Around 10% of senior women drop out of the workforce in their 40s and 50s. The reason is often simple and predictable – and yet no one talks about it. We interview an expert on how to turn this around.
Imagine you have a high-achieving leader. She has deep institutional knowledge, mentors younger staff and works effectively across the organisation. Then one day she tells you it’s time for a change and leaves.
Your organisation feels the gap. Not only is there no one with her knowledge ready to step into her role, but others who relied on her mentorship begin to disengage or leave.
Her reasons for departure are vague and not clearly articulated – at least out loud. But the underlying cause is often clear and preventable. That cause is menopause.
Addressing the causes of dropout
As we discussed in our last article {LINK}, menopause is not an uncurable decline, but a transition to being a better leader. It’s linked to our evolutionary biology and causes an increase in empathy but decrease in emotion, making female leaders post-menopause resilient, calm, and better able to guide others. It makes them better leaders.
Menopause is a leadership superpower, so the question is how organisations retain this top talent, and all the experience and institutional knowledge they have. Menopause is often treated as a private health matter, but Heather Paterson, founder of Progression Lab urges everyone to frame it differently: an evolutionary strategy that, in modern organisations, shows up as a leadership transition.
The problem therefore isn’t the transition itself but losing women during the hardest stretch because workplaces misread what they’re seeing.
Because the numbers should be a wake-up call to any leader or organisation. One in 10 women leave the workforce because of menopause symptoms, according to one survey, while a different survey found that 17% have considered quitting their job due to a lack of support in relation to their menopause symptoms. That’s a lot of experience, knowledge and skill walking out the door.
The difficulty lies not in the transition but in how supported they are in the transition. Symptoms can be disruptive or, in some cases, debilitating. For women already juggling children, ageing parents and demanding roles, this can become the tipping point. It’s where employer support matters.
“Because we never talk about menopause and there’s so much stigma, if people feel unsupported at work, they might just leave. But they’ll rarely cite menopause as the reason,” Paterson says.
“If an organisation finds a way to support women through this stage and offer flexibility, they are likely to stay for a long time,” Paterson explains.
So while we are often sold the idea that menopause represents decline, in reality it is a transition: a temporary, biologically hard-wired shift that moves women into a new phase of cognitive and emotional capacity. In other words, to better leadership.
“When I started looking into the science, I was fascinated to discover that menopause is embedded in our DNA as part of our species’ survival. When women come out the other side, they are leaner, more focused and often better leaders than ever,” says Paterson.
“There is significant neurological learning that occurs during menopause. One of the biggest effects is increased emotional resilience; an improved ability to handle change, problem-solve and plan. And because you’re no longer being pulled in as many directions, you can become a more strategic and measured leader.”
Understanding the signs
While hot flushes are widely recognised, menopause – or the time leading up to it, perimenopause – can involve dozens of potential symptoms, from brain fog and sleep disruption to anxiety and fatigue. Experiences vary significantly:
- Around 20% of women experience minimal symptoms
- Approximately 60% experience moderate symptoms
- Around 20% experience severe or debilitating symptoms
But the real problem is not the symptoms themselves, but the confusion, fear and stigma around them.
Paterson recalls her own experiences: delivering a presentation and suddenly forgetting a simple word; struggling to recall a recent conversation with her manager.
“I really thought I was losing my edge. When you take pride in your performance, that’s very confronting,” she says.
She says the confidence impact is often larger than the performance impact, largely because women don’t know what’s happening.
“I didn’t even know it was a temporary transition, or that something better could be on the other side. The reason my confidence was hit so hard was because I had no idea what was happening,” she explains.
The first step, therefore, is acknowledgment.
“We need women to feel safe enough to come forward and talk about what they are experiencing,” she explains.
“It’s not about giving them nutrition tips or telling them to get more sleep. That can be incredibly frustrating.”
How to put this into practice
Negotiating all this can understandably feel like a minefield for leaders and managers. Well-meaning initiatives can seem performative or insulting if handled poorly: women report misguided initiatives such as being provided with special ‘cool rooms’ or asked ‘is it your hormones?’
The good news is that an action plan does not need to be complex, scary or expensive. Some of the following points might seem obvious, but it is surprising how often even the most straightforward steps can be easy to get wrong, and simple to get right if you know what you’re doing.
1. Talk and listen
Paterson says communication is the starting point.
“I often begin with an educational session explaining what menopause is and why it represents a transition into the next phase of life. And how it can be linked to leadership growth.”
From there, she recommends “community conversations” to understand what women are experiencing and how they would like it to be managed.
“Every company will have different issues. Some may already offer flexibility for example, but other barriers may exist.”
These conversations may initially involve only affected women, helping reduce stigma and build trust. The critical element is genuine listening.
“There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution. Women want to be heard. They don’t want to be showered with solutions or told what they should be doing,” she says.
This is particularly useful for male managers, Paterson adds, because many avoid the topic not from lack of care, but from lack of language. Education gives people a respectful way in which to frame a discussion.
2. Be flexible
A 2024 Australian Senate Committee Inquiry into menopause and perimenopause recommended workplace flexibility as a key support mechanism.
“Individuals experiencing difficulty with their menopause symptoms may not require specific leave. Rather, they could manage these symptoms with reasonable adjustments in the workplace,” the report noted.
In practice, this might include:
- Adjusted hours
• Remote or hybrid work options
• Reduced travel
• Greater autonomy over scheduling
“I think many companies already offer flexibility,” Paterson adds. “But retaining it is something to consider carefully, particularly in the context of return-to-office mandates.”
3. Design roles thoughtfully
Once you have listened, it’s important to review role design. As the most disruptive period is temporary, the goal isn’t permanent redesign.
“This is not about changing the role or lowering expectations. It’s about adjusting how the work is done for a period of time,” Paterson says.
That may involve reviewing workload peaks, travel demands, meeting schedules or performance metrics to determine where flexibility exists. For some women, it may mean temporarily reducing high-intensity tasks or redistributing certain responsibilities. Done well, this is not accommodation in a negative sense, but a temporary process enabling sustained contribution across a long career.
4. Treat it like any other medical condition
The Senate Inquiry also recommended handling menopause as a workplace health and wellbeing matter rather than a purely private issue.
Paterson agrees, drawing a parallel to her experience managing an employee with narcolepsy.
“I knew he needed flexibility to manage his sleep patterns. It should be no different for someone experiencing menopause,” she says.
5. Build it into organisational psychological safety
Ultimately, the shift is cultural. Leaders must consider what both employer and employee gain when stigma is removed and menopause is treated as a normal life transition rather than a hidden issue.
“What I’d like is for someone to feel comfortable enough to be in a meeting and ask if they can turn up the AC because they’re having a hot flush, or if they forget a word in a presentation due to brain fog, to calmly explain it’s due to menopause rather than feeling embarrassed,” Paterson says.
Normalising these experiences reduces shame and silence. It signals that women do not have to mask symptoms or withdraw from visibility to protect their credibility. They are practical, human steps towards better retention.
“I’ve seen organisations hold a simple Teams call where women could share what was working for them and what they were struggling with. It was just lovely,” she says.
At stake are highly experienced leaders at the height of their capability. When organisations ignore menopause, they risk losing decades of institutional knowledge, mentorship and strategic judgement. Not only this, but they are losing these key people right at the moment they’re on the way to becoming the best leaders they’ve ever been.
When organisations respond thoughtfully, they retain not only talent, but resilience, perspective and leadership depth that cannot be easily replaced.
“This is a smart retention strategy, because supporting women through menopause means they will stay, and give some of their best years to your organisation. It’s something organisations should care deeply about,” Paterson concludes.
About Hunton Executive
Hunton Executive partners with healthcare and life sciences organisations to identify, develop, and appoint the next generation of leaders. We have a strong pool of top leadership talent across critical markets including Asia, Middle East, Australia, Europe and the US. Contact us for a confidential chat.