s the biggest difference that working for a menopause – friendly employer has made for you?“You can get to this age and stage in life and feel invisible” says Krystine, “But now I feel seen.”

Felicity Ford, a partner manager at QBE, shares a similar story. Her menopause was induced by medical treatment for breast cancer, and QBE’s support has allowed her to be open about her experience. “I talk about it with my colleagues, which has helped older women open up and younger women ask me things that they haven’t talked about with their mothers,” Felicity says.

Felicity also participated in the menopause program, known as The Orca Effect, which emphasises the leadership qualities of post-menopausal women. “We older women are oracles of information and experience, so why shouldn’t we be valued for it?” Felicity asks. Since completing the program, she has applied for a new role, realising she didn’t have to let health challenges hold back her career.

“QBE has evolved immensely over time,” she reflects. “Our next step will be to engage more senior leaders and more men.”

QBE’s Senior Manager of Organisational Capability, Colin Sargent, has already demonstrated his willingness to show up and support his company’s menopause initiative. Invited by the Diversity, Inclusion, and Wellbeing team, Colin shared a male perspective at one of QBE’s ‘M Cafes,’ discussing the impact of his partner’s medically induced menopause. “I am very experienced at speaking in public, but this was the single hardest talk I’ve ever given,” Colin says. “I just didn’t feel I had a right to talk about this in a space where I felt like an outsider.”

As uncomfortable as it was to be a ‘male voice,’ preparing for the M Café forum opened up new conversations between Colin and his partner and unlocked discussions with his team. “It helped me better understand her experience and allowed me to speak openly with my team about what was happening,” Colin explains. “I think that kind of openness from leaders is a healthy thing to role model.”

Anu Wettasinghe, QBE’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Wellbeing Manager, emphasises that the main goal of QBE’s menopause support is to normalise the diverse life experiences our people have and encourage conversations so people don’t have to suffer in silence. “It’s not just about launching; it’s also about embedding,” says Anu, who is focussed on continued awareness raising so that more people will feel comfortable to speak up and seek support.

QBE’s Menopause Employee Support.

Inspired by their colleagues in the UK, QBE AUSPAC has been building out its menopause support over the last couple of years, backed by a strong global commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where people feel valued, a sense of belonging, and safe to seek support at different stages of their life and career.

Key initiatives include:

• Family Friendly Accreditation (2021): Recognising QBE’s commitment to supporting employees through various life stages.
• October 2022:
  • Launch of QBE’s Menopause Guide, outlining support pathways, and acknowledging this life experience is inclusive of all ages, trans and non-binary women
  • Creation of menopause intranet pages, and an internal social media channel for sharing information and experiences.
• March 2023: Introduction of quarterly online menopause forums called ‘M Cafes,’ offering education on a range of menopause topics.
• June 2023: Update of the flexible leave policy to include up to four days of paid leave for a range of life experiences, including menopause.

QBE’s menopause support initiatives are ongoing, with ‘M Cafes’ facilitated by Thea, continuing into 2024 and beyond.

This article first appeared in the newsletter of Parents at Work, who partners with Menopause at Work® Asia Pacific