International Women’s Day on 8th March is a reminder to reflect on how women experience your workplace. Issues like pay gaps and career progression get the spotlight, but how we care for women’s wellbeing deserves as much attention.
For SMEs, it’s not about rolling out a complicated (and expensive) wellness programme. It’s about making sure wellbeing benefits are designed for female employees and their needs (not for a default).
Creating inclusive wellbeing benefits recognises that women can face different health challenges, pressures, and barriers throughout their working lives. Does your support meet that reality?
Why Do Female Employees Need Wellbeing Benefits?
Women make up a significant proportion of the UK workforce, from entry-level roles to leadership. But their health journeys aren’t a one-size-fits-all journey.
Female employees may experience
● Hormonal fluctuations that impact energy
● Pregnancy and post-partum recovery
● Fertility challenges and/or treatment
● Peri-menopause, menopause, post-menopause
● Higher rates of certain autoimmune conditions
● Disproportionate caring responsibilities
These life stages and health factors can affect performance, engagement, and confidence – but a good wellbeing benefit package will provide the emotional and practical support to make things easier.
On the flipside, when your wellbeing benefits don’t account for reality, women can feel unsupported or forced to struggle on alone.
Potential Inequalities in Workplace Wellness
Unfortunately, many workplace wellness initiatives are neutral. This might not sound like a bad thing, but ‘neutral’ often means designed around a male default. For example, work socials focused around male-dominated spaces, comms that focus on performance, and benefits that don’t flex for caring responsibilities. Even your choice of fitness benefits could unintentionally alienate women – like a small on-site gym or membership to a single weightlifting-style local gym.
In SMEs, where benefits packages need to be leaner, every decision has more impact.
Barriers Women Face When It Comes to Fitness and Wellbeing
1. Access and time
On average, women still take on a greater share of caring responsibilities from childcare to ageing relatives. That can mean less time for fitness, especially where gym opening times or class timetables limit availability. Fitness benefits with flexible options will help.
2. Confidence in the environment
Traditional gym spaces can feel intimidating, especially for women who have never been to a gym before or those returning after pregnancy or illness. Again, flexible options mean women can choose where they train. Make sure your fitness benefits include access to beginner-friendly spaces and a range of training styles.
3. Life phases
Pregnancy, post-partum recovery, and menopause all affect energy, strength, body confidence, and motivation. Support needs to adapt through all of these phases, making a case for flexible fitness benefits.
4. Visibility and representation
Review your workplace wellbeing communications for different body types, goals, and training styles, so all employees feel represented and encouraged.
5. Health stigma
Topics like miscarriage, fertility treatment, heavy periods, or menopause symptoms are still difficult to discuss anywhere, let alone at work. Physical activity has so many physical and emotional benefits, but if your workplace wellness culture isn’t supportive and open, women are likely to struggle in silence.
How SMEs Can Create Wellbeing Benefits For Female Employees
Inclusive wellbeing benefits don’t necessarily need a huge budget and a new hire to roll it out. Here’s where SMEs can focus to ensure inclusive workplace wellbeing benefits for women.
1. Start by listening: anonymous surveys or small focus groups can uncover insights that might surprise you.
● What wellbeing support would make the biggest difference?
● What barriers stop you engaging with current benefits?
● What would make fitness or wellbeing feel more accessible?
2. Prioritise flexibility over fixed solutions: instead of one fixed gym, consider benefits that give employees the choice of location and fitness type and can flex around shift work or travel plans.
3. Train line managers to have better conversations: people in SMEs are often close, which can work to your advantage. Make sure managers are clued-up on female health and able to support with empathy and awareness.
4. Normalise conversations around women’s health: a culture of respect is a powerful wellbeing tool. This could mean:
● Sharing educational resources
● Marking awareness days (like International Women’s Day or World Menopause Day)
● Encouraging senior leaders to speak openly
● Clear communication about wellbeing and fitness benefits
5. Benefits that support individuals: for female employees, holistic support might include flexible working patterns, mental health resources, and the choice of fitness activities for different energy levels.
Why Women’s Wellness Matters for SMEs
In a smaller organisation, any impact on an employee’s wellbeing can have a quick impact on productivity, morale, and output. If someone feels unsupported during a difficult life stage, it can lead to increased absence, burnout, or even resignation.
Replacing talent takes time and money. It makes far more commercial sense to look after the people you’ve got.
A Simple Starting Point for Workplace Wellness
Let International Women’s Day be a reminder to review your employee wellbeing strategies. Ask female employees for feedback, identify one improvement you can make this coming quarter, and communicate what’s happening throughout the company.
Supporting Inclusive Wellbeing in Your SME
Inclusive wellbeing isn’t about creating separate benefits for everyone. It’s about getting the right support in place that works for anyone, regardless of gender.
Flexible fitness options can help you provide that choice without increasing admin or cost, making it easier for female employees (and everyone else) to stay active, supported, and healthy at every stage of life.
If you’re reviewing your SME wellness benefits, speak to the Hussle team about flexible fitness options that puts the choice in employees’ hands and makes life easier for you.
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