Why South African companies can’t ignore menopause anymore

I have the incredible opportunity to collaborate with exceptionally talented and innovative women who are leaders in their fields. At Medihelp Medical Scheme, it’s inspiring to thrive alongside women holding 63% of leadership roles.
By Lien Potgieter
13 Aug 2026
Image credit:
Image credit: Kaboompics

This phenomenon is not unique to Medihelp.

Across South Africa and around the world, women in their 40s and 50s are leading organisations, driving innovation, mentoring younger colleagues, and making some of the biggest decisions of their careers.

At the same time, many of us are navigating one of life’s most significant biological transitions: perimenopause and menopause.

Yet it remains one of the least talked about realities in the workplace.

Leading global studies continue to show that women experiencing menopause often reduce their responsibilities or even leave the workforce altogether when they don’t receive understanding or support.

When they do, organisations lose years of experience, institutional knowledge, and invaluable leadership.

But I believe there is another side to this conversation that deserves equal attention.

While menopause can present real challenges, it is also remarkable how many women continue to lead, perform, and contribute at the highest levels despite those challenges.

Their resilience is often invisible because they simply get on with the job.

Menopause happens

For many women, menopause doesn’t arrive during a quieter season of life.

It arrives while we’re leading organisations, raising children, supporting partners, caring for ageing parents, and juggling multiple responsibilities.

Many of us belong to the so-called “sandwich generation”, caring for both our children and our parents at the same time.

The emotional, physical, and mental load doesn’t disappear during menopause.

If anything, it can amplify the anxiety, mental strain, and exhaustion that sometimes accompany this stage of life.

And yet, every day, women continue showing up.

We chair meetings, make strategic decisions, mentor teams, deliver results, and creatively solve complex problems.

Our capability doesn’t diminish because menopause becomes part of our story.

If anything, it demonstrates a resilience that often goes unseen.

As a woman in my early 50s, I no longer read about menopause as an abstract health topic.

I read about it because it is my reality.

Like so many women, I wear many hats: I am a wife, a mother, a sister, and a daughter.

Alongside my family responsibilities, I lead a demanding executive portfolio that requires strategic thinking, sound judgement, and constant decision-making.

Some days, simply keeping all those balls in the air feels exhausting before menopause even enters the picture.

One of the symptoms I experience is hot flushes.

People often dismiss them as simply “feeling warm”. They are so much more than that.

I’ll be sitting in a meeting when it starts.

Within seconds, I can feel the heat building from inside. My face turns bright red.

I wonder whether everyone notices. I worry that they think I’m nervous, flustered or somehow not in control.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to stay focused on the conversation while wishing the moment would pass.

There are moments when I genuinely feel as though I could explode from the intensity of the heat. It leaves me unusually irritable, emotionally drained, and desperately trying to regain my composure.

The physical discomfort is real, but what surprised me most is the mental burden that comes with it.

You become hyper-aware of yourself when all you want is to focus on doing your job.

But the meeting continues. Decisions still need to be made. Teams still look to their leaders for direction.

Like countless women, I continue doing exactly that.

Menopause may change how a day feels, but it doesn’t diminish decades of experience, judgement or leadership.

It is something I navigate, not something that defines my ability to lead.

I’m sure many women know exactly what I’m describing.

The irony is that we often recognise these moments in one another.

We notice the flushed face, the fatigue, the occasional loss of words or unexpected emotion. Yet we rarely acknowledge it.

Even among women, menopause remains something we quietly endure rather than openly discuss.

Menopause in the boardroom

For too long, we’ve swept menopause under the boardroom carpet.

The workplace has made enormous strides in supporting employees through different life stages.

We have become more comfortable talking about mental health, parental leave, and employee wellbeing.

Menopause deserves to be part of that conversation too.

This doesn’t mean organisations need elaborate programmes or expensive interventions.

Often, support starts with something much simpler: awareness, empathy, and understanding.

It means recognising that a high-performing employee who suddenly seems forgetful, anxious or overwhelmed has not lost her capability.

She may simply be navigating profound hormonal changes while continuing to lead teams, deliver results, care for family members and meet the same expectations she has always placed on herself.

Menopause-safe workplace

Creating a menopause-aware workplace is not about lowering expectations or treating women differently.

It is about removing unnecessary stigma so that talented people can continue contributing without feeling they need to hide a normal stage of life.

When organisations create environments where women feel understood rather than judged, they don’t just support individuals; they retain exceptional leaders.

It also means permitting women to speak about menopause without fearing that it will be interpreted as weakness or diminish confidence in their leadership.

For many women, menopause arrives at exactly the stage when they have accumulated decades of expertise and are making their greatest contribution to their organisations.

This is not the time for them to feel invisible, embarrassed or unsupported.

It is the time to recognise the depth of experience they bring and ensure workplaces continue to benefit from it.

Women’s Month is a fitting reminder that gender inclusion doesn’t end with equal opportunity or leadership representation.

It also means recognising the realities women experience throughout every stage of their working lives.

Women don’t become less capable because they experience menopause.

If anything, many reach menopause at the very height of their professional expertise.

They bring wisdom, perspective, resilience, and leadership that organisations simply cannot afford to lose.

The question isn’t whether women can lead through menopause. Every day, they already do.

The real question is whether our workplaces are prepared to support the extraordinary women they simply can’t afford to lose.

About the author

Lien Potgieter is the chief marketing officer of Medihelp Medical Scheme.

 
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