Opinion: How to get International Women’s Day right

Top L-R: Rachel Storey, Grace Brierley and Emma Marshall. Bottom L-R: Louisa Harrison-Walker and Karen Mosley

It’s never too early to talk about International Women’s Day 2024.

March 8 is IWD. Nine days have passed since the last one. Did you notice? Are you still celebrating or have you quite happily packed it away for another year and will think about it again in March 2024?

Unfortunately, lots of IWD activities look like, or quite obviously, become virtue signalling. They are used as a tactic to demonstrate how companies have a good character, or a great culture, rather than a day to celebrate what those organisations have genuinely achieved for gender equality in the past year.

It’s the whole actions speak louder than words. We all know we can do more about gender equality. We can look at pay gaps, make diversity more than just a tick box, remove the glass ceiling for members of minority groups and treat everyone equitably but all too often we only think to prioritise these things on the day or the month that we celebrate IWD.

L-R: Grace Brierley, Rachel Storey, Karen Mosley, Louisa Harrison-Walker and Emma Marshall

So how do you get IWD right?

Here’s some lessons I’ve learned…

DON’T be last minute – if you want to showcase a group or individual you need to build a positive relationship in advance.

DON’T pressure women employees to join in or use people in a tokenistic way to fit the perfect picture profile.

DON’T post empty statements if you can’t back them up with work done.

DON’T expect anyone to work for free – “marketing them” via your posts doesn’t pay the bills. Always ask for consent before any form of publicity.

DO think whether the post is for an individual’s benefit or the company’s vanity.

DON’T pander to stereotypes – for example… spa vouchers are not adequate compensation for a 20% pay gap.

Organisations that have got it right put women at the centre of the celebration and can back up their words by the hard yards of change they have made in the last 12 months.

If you really want to celebrate IWD then now is the time to change. Take a long hard look at your policies and culture and start changing anything that’s not equitable. Ask women what they really need - ensure it's not just about gender but that you consider women of colour, differing abilities, neurodiversity, different walks of life and women of all ages. I know we can do this and by March 8 2024, we'll all have something great to shout about.