The Silent Killer: Why Candidate Ghosting is the Ultimate Reputational Risk

Victoria Canham • 15 October 2025 • 5 min read

Victoria Canham Consultancy | Woman experiencing a hot flush at her laptop, holding a fan. Blog title "Menopause, Mental Health, and Leadership" and Victoria Canham branding are overlaid.

“We are losing women's energies in our families, our workforce, and our communities because we have not given parity to mental health. Addressing mood and cognitive symptoms would also offer social, financial, and communal benefits, given that poor mental health may diminish perimenopausal women's work and relationships.”

— Dr. Vanessa Haygood

The corporate world often talks a good game about 'wellbeing' and 'inclusive leadership', yet a critical, biological truth remains largely confined to hushed conversations: the profound impact of menopause on mental health, and the subsequent ripple effect on leadership and team performance.

Historically, this has been dismissed as a 'woman's issue' or a 'personal matter'.

This perspective is not only outdated, it's a catastrophic blind spot in the employee experience.

As leaders, ignoring this intersection means tolerating a leaky bucket in your talent pipeline, neglecting the mental health of experienced colleagues, and fundamentally failing in your duty to cultivate a truly supportive culture.

It’s easy to joke about hot flushes and mood swings, but the reality is far more serious. This transition is about anxiety, 'brain fog', self-doubt, and the invisible erosion of confidence that can derail a brilliant career.

Let's break the silence and explore the pragmatic, empathetic actions true leaders must take.

The Invisible Toll: Connecting the Dots

The greatest leadership blind spot is failing to acknowledge the biological truth underpinning this experience. If the brain isn't functioning optimally, performance will suffer.

Hormonal Reality

This is the biological foundation of the mental health challenge. Oestrogen is not just a reproductive hormone; it is a critical brain protector and mood regulator. As Oestrogen levels fluctuate wildly during perimenopause and then decline, the essential chemical balance in the brain is disrupted.

This change directly impacts mood stability, leading to a sudden and pronounced increase in clinical symptoms like anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. These struggles are often a direct consequence of the hormonal shift itself, not merely external stress. The body is in crisis, and the brain is signalling for support.

The Cost of Silence

Research shows that one in ten women leaves their jobs due to menopause symptoms. That’s a huge loss of experience, leadership, and mentorship. This has a huge ripple effect on team morale and culture.

When people see their leaders struggling in silence, it sends a message that vulnerability isn’t safe. But when leaders share their experiences with openness and strength, it builds trust and connection.

The Workplace Impact

The internal struggles manifest in the office as the notorious 'brain fog' and 'perimenopausal anxiety'. Brain fog is not merely forgetfulness; it’s a measurable decline in working memory and executive function that makes planning, decision-making, and communication painfully difficult.

This leads to presenteeism, where a capable, experienced employee is physically present but performing at a fraction of her ability. This constant, invisible struggle forces employees to question their own competence, leading to a deep sense of shame, accelerated burnout, and a rapid decline in self-belief.

The Emotional Fallout

The link between these performance barriers and professional retreat is tragically direct. When a successful woman suddenly feels unreliable, less sharp, and emotionally fragile, her instinct is often to minimise risk. This leads to the profound loss for businesses: experienced, highly competent female talent deciding to step back from demanding projects, declining promotion opportunities, or, worst of all, stepping out of the workforce entirely.

This exodus is not a choice; it is a desperate attempt to regain control when a culture has failed to provide the necessary support structure.

Why Leadership Fails the Menopause Test

The failure to support menopausal employees is rarely malicious; it is almost always systemic and cultural. It reveals a critical gap in leadership capability and HR infrastructure.

The Taboo Tax

The simple lack of education carries a significant "taboo tax." Because line managers are uncomfortable, uninformed, or fear legal ramifications, they opt for silence. This avoidance leads directly to the misinterpretation of symptoms.

Anxiety or tearfulness is not seen as a potential hormonal fluctuation requiring basic workplace accommodation; instead, it is miscategorised as low motivation, poor resilience, or a lack of engagement. The employee is then managed through performance frameworks, intensifying their mental distress and confirming that the workplace is not a safe space for disclosure.

Lack of Psychological Safety

True culture change hinges on psychological safety. If an employee fears that disclosing their struggle with perimenopause—and the associated mental health symptoms—will lead to judgment, marginalisation, or career detriment, they will remain silent.

That silence is toxic to the entire employee journey. It transforms a naturally occurring biological transition into a career-limiting illness. Leaders must recognise that safety is not achieved through policy; it is earned through consistent, informed, and non-punitive dialogue.

The 'One-Size-Fits-All' Policy Trap

Many organisations rely on generic wellbeing policies that simply don't accommodate the unique nature of menopausal symptoms. Mental health support is often treated as a fixed crisis intervention.

The reality of menopause is fluctuating and unique; one day may bring brain fog, the next, crippling anxiety, and the next, exhaustion. This requires an intentional shift away from rigid, 'one-size-fits-all' policy to a framework of personalised, flexible support.

Leaders need to stop asking 'what's the rule?' and start asking 'what does this brilliant colleague need to succeed today?'—a question that demands empathy, not just adherence.

The True Leader's Response: Redefining the Employee Journey

The greatest cultures don't tolerate change; they leverage it. Addressing the intersection of menopause and mental health is a leadership test, a chance to prove your culture is truly future-fit and supportive of all talent across the entire employee journey. This is the time to show off your strategic brilliance.

Coaching Conversational Competency, Not Compliance

Instead of relying on dreaded mandatory training modules, true leaders must invest in Coaching Conversational Competency.

This means shifting resources into high-impact, small-group leadership workshops and masterclasses focused entirely on how to have a non-judgmental, empathetic conversation about fluctuating health issues, including menopause and mental health.

The emphasis is on building the specific, practical skills of active listening, reflective questioning, and confidential signposting, rather than just memorising biological facts. When leaders are confident in how to respond, they stop avoiding the conversation, and the taboo is effectively dismantled through daily practice.

Cultivate Strategic Flexibility for Peak Performance

Move beyond standard flexible working to Cultivate Strategic Flexibility. It’s time to stop thinking of it as a concession, because it is an investment in continuous peak performance.

Flexibility should be intentional: considering 'quiet spaces' as high-performance zones, allowing adjusted work patterns to align with energy fluctuations, and adopting a 'non-punitive' performance framework for 'brain fog' days.

When you remove barriers to comfort and concentration, you unlock the full cognitive contribution of experienced professionals, ensuring that a biological change does not automatically equate to a loss of productivity.

Build Trust with Open Dialogue and Allyship

Implement The Power of Dialogue by establishing clear, confidential channels for disclosure, backed by trained Menopause Champions or internal Allies (including male leaders).

Leaders modelling openness and demonstrating that this is a material business issue, not a personal secret to be hidden, increases trust and feelings of psychological safety.

By actively promoting Allyship, you convince the non-impacted majority (men and non-menopausal women) that their role is crucial in creating an inclusive environment, turning them from passive observers into active participants in culture change.

The Strategic Imperative of Retention

Offering this level of support is the ultimate Strategic Imperative of Retention. Experienced, mid-career female talent represents institutional knowledge, deep client relationships, and proven leadership capability; they are simply irreplaceable.

When you acknowledge and effectively accommodate this life stage, you are not just being supportive; you are executing a key talent strategy that protects your senior pipeline and validates the long-term contribution of a highly valuable demographic. This is how you future-proof your organisation's leadership bench.

A Call for Authentic Leadership

Addressing menopause and mental health is no longer optional; it never should have been. It is an essential and critical measure of authentic leadership.

True culture change begins with a compassionate, informed conversation led from the top. When you integrate this understanding into the fabric of your employee journey, you build a resilient, high-performing culture where everyone can thrive. Ready to turn intention into impactful leadership action?

Find out more about how Victoria Canham Consultancy can transform your employee experience and leadership culture - book a call.

Book Recommendation

The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate this Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence by Lisa Mosconi, Ph.D.

Mosconi is a world-renowned neuroscientist. This book speaks directly to the 'brain fog', memory issues, anxiety, and sleep problems that are the core of the mental health struggle in the workplace. This resonates powerfully with a sophisticated audience interested in performance and cognitive function.

♦️ Hi. I'm Vicki, and I help businesses build high-performing, loyal teams by mastering the employee journey. I partner with leaders to drive tangible change, transforming company culture from a pretty promise on a slide deck into a daily reality. My approach goes beyond outdated HR strategies and gets to the heart of what truly motivates and retains your people.

Here's how I can support you:

Consulting & Coaching

I work directly with business leaders to diagnose and transform their employee experience, from culture to performance management. If you're ready to stop the cycle of burnout and build a team that thrives, not just survives, let's talk.

Click here to book a free 30-minute strategy call. No fluff, no sales pitches, just a direct conversation about your biggest challenges.

Talks & Keynotes

I deliver engaging keynotes that go beyond theory to provide actionable insights on leadership, culture, and performance. My talks are perfect for leadership teams and conferences looking to inspire real change.

Workshops & Training

My bespoke workshops and training sessions are designed to equip your leaders with the practical tools they need to build, manage, and retain exceptional teams. These are highly interactive sessions focused on creating measurable improvements in your business.

👉 Book a Clarity & Culture Call

Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights on building high-performing teams in 2025.

Comment On This Article

Recommended Reading

A good night's sleep is essential for a healthy brain and body. So why do so many of us struggle to sleep well? In Fast Asleep, Dr Michael Mosley explains what happens when we sleep, what triggers common sleep problems and why standard advice rarely works.

Prone to insomnia, he has taken part in numerous sleep experiments and tested every remedy going. The result is a radical, four-week programme, based on the latest science, designed to help you re-establish a healthy sleep pattern in record time.

With plenty of surprising recommendations - including tips for teenagers, people working night shifts and those prone to jet lag - plus recipes which will boost your deep sleep by improving your gut microbiome, Fast Asleep provides the tools you need to sleep better, reduce stress and feel happier.

We’re not just about overcoming obstacles, we’re about transforming lives. 

Book Recommendation

Victoria Canham - Performance and People Strategic Partner

Victoria Canham is an ICF-accredited Certified Professional Coach and the founder of Victoria Canham Consultancy. We are a specialist performance consultancy partnering with senior leaders and HR teams to elevate culture, leadership, and employee experience. Rooted in behavioural insight and change expertise, we diagnose what's truly holding performance back, co-creating practical, strategic interventions that drive sustainable business results and build workplaces that work—for people and performance.

Hang out with us on social media

SOCIAL FEED

LET'S WORK TOGETHER

Book a call to find out how I can help you to achieve your peak performance.