Supporting Women at Work: Key Takeaways from Our Event

Evenings with Impact is our event series where we take a look at important social issues affecting the world of work and beyond.

At our recent Supporting Women in the Workplace talk, we tackled the realities of workplace equality – looking beyond policies on paper to understand the real challenges women face in their careers, finances, and wellbeing.

Here are the key takeaways:

1. Fairness Doesn’t Mean Treating Everyone the Same

One of the biggest debates was around fairness is should benefits be available to all employees, or is it okay to offer targeted support? The answer: true fairness is giving people what they need, not treating everyone identically.

Take parental leave, for example. Not everyone will take it, but its impact extends far beyond new parents. When businesses support key life moments, they create a more engaged, loyal, and productive workforce. This is the “halo effect” – where a benefit for a few ends up improving workplace culture for everyone.

2. Women’s Health: From Taboo to Talking Point

We heard examples of companies introducing camera-off days for difficult periods—a small, zero-cost policy that makes a huge difference. The takeaway? Talking about these issues helps normalise them, and normalisation leads to change.

There’s been progress, but menstrual health, fertility, and menopause are still often treated as personal issues, not workplace concerns. The reality? They directly affect productivity, retention, and career progression.

3. The Financial Cost of Career Breaks

Parenting and menopause are two of the biggest moments when women rethink their finances – yet many feel unprepared. Maternity leave, for example, can significantly impact pensions and long-term financial security.

Employers can make a difference by:

  • Encouraging higher pension contributions early to offset potential gaps
  • Educating employees about partner pension contributions during career breaks
  • Providing financial coaching to help women plan ahead

4. Fertility Benefits: A Genuine Solution or a Double-Edged Sword?

Fertility treatments and egg freezing are becoming more common workplace benefits. But are they empowering, or are they subtly encouraging women to delay parenthood for the sake of their careers?

While these benefits offer choice, they shouldn’t be seen as the default solution to workplace inequalities. Instead, businesses should ask: how can we support employees to thrive at work without forcing them to put their lives on hold?

5. The Workplace Wasn’t Built for Women – So How Do We Change It?

Workplaces were designed around a model of uninterrupted, full-time careers – a model that suits very few people today. The key isn’t just offering policies but redesigning workplaces to be more inclusive from the ground up.

One simple approach? Reframing the conversation. Instead of talking about these challenges as “women’s issues,” position them as business issues, leadership issues, and financial issues.

6. This Isn’t Just About Women – Men Need to Be Part of the Conversation

Men are often unsure how to engage in discussions around women’s health, parenting, or menopause. But the best way to drive change is to involve them rather than isolate them.

  • Make the business case – show how these issues impact workplace performance, retention, and financial wellbeing.
  • Help leaders understand why this matters – it’s not just about empathy. It’s about being a better manager, partner, and colleague.

Final Thought: Be Louder

One of the most powerful takeaways from our event was simple: talk about it. Be louder. The more we normalise these conversations, the easier it becomes to create real, lasting change.

Whether it’s improving parental leave, offering financial education, or simply encouraging open discussions, change starts with action.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

Thanks so much to our panellists Deirdre O’Neill, CCO @ Hertility and Ruth Handcock, CEO @ Octopus Money, and our moderator Kathryn Neale.

The ‘Pay it forward’ learning board

We also asked attendees to share any resources that they found useful on the topic. Here’s a list of everything that was submitted to our board:

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