10 Ways To Make International Women’s Day A Thing Of The Past
It’s time we made IWD a thing of the past. Here are 10 ways you can make that happen.
What you’re about to read is a non-exhaustive list of actions you can take to help make International Women’s Day a thing of the past.
International Women’s Day is about women’s health. Everyday. And that woman is your partner, mother, grandmother, daughter, aunt, niece, colleague, friend and the girl you just saw cross the road.
Each action in this list contributes to a sense of ownership, belonging, safety, economic empowerment and the greatest gift of all, the opportunity for girls and women to be fully involved in solving the world’s most pressing problems. In other words, these actions disproportionately improve the health of women.
Pick one or pick 10 from the list below, and be in motion on the journey to improve women’s health.
In no particular order:
Pay women an appropriate speaking fee to contribute to your event. “Exposure” doesn’t cut it.
Surprise the right candidate by paying them more than what was previous advertised. The payback will surprise you.
When making a pay rise, know that it helps raise the bar for that person’s next role inside or outside your organisation. A pay rise is a step in an employment AND empowerment journey.
When reviewing a workplace policy, ask, ‘Is this doing enough to support women at the different stages of their career?’
Learn about the one life change that affects all women. It’s perimenopause and menopause, start here.
Listen and be motivated by a genuine fear of missing important perspectives. Now look around the room. Are there enough women at the table?
Take a meaningful and accessible stand against gender-based violence. Have the uncomfortable conversation with your team about how you would respond to reports of domestic violence, sexual assault, and harassment.
Add a talent metric called ‘Number of people participating in Paid Parental Leave’ to all company score cards. When this is updated each month, ask one question, ‘How are these people being kept up to date with our work while they are on leave?’
Build a muscle that starts to address language that is condescending or demeaning to women by firmly asking, ‘Is that appropriate?’
Acknowledge and build on interesting ideas presented by women. There is no advantage in hijacking their idea and making it your own.
To every woman who reads this, you shouldn’t have to keep repeating yourself but along with a great many men, I am keen to learn so please send your thoughts and ideas here.
Thank you.
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