8 ways to celebrate International Women's Day with your team

To get you inspired, we’re sharing 8 different ideas companies of all sizes can get involved with and celebrate International Women's Day 2024, showcasing women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality. 

The theme this year is #InspireInclusion, with the following statement shared on the official IWD website:

"For International Women's Day 2024 and beyond, let's Inspire Inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment. The aim of the IWD 2024 #InspireInclusion campaign is to collectively forge a more inclusive world for women."

We hope this will give you some inspiration as you plan your company’s events for Friday, March 8.

#1 Get your staff involved in the #InspireInclusion photo challenge for social media

This year the organisers of IWD are encouraging companies to get involved in the campaign by encouraging staff to take a photo of themselves striking the IWD 2024 pose and share your #InspireInclusion image, video, resources, presentation or articles on social media using the following hashtags #IWD2024 #InspireInclusion. The pose for this year is to simply to make a heart shape with your hands to show solidarity.

This is a great opportunity for companies to get on board, share photos of your staff on your company’s social media channels, as well as submitting your team’s photos to IWD to be featured on their global social media channels.

#2 Host or encourage your staff to attend online panel events

'If she can't see it, she can't be it'. Listening to women who have already travelled the path share their life experiences, knowledge, and expert advice is one of the best ways to get motivated to take action. This year, as most of the events will take place virtually instead of in-person, there are lots of great online events planned for International Women’s Day with great speaker line-ups. 

As you’re planning your celebrations for your organisation, research some interesting events in your industry or community and encourage your staff to register with you. A great place to start is the International Women's Day Event Showcase Page where you can browse a multitude of events listed all across the world with an array of impressive speakers. 

#3 Run a (virtual) coffee morning to honour your female employees 

A virtual coffee morning is a simple virtual meet up you can implement on IWD to bond and catch up in the work setting. Why not introduce this years theme #Inspireinclusion and get everyone to share their experiences about the inspirational woman in their life, or a female public figure they look up to? 

#4 The value of a simple thank-you 

Often left unsaid, we tend to forget the impact a simple 'thank you' can have on people. This is opportune time to thank and recognise the women in your team/organisation for their hard work and dedication. After all, it's really the small steps that matter and help in the bigger push for gender equality at the workplace. So, whether it's a thank-you card for your team, or simply an email or zoom call (like almost everything these days), it's really the thought and sincerity that counts.

INSERT-CTA

#5 Download IWD Zoom backgrounds

The IWD website has a bunch of resources you can access and use to support IWD. They even have IWD 2024 Zoom backgrounds that you can download and use to inspire and engage your friends and colleagues to #InspireInclusion. Download images like the below for web meeting backgrounds for Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more to show  support and solidarity for International Women's Day during online events, meetings, and gatherings.

‍

#6 Share and submit an IWD Influencer statement

Get your executive team on board and get them to write few words on the importance of actively supporting women's advancement in the workplace. Share this statement with your employees on IWD via email or even on the company's LinkedIn page. CEOs, and C-Suite leaders of organisations who support women's advancement are also invited to submit an IWD 2024 Influencer Statement.

‍

#7 Use the IWD free resources

Browse the collection of IWD tools and resources that will help you if you plan to host an International Women’s Day event for your organisation and help embrace equity. We recommend checking out the event pack resources if you are planning an event, or the social media cards for your own campaigns, or simply view what others are doing and get some great ideas.  

#8 The long-term view: Review your internal D&I strategy

Most of the ideas we've listed so far are more short-term, on the day ideas you can implement, but we can't forget that what's long-term is what truly matters. While these activities shine the light on the importance of uplifting women, what is most crucial is advocating a change in mindset. 

As HR, you play a pivotal role in this - and you can play your part in pushing for more women in leadership positions at C-suite and lobbying for better pay structures to ensure gender pay equality in your organisation. While gender parity is still quite a bit away, you can still play your part in moving the dial in the right direction. For more tips on how to build a comprehensive D&I strategy in your company download our Beginners Guide to Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace.  

‍

We’d love to hear from you! How will your company be celebrating International Women’s Day 2024?

INSERT-LINE

Meet Occupop

Occupop is a beautifully simple recruitment software built for small and medium businesses. We empower our customers to become great at hiring through our smart hiring technology and suite of solutions that almost anyone can use. So whether you're a team of five or fifty, it only takes a few minutes to onboard your team members, set permissions, and start recruiting. If you think Occupop could be a good small business recruitment software solution for you, try it out today with a free 14-day trial.

INSERT-CTA

‍

‍