Breaking the Silence Around Women's Health at Work: How Silatha is Helping Companies Retain Top Talent

Despite decades of progress, today’s workplace remains strikingly silent on many of the challenges uniquely affecting half the workforce. From fertility journeys and menopause to ADHD and menstrual health, women’s health issues are still too often considered taboo. This silence not only impacts individual careers but also team performance, company culture, and overall retention.

Silatha, a Tech4Eva start-up founded by Veroniek Vermeulen, is working to change that by turning these challenges into opportunities for connection, innovation, and growth.

The Problem: Silence, Bias, and Isolation in the Workplace

The data speaks for itself. While women make up 43.4% of the workforce, only 30.6% of leadership roles are held by women. In SMEs, that figure drops to just 19%, and only 6% of global CEOs are women (Deloitte, 2023), and it is not growing.

Silatha has identified three key contributors to this leadership gap:

• A lack of psychological safety

• Unconscious bias in everyday interactions

• The persistent taboo around women’s health topics

Together, these factors are not just costing companies top talent, innovation, and money – they are creating environments where many potential leaders feel they do not belong.

1. Psychological Safety: The Foundation for High-Performing Teams

Psychological safety – the ability to speak up without fear of consequences – is essential for innovation and inclusion. Yet when employees fear judgment or backlash, they stay silent.

“Women navigating fertility treatments, menopause, menstrual health issues, or neurodivergence often feel unable to raise these topics with managers,” shares Veroniek Vermeulen, Founder of Silatha. “Without trust and open dialogue, potential leaders step back from opportunities.”

2. Unconscious Bias: The Invisible Weight Holding Women Back

Even in progressive environments, subtle and often unnoticed biases shape whose leadership potential is recognized.

Consider this:

• Women facing daily microaggressions are three times more likely to consider leaving their jobs (McKinsey & LeanIn, 2023).

• 71% of words used to describe a ‘manager’ are also used to describe a man, while only 10% overlap with how we describe a woman.

Biases around resilience, health, and caregiving expectations subtly (and sometimes overtly) derail women’s leadership paths.

3. Women’s Health Taboos: A Hidden Career Barrier

The most overlooked challenge is the silence around women’s health.

From endometriosis and ADHD to menopause and fertility treatments, many women navigate invisible struggles without any support.

• Nearly 4 in 10 women experiencing peri-menopause consider leaving the workforce due to a lack of support (CIPD, 2023).

• 27% of women with endometriosis miss out on promotions, and 1 in 6 leave their careers entirely.

• ADHD is often diagnosed late in women, meaning their early career opportunities are shaped by misunderstood performance and lack of accommodations.

“When these realities are not openly acknowledged and supported, companies lose experienced talent at pivotal moments,” says Veroniek.

Silatha’s Solution: Turning Barriers into Tools for Inclusion

Silatha helps organizations move from awareness to action. Their workplace programs are designed to foster cultures where open conversations about women’s health are not only possible but encouraged.

Their offering includes:

• Pulse Checks & Culture Growth Mapping to uncover invisible barriers, from stress linked to fertility to bias around neurodivergence

• Educational Training for leadership and employees on inclusive communication and bias reduction

• Support Programs blending expert coaching and peer communities, with topics ranging from ADHD and parenting while leading, to menopause and fertility

• SilathaLens (in development) – an anonymous AI-powered tool providing personalized nudges and normalizing support for health-related challenges

These interventions are making a measurable difference in the working environment.

Real Impact: From Silence to Engagement

Silatha has already partnered with forward-thinking companies such as Flora Food Group, Google, and Nike to embed these changes.

The results speak volumes:

• 93% of participants feel more engaged at work

• 92% feel safer speaking up

• 100% learn practical tools that help them lead and perform better

“When companies support their employees in authentic ways, performance, innovation, and retention rise,” says Veroniek.

Rethinking the Future of Work

At Silatha, the mission is clear: to create workplaces where psychological safety comes first, bias is actively addressed, and women’s health is not taboo, but acknowledged and supported as part of organizational success.

“At Silatha, we are proud to help organizations lead this change,” says Veroniek.

Learn more about how Silatha is helping companies lead the future of work at www.silatha.com