"Let life show at work"

How does your workplace take into account the needs of people of different ages?

Inevitably not at all. In Finnish working life, there has not yet been much discussion about menopause, for example, even though it can have a significant impact on a worker's ability to work and their life.

Even today, menopause affects half a million women of working age with 15-25 years of working life ahead of them.

Eveliina Holmgren, an organisational psychologist at Terveystalo, therefore believes it is not an issue to be ignored.

– These women are in their prime working years, perhaps at the peak of their careers. Keeping them in-house is a win-win situation for both the employee and the company," she says.

Holmgren urges that menopause should be taken into account in the workplace, as well as infancy, peak years and ageing. He sees this as an opportunity to increase what he calls psychological safety.

– Discussing the individual needs of people in different life situations can be a joint opportunity for the workplace to strengthen trust and thus human effectiveness and psychological safety," she says.

– Psychological safety and well-being are prerequisites for effective and productive work, not nice-to-haves.

Efficiency requires humanity

Psychological safety means being yourself and not being afraid of social risks, for example.

– People do not have to fear being stigmatised or missing out on new projects because of their age, appearance, ideas or life situation. They can trust that the herd will accept them as a whole," says Eveliina Holmgren.

For example, if an employee talks about her menopausal symptoms or other issues in her life that may affect her work, the workplace understands that these issues are not an illness or weakness, but part of life.

Psychological safety benefits all members of the work community, and therefore the organisation as a whole. The key to creating psychological safety is open discussion and valuing the humanity of employees.

– Being able to talk openly about all stages of life creates a culture where everyone can be their whole selves. A work community that normalises the way life is reflected at work is not weak, but strong and wise. Humanity is therefore not an obstacle to efficiency, but a prerequisite for it. If there is no psychological security, the worker will dare to show only the accepted side of himself. Then the person spends energy on the wrong things.

If people feel social shame or fear, they may start to work inefficiently, end up changing jobs, or even become so stressed that they have to leave the workplace.

– We can't afford that. Finland is a country with a small and ageing workforce. We need to build a workplace culture that supports the well-being of all and does not discriminate against anyone.

Tips for employers: how to create psychological safety in the workplace

• Strengthen managers' skills in managing diversity in the workplace. Make sure they know how different life stages can affect people and how to discuss them constructively with individual employees and the team. Make use of occupational health experts in the coaching.
• Provide practical tools and support for the everyday life of the managerial staff. Talk about empowerment to offer and discuss with team members issues such as flexibility in working hours or assignments, trusting relationships between chaperones and team members, and managing psychological safety.
• Ensure that people of different ages and backgrounds are recruited into the organisation and that different life stages and backgrounds are taken into account in induction, training, career development and wellbeing programmes. Update policies on sick leave, shift work, night work and teleworking.
• Remember that organisational performance and business benefit from a workplace that is attractive and equitable for a wide range of talent and that respects the principles of equality.