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5 Suggestions to Make Your Company’s International Women’s Day Celebration Memorable

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5 Suggestions to Make Your Company’s International Women’s Day Celebration Memorable

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At the moment, about 47 percent of all workforce in the U.S. are women, which is the highest-ever rate in recorded history. Furthermore, almost 40 percent of all women work in occupations where they are at least three-quarters of the workforce. In other words, there is a high probability that the majority of your workforce is female, which would make the International Women’s Day into the most important holiday of the year. With this in mind and without further ado, here are five suggestions that are bound to make your company’s international Women’s Day celebration as memorable as possible.

1.      Understand its importance

Those who don’t study history are bound to repeat it sooner or later. So, before we start talking about things like decoration, catering and celebration programs, it is vital that we shortly regress to the origins of this important holiday. It was during the 1909 and 1910 International Women’s Conference that March 8 was decided to become an “International Women’s Day”. As soon as women’s suffrage was proclaimed in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 started being celebrated as a national holiday. It wasn’t until 1975 that this holiday was internationally recognized by the United Nations; however, since then, it is celebrated all over the world. Therefore, it might be a good idea to start your celebration with a brief presentation on the historical significance of this holiday.

2.      Donation for women’s cause or charity

After raising awareness, you might want to proceed to state that although proclaiming your stalwart support does mean a great deal, actions speak louder than words. Therefore, you might want to encourage everyone to donate to their favorite women’s cause or charity. Naturally, this needs to be led by an example. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to even make a poll and that you, as a company, donate to the cause that gathers the most votes. Of course, everyone would be able to suggest a cause.

3.      Gifts and flowers

Showing support for people you’ve never met is easy, all you have to do is donate, however, what about women you work with day in and day out? Showing your respect and appreciation for them is a never-ending process and, therefore, a much harder thing to accomplish. While it is true that this is something you are supposed to do every day, it wouldn’t hurt to make an extra effort during your International Women’s Day celebration and give a symbolic gift to each member of your collective. Flowers are always a nice gesture, however, it wouldn’t hurt to follow up with something a bit more valuable as well. An eftpos gift card is a sensible choice, seeing as how it allows its recipients to get a gift of their own choosing.

4.      Office party etiquette

Turning your office into a place of a party for the day is great, however, you need to make sure that everyone understands the basics of office party etiquette. After all, this celebration is about honoring women who fought for their freedoms and showing your appreciation for the most populous gender on the planet – it’s not just an excuse to drink instead of working. Gluttony and excessive drinking are off the table, seeing as how no one wants to make an incident in front of people they are working with every day. This is a rule that also reflects on the dress code and the general behavior at the party. This is nothing complicated and it’s mostly about knowing where to draw the line.

5.      Look at the bigger picture

At the end of the day, you might want to look at this corporate event as yet another opportunity to work on your company’s public image. First of all, you want to send a message that your office holds women’s rights in high regard, and in this way do wonder for your female talent hiring and retention efforts. Second, you might want to use some of the photographs taken at this event in your next digital marketing campaign. Showing your employees with their guard down might have a strong impact on your clients later on.

Conclusion

Finally, there are several things you simply need to keep in mind. First of all, IWD is not just another holiday, it is a day that needs to be used to rally behind a cause, raise awareness and make some of the most important members of your staff feel supported and respected. Needless to say, this is a practice that your brand as a whole is bound to benefit from, which is yet another huge plus.

Andy McGowan
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