5 Easy Ways to Celebrate International Women’s Day at Work

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Celebrated annually on March 8th, International Women’s Day is world-wide day of celebrating the achievements of women. In today’s environment with reduced opportunities for engagement, use this day and the entire week of as an invitation to not Scrooge-out and avoid the opportunity to lift up the women in your workforce. Rather, let’s celebrate!  Utilize this quick and easy guide to boost morale and show support for the women in your workforce!

This list is presented in order of engagement effort from Rookie to Pro.

1.      Express Appreciation for a Specific Strength of hers that is particularly impactful to the team. Did you know that in order for employees to feel appreciated in a remote environment, praise needs to be received once every one to two days.  Take this opportunity to deliver sincere praise to a woman colleague. Over a text (meh), email (better), or video chat (best), point out what she does better than anyone else on the team. Recognize and celebrate her performance.

2.      Brainstorm a Gap Skill Together. What leadership opportunities or next level positions are on this woman’s horizon?  Use International Women’s Day as an invitation to discuss what skill(s) she needs to develop to get there.  Make a plan for next steps.

 Score bonus points by setting a follow up meeting to review progress.

3.      Sponsor a Professional Book Club – This is a big one! Trending as one of the hottest ways to drive engagement in a virtual environment, Professional Book Club adds much-needed substance to a tired Zoom happy hour. As even the staunchest of introverts are craving contact and engagement, this is the perfect opportunity to foster meaningful conversation, professional development and employee interaction. 

Pro Tips:

• Schedule the discussion over lunch or late in the day.

• Designate a group leader.

• Reach out to the author to see if she’ll host a live Q&A.

There are so many possibilities in a virtual environment!

Three book suggestions:

• Speak Up, Sister! The Professional Woman’s Guide to Confidence and Success by Jamie Dandar McKinney. Download an excerpt here!

• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

• Leading From the Front: No Excuses Leadership Tactics for Women by Captains of Marines, Angie Morgan and Courtney Lynch

4.      Find and Share a Video that Speaks to the Professional Development of Women. Did you know that there are 1.46 Billion professional development videos online to potentially fill your needs?  1.46 BILLION videos. Rather than sort through all of those, here, let me help you. The 5 Secret Gifts of Confidence – What Professional Women Know is available now. It’s free. It’s online. It’s a mini-course (About a 15-minute commitment). It has valuable content to support the professional development of women in the workforce. Enroll yourself and/or share the link with the women in your company!

 5.      Invest in Corporate Training that is Women Specific. There are many excellent corporate training resources. Much of it, however, was built by men for men. Women in the workforce contribute in a variety of ways and performance is elevated when they are matched with educational tools that cater to their needs and learning styles. Women’s challenges are unique, yet completely navigable when connected to the proper tools.

An investment in women-specific training pays off when women are empowered to set, achieve and exceed goals that are designed specifically for personal success achieved in parallel with company targets.

Want one where 92% of the women who completed it earned promotions or higher level responsibilities? The 3 Pillars of Leadership Coaching Program achieves that and drives success around topics such as how to:

• Master assertive v. aggressive communication.

• Lead a meeting and connect with a room when you are the only woman.

• Speak and write in a way that commands respect and is relatable.

To explore options for Women-Specific training, schedule a consultation at jamieempowers.com/contact. Ready to get started now? Enter your information here.

There you go!  Five easy ways to celebrate the success of the Women in Your Workforce. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to deliver praise, enhance performance and perpetuate the success of the women on your team as well as overall company performance.

If you do choose to Scrooge-out, however, be Scrooge at the end of the story, not the beginning. The one who realizes that we are stronger together than we are apart and that the true meaning behind this holiday and so many others is that Celebration, Collaboration and Support are always going to be the gifts with biggest returns.