As we commemorate World Health Day today (7th April), with this year’s focus on Maternal and Newborn Health, it serves as a crucial reminder of the need to address gender health disparities in the workplace.
For mothers, proper support needs to extend far beyond pregnancy and childbirth, and must account for the longterm physical, emotional, and mental impact that motherhood can have on their overall health. Yet, women across the globe, continue to face considerable barriers in accessing the healthcare, treatment, and help they need.
A report from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute shows that women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health. This gender health gap has profound implications, particularly in the workplace, where a large portion of women’s health challenges occur.
Unique female health challenges affect their work
From reproductive health and chronic conditions to mental health challenges, these health concerns directly affect productivity, engagement, and overall wellbeing. It is therefore clear that stronger action is needed to close the gender health gap and achieve gender health equity.
What’s more, studies consistently suggest that health problems unique to women can significantly impact their performance at work. Chronic conditions such as endometriosis, which affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, often lead to debilitating symptoms.
Debilitating symptoms
In fact, women who experience severe menstrual pain are more likely to miss work. Menopause, for example, can cause a range of symptoms that hinder job performance as well, including hot flushes, difficulty concentrating, poor memory, sleep disorders, and tiredness.
Pregnancy-related illnesses and complications can further impact women’s ability to stay in the workforce, particularly when employers fail to offer adequate maternity leave or flexible working arrangements.
Frequent sick leave, decreased productivity, mental health issues, and burnout all have evident negative consequences for employees, but they also impair business performance. Employers can no longer ignore the strong link between female health and productivity. It is in the company’s best interest to support female employees in managing their health challenges, ensuring the team can perform at their best and ultimately drive better results.
How can employers better support women?
To be in a stronger position to close the gender health gap, organisations need to take three key steps:
1. Educate on the impact of women’s conditions:
What often leads to misunderstanding and neglect of these issues is repeated misconceptions about women’s health conditions, combined with a lack of education.
It is vital to educate the entire workforce, raising awareness and fostering empathy (not sympathy) for the diverse and complex health and wellbeing challenges that women experience. The shared understanding is essential for recognising how these difficulties can impact overall wellbeing and job effectiveness.
2. Ensure women feel safe enough to speak up:
It is equally important that struggling women feel safe enough to speak openly, with a manager or leadership team, about what they are going through.
For this to happen, what’s needed is a foundation of trust, and that can only be achieved if the work culture is rooted in psychological safety. Leaders should not only make themselves available during regular office hours for employees to come and have conversations in private, but they must also approach these discussions with curiosity and empathy, creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up and be heard.
3. Move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to health and wellbeing:
To succeed in narrowing the gender health gap, businesses need to implement a truly inclusive, flexible, personalised policy that addresses women’s health directly and provides female employees with accessible support.
This involves targeted support in areas like menstrual health, pregnancy, maternity, and menopause, ensuring women receive the specific help they need throughout these very different stages of life.
How do you measure results?
When it comes to measuring the results, the key lies in actively involving female employees in the process. Instead of making assumptions about their needs, leaders should ask them directly what would help them navigate their specific challenges. Engage them in intervention design and follow-up regularly to check whether what’s on offer is still of use, what would be better, and so forth.
Regular light-touch pressure management or team energy assessments can be an effective way of identifying what might be hindering employees, particularly women, from fully contributing. It can also create safe opportunities for diverse groups to come together for focus-group-style discussions. By working with local leadership, they can determine small adjustments to existing support and pinpoint what changes are needed to help women feel more comfortable being open about their health and wellbeing issues.
Not just right – it’s strategic
Aiding female employees with adequate resources and support isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s a strategic business decision. Healthier employees are more productive, creative, engaged and committed, resulting in lower absenteeism, higher retention, and stronger overall performance. Now is the time for organisations to prioritise health equity, ensuring that gender health disparities no longer limit the contribution potential of women in their workplace.
About the author
Lesley Cooper is a management consultant with over 25 years of experience in the design and delivery of all elements of employee wellbeing management programmes. In 1997, Lesley founded Working Well, an award-winning specialist consultancy that helps companies manage workplace pressure in a way that facilitates growth and development. She is also the co-author of Brave New Leader: How to Transform Workplace Pressure into Sustainable Performance and Growth.
You can hear more on this topic at The Watercooler Event, on 7th and 8th May 2025at ExCeL in London, which is Europe’s leading trade show, with free-to-attend content, dedicated to creating workplaces that empower both people and business to thrive.
On 7th May, The Watercooler is hosting a panel debate on ‘Empowering inclusive women’s health & wellbeing – taking a wider approach’.
You can find out more and register to attend here.
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