How ClearScore recognised the importance of reproductive health benefits and educating its people

ClearScore is a business dedicated to helping people improve their financial wellbeing. It does this by giving users access to their own financial data, credit score and reports, and Open Banking Data. The company has 440 employees across the globe and operates in the UK, South Africa, Australia, and Canada.

When we first spoke to ClearScore’s Chief People Officer, Louise Jones, about the importance of reproductive health benefits, Louise didn’t need much convincing. Having experienced early menopause herself (and how difficult the symptoms can be to go through), Louise fully understood the Fertifa mission and how important it is to support people through reproductive health challenges, like menopause.

We spoke to Louise, and People Partner, Sofie Miah, to hear about why they advocated for reproductive health support, and why Fertifa.

The ClearScore challenge: Finding a provider that had a tech-led, holistic approach to reproductive health, with a strong focus on education

Louise and Sofie were looking for a provider that could educate ClearScore colleagues about the most common reproductive health challenges. They wanted to bring important conversations to the forefront, so people felt supported and could bring their best selves to work.

They were looking to put an educational programme in place to achieve this, but finding a tech-enabled solution was very important to them as well. They wanted their people to have easy access to the best support and to reflect how we actually live - always on the move and always on our phones.

Clinical emphasis was also important to. Louise and Sofie were looking for a provider that offered a medically-led, holistic approach to reproductive health, to best support people through every stage of life. From fertility preservation to IVF to early menopause to endometriosis to erectile dysfunction and other men’s health challenges.

The next step: Implementing clinically-led reproductive health support for ClearScore employees

ClearScore is a company that is no stranger to going deep on the hard stuff. With an in-house psychologist, inclusive policies, and monthly lunch and learn sessions, the company understands how life and work inevitably get blended. And it recognises the subsequent need to provide support at work through some of life’s most difficult moments.

ClearScore had spoken to other providers but felt that Fertifa offered something unique and that the Fertifa solution ticked all ClearScore’s boxes:

• A tech-powered solution via mobile app
• Medical support and a clinically-led team
• Access to educational resources, webinars, Q&A sessions with an in-house clinical team
• A holistic agenda that covers all stages of life

“Not everyone can afford the correct support they need, and having seen what that’s like through personal experience, a lot of those people would have to give up work.”

With issues such as menopause and endometriosis impacting so many (and often with debilitating symptoms that can last years), the ClearScore team saw the importance of putting support in place to level the playing field and create a truly inclusive workplace.  

Fertifa’s clinical team, led by Dr. Gidon Lieberman, have over 45 years’ of combined experience working in reproductive health. ClearScore valued the depth and breadth of Fertifa’s knowledge and educational resources around topics such as infertility, pregnancy loss, menopause and endometriosis.

More than this, they liked how easy it was to access the educational material, written and curated by Fertifa’s in-house doctors and nurses.

“The app is great, it’s so easy to access on your phone”, Sofie said.

“Fertifa allows us to provide focussed support on every stage of life our employees might be at – fertility preservation, menopause, endometriosis, men’s health challenges.”

The ClearScore team also valued that Fertifa patients could pursue diverse journeys. Unlike other providers, they liked that Fertifa was not women-only centric and that the company offered a holistic agenda covering all the challenges individuals might face. The challenges that often stop colleagues from performing at work.  

As Louise said, “There is so much overlap between work and home, it’s impossible for people to keep this separate. Support is crucial to help people feel accepted and like they really belong”.

“Companies often skip over the impact of things like baby loss, and don’t allow individuals to react to it in their own way.”  

Having worked in various People teams before leading the team at ClearScore, Louise and Sofie had seen how so many companies had a one-size-fits-all approach to pregnancy loss and baby loss.

With 1 in 4 people being impacted by pregnancy loss or miscarriage, and 1 in 100 being impacted by recurrent miscarriage, they wanted to ensure that their ClearScore policies reflected that each person would have their own unique way of experiencing this. They wanted to recognise that people may need time to process something like pregnancy loss, both physically and emotionally, but also to allow for people not wanting that time too.

Through their educational work with Fertifa and the baby loss policy they’ve put in place, they have seen male ClearScore employees speak about how they have been impacted by their partner’s pregnancy loss too.  

By educating managers about what to ask and what not to ask and giving them guidance on how to support their team through loss, they have tackled the notion of ‘manning up’ head-on.

“The thinking behind our menopause policy was to reduce the stigma further.”

Alongside educating their colleagues about menopause through Fertifa, the ClearScore menopause policy is part of Louise and Sofie’s aim to further reduce the stigmas around the topic at ClearScore.

Their policy gives people time off to get any medical support they might need and allows menopausal colleagues to continue working in a supportive environment.

As Louise says, “Women are getting a disservice, but their lives do not need to change. You shouldn’t have to give up work because of menopause.”

Their menopause policy has further allowed men to understand more about menopause and has normalised important conversations.

The response so far

So far, Louise and Sofie have reported the response as “incredible”. They’ve seen people speaking openly about the past experiences they’ve been through and they feel like they’re creating an environment where people can talk about these experiences openly.

Working with Fertifa is very much in line with ClearScore’s overall ethos and values – of inclusivity and belonging. They’ve found that people have said the focus on reproductive health support is “So ClearScore” - and we couldn’t agree more.

Working with ClearScore for the last couple of months, we’ve been struck by the culture they have, and we feel so proud to be part of it. We look forward to supporting more ClearScore employees throughout their menopause, fertility, family forming and men's reproductive health journeys.  

Want to learn more about how Fertifa could help your company? We’d love to talk 💜