Top 7 Women's History Month Ideas For Workplace
It's time to celebrate women in your office because March is Women's History Month!
Employers worldwide are turning towards diversity and inclusion practices to incorporate a healthier working atmosphere for everyone. Your organization has the chance this March to honor the women of history who have fought the good fight for equal rights and fairness.
There are countless ways to get your female workers motivated and excited. To get you started, here are the top seven Women's History Month Ideas for celebrating your own organization's women's power!
But before that, here's a bit more information about the Women's History Month and its background.
A Brief Overview of Women's History Month
Women's History Month had its beginnings as a nationwide celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28. L. 97-28, which approved and asked the President to declare "Women's History Week" as the week starting on March 7, 1982. Congress proceeded to pass joint resolutions during the next five years, designating a week in March as "Women's History Week." Status of women
Upon being asked by the National Women's History Project in 1987, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9, which named the month of March 1987 as the 'Women's History Month.'
Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to declare March of each year as the Women's History Month. Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual presidential proclamations designating "Women's History Month" in March.
Congress passed additional resolutions between 1988 and 1994 requiring and authorizing the President to declare March of each year as Women's History Month.
Since 1995, presidents have released a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as the Women's History Month.
These proclamations honor the contributions women have made to the United States and acknowledge women's particular accomplishments in several fields throughout the American history.
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum come together to commemorate and promote the research, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.
Well, before we dig in deep towards the top 7 Women's History Month ideas for the workplace, here is a brief note of the significant moments towards gender equity that have happened in the past century.
1909: First celebration of Women's Day in New York
1911: First Universal Women's Day celebrated.
1975: The U.N. acknowledged and adopted and International Women's Day
1980: President Jimmy Carter establishes the first National Women's History Week
1987: Congress passes the first Women's History Month law to formalize
7 Creative Women's History Month Ideas For Your Workplace
For decades, women have struggled for progress and equality. However, we have made substantial progress in the last hundred years. To commemorate everything, it is important to remember the women who led the way to understand how we got to where we are today.
Read our blog on: The Challenges Faced By Women in The Workplace
Thus, it is the time when your business should come together and celebrate the outstanding women you meet and hire. Here are seven Women’s History Month ideas if you are looking for some fun and engaging ways to celebrate the day in your office this March
1. Ask All To Wear Purple.
Internationally, purple is a color for symbolizing women.
Colors denote particular meanings linked to what is celebrated or recalled, as in most occasions of significance. Women's History Month is no different. Infact, wearing purple in the office is an effortless (and effective) way to set the mood for celebration!
Keeping with the purple theme, ask all of your staff (both male and female!) to wear purple in honor of the day.
2. Reward Them
For increased employee engagement, well-organized perks and benefits are essential. It is a strategy to boost talented women's profiles through a clear recognition and reward system.
Free Download: Decoding and Driving Employee Engagement
Gift a bouquet of roses, a card, and a bar of chocolate to each of the women in the office to make them feel unique. You might also reward them with a gift voucher for a family dinner at a posh restaurant or shopping at a store.
Another vital trigger for happiness is appreciation. It is the best day to send a personalized thank you note to all the ladies making the office a special place.
Also read: 33 Amazing Employee Appreciation Ideas [2021 Update]
It is undoubtedly one of the best Women’s History Month ideas to rejoice!
3. Team Outing
There is nothing like planning a memorable trip for all the women in your team.
You might arrange a female comedian for a stand-up comedy evening, concentrating on women's themes. Or you might get to share her experiences with an inspiring motivational speaker.
4. Introduce Family-Friendly Work-Life Balance Policies
The impact of mothers’ employment on family relationships is crucial. If a child has a doctor's appointment or is on a school break, women play a critical role in organizing things. Thus, for mothers (specially, working mothers) balancing work and family duties is crucial.
Hence, employer policies promoting work-life balance are essential to women. For example, the guidelines may include compassionate maternity leave and a flexible schedule of working hours or a home office work schedule.
So, if you are planning to introduce any such policies, the month of March is perfect. Go for it!
5. Launch An Initiative For Women's Empowerment
The company may launch a women's empowerment program to highlight its dedication to women employees. If such schemes are already in operation, you re-measure their outreach and recipients' effect.
The Month of Women's History is also a perfect opportunity for you to get involved with groups that support women and girls. Many of these organizations have corporate partnership initiatives to create a unique humanitarian chance for the entire organization.
You may start with these-
Ask all the women in your organization how they would like to mark Women's History Month. Look up to their own versions of Women's History Month ideas. Understand that women have a different picture of the women's history and diverse experiences as individuals (for example, white women were able to vote in the U.S. long before Women of Color). When celebrating, make sure to keep those things in mind.
6. Applaud Them On Social Media
Build a campaign for corporate social media to highlight groundbreaking women in your industry, as well as your peers. Interview women in your industry on what it's like to work and create a blog post, share inspiring quotes and women dedicated carousels, or share stories written by women that are relevant to your organization.
7. Listen To Innovate
And if you want to take the chance to learn from some of the best, invite some famous women as guest speakers. Alternatively, you can also host a panel of women to talk about your experiences. Remember, it's indeed important to give women a forum for their voices, and it will help foster diversity.
None of the above Women's History Month ideas would be considered as credible if women in your workforce are discriminated against. This bias can take many forms, including dismissing women for promotions or opportunities for advancement, unfair women's compensation inequities, or harassment based on gender.
To take complete advantage of the above Women's History Month ideas, here’s what you should do beforehand-
- Review your procedures for training and promotion.
- Schedule workshops for your staff on how to combat discrimination and take action against sexual harassment.
- To make sure that sexism has not unintentionally entered into the compensation scheme, perform an audit of the salaries of women and men in the same or similar roles.
So What Are Your Women's History Month Ideas?
There are different ways in which you can celebrate this memorable month. While we dedicate just one month to women's history, if we keep up such activities for the whole year, they would have long-lasting effects on our organizational goals. However, the overarching aim is to reflect on gender equality and celebrate the strides that women have made towards the goal and recognize the road ahead.
So how are you celebrating this March? We would love to hear about your Women's History Month ideas to celebrate in the workplace
This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a podcast host and content creator at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com
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