International Women’s Day (IWD) March 8th

by Stephanie Brady, Executive Coach, Team Coach, HR Consultant and owner of StephBe

Engaging Hearts and Minds in an Experience that Matters.

In Ireland IWD celebrations are 1) last minute.com panic parties; 2) large corporate, big budget events with little soul; 3) an opportunity to get all the female employees together for the yearly LinkedIn post. Maybe in your company they are all three.

This opinion is not about the needs of women in the workplace, but about the quality of the event itself. I wonder have employers become complacent because they believe that Irish women live in relative privilege.

As a woman, working in Ireland in 2024 we are working in one of the safest, most progressive countries in the world. Of course, there is still work to do on inclusion and fighting bias for all. But perhaps we have lost the hunger that would be evident in less progressive societies.

With that in mind, how do we take the inspiring purpose of IWD and turn it into something meaningful for the women and men in our workplaces? Celebrating diversity can have far reaching effects – our men may want to work in a company that embraces parenting, LGBTQ employees etc. They have sisters, daughters, wives and mothers and they want a better world for their loved ones.  Ensuring an authentic IWD demonstrates the company is striving to drive belonging in the workplace.

How do we really push the agenda in workplaces that are dragging their heels on key initiatives like flexible working, fertility, surrogacy, menopause, domestic violence, sexual harassment and other important policies? By showing up strong for IWD. By creating an event that moves people and creates influential ripples.

Indulge me while I take a short detour. Last week we watched the movie “Harriet” with our 11-year-old daughter. It’s about Harriet Tubman an American abolitionist and social activist. She escaped slavery, and then went back to rescue approximately 70 other slaves. During the American Civil War, she served as a scout and spy for the Union Army, she was one of the first women to lead a brigade. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women’s suffrage.

My daughter was sitting on the edge of her seat amazed by Harriets incredible bravery. Harriet was driven by a purpose bigger than her. She put herself in the face of incredible danger time and time again in pursuit of a better society for all.

I believe that an authentic and powerful International Women’s Day incorporates the incredible women who have gone before us. Their backs are the bridges we walk upon. By honouring and remembering these women we ignite the passion and drive in ourselves to keep pushing forwards. We have a duty to support women in countries who do not have the same rights and entitlements as us. By remembering the past, we begin to shine a light on countries where our past is still their present.

An element of a powerful IWD celebration is to work as a group to investigate ways your company could support women practically in other countries. For example, the organisation Plan International could be a good source of inspiration. If you are part of a global company, a true audit of the working experiences of woman and diverse groups in every part of your company would be a brave and important piece of work.

To create a powerful IWD try incorporating some of the following ideas:

Context:
Create an event that covers group work, information, education, and consultation elements.  Make it an experience rather than a one-way dialogue, an opportunity to connect and share. Send a survey out pre- event. Ask for honest opinions of the difficulties woman face in your workplace and the initiatives that would make a genuine difference to them.

Past – bring inspiring figures of the past to life. Make them relatable them to your business, location, values, or mission. Do this using inspirational videos, quizzes, team challenges etc.

Current Use the day to celebrate the journey your company has taken to date. Use engagement statistics, D+I scorecard measures, celebrate female promotions and new starters from the last year. Publish male to female ratios at different levels in the company. Remind about all the current initiatives and policies that support diversity and belonging in your workplace.

Future. There is so much scope with the future element!
This is a great day to launch new initiatives and policies, to announce D+I targets and focus groups. Extend your maternity leave by a few weeks; launch an innovative fertility, surrogacy, menopause policy; launch a development programme or mentoring scheme; announce improvements in flexible working and benefit schemes.

You can use the day to create awareness about an applicable topic. For example, educating about menopause in the workplace. If your business cannot afford to have an experienced keynote speaker, make sure that the content you choose to use is reliable and accurate. Use content from experts and front runners in the area you choose.
Create subgroups from the employees attending and give them different topics to discuss. Ask them to return with their view of the status quo of this topic in the company and their recommendations to improve it.

IWD is a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the human leadership of your company. Choose an inhouse senior speaker who can reinforce commitment to the cause. I once witnessed a male CTO bring an IWD event to tears. He spoke openly about his understanding of the incredible juggle many women manage with work and families. He then went on to assure them of his commitment to supporting that juggle whilst also creating a workplace where they can succeed.

With some thought International Women’s Day can become both an important part and a demonstration of your company culture. There is still time to elevate this year’s event to the next level!

About the author

Stephanie has won awards on behalf of her employers for Employer Branding and Creating the Best Workplace, also achieving a place on The Great Place to Work List a number of times.

Stephanie adopts a personalised approach to coaching and consulting, tailoring strategies to meet the unique needs and goals of each client. By combining proven methodologies with innovative techniques, she empowers individuals and organisations to overcome challenges, maximize performance, and drive sustainable growth.