10 Ways to Mark Women’s History Month at Work

It’s Women’s History Month! Here, Cat DiStasio outlines her ideas for celebrating it that aren’t just paying lip service.
 

Every year, employers around the globe grapple with the best ways to acknowledge and celebrate special events like Women’s History Month. Typically, organizations fall into one of two categories: there’s either a lot of overthinking that leads to paralysis or there’s a fundamental lack of understanding that leads to programming that doesn’t resonate with employees.

The main purposes of Women’s History Month – or any designated day, week, or month, for that matter – are awareness and education. With a broader knowledge of history, employees are better able to understand the context for today’s events, including the unique challenges that women in the workplace face, in particular.

To achieve this goal, organizations need to be clear about who the target audience is for Women’s History Month initiatives. Hint: if you’re not addressing every single employee during a special history month, you might be missing the point. And what’s worse, failing to clearly and intentionally include the entire workforce in your program can give employees the impression that you’re not genuinely invested in education and celebration around the history in question.

Today’s employees – and perhaps especially women in the workforce – have little tolerance for lip service. And frankly, they deserve better.  

Ideas for celebrating Women’s History Month

Here are 10 meaningful ideas for celebrating Women’s History Month in the workplace so your efforts don’t wind up seeming empty or misguided.

1. Highlight employee benefits and perks that support working women. Your benefits admin team can help, but ideally this strategy centers on video testimonials from current employees about the benefits they appreciate and why!
2. Coordinate with ERGs to host virtual educational events on women’s history.
3. Feature notable women in the history of your company or industry (on your employee experience platform, in emails, and in physical workplaces). 
4. Spotlight the stories of women currently at your organization. This could certainly include organizational leaders, but doesn’t have to be top brass. You can feature any woman who has been with the company a long time or a more recent hire.
5. Curate care packages for employees that contain products from women-owned businesses.
6. Donate to nonprofit organizations that support women in your local community and around the world.
7. Share a list of organizations that support women and provide additional paid time off for volunteering during Women’s History Month. 
8. Provide transparent communication around pay equity policies and practices, career pathing, and professional development. (If your company has work to do in the gender equity realm, acknowledge where you are and share your plans for progress.) 
9. Offer awards and recognition to women in your organization for their achievements and contributions to the company’s success.
10. Host training sessions on how all employees can help create a more inclusive work culture with practical advice specifically geared toward supporting women.

This is just a short list of examples of the infinite possible ways organizations can celebrate Women’s History Month. And, to be clear, it’s not crucial that you come up with a unique idea for every working day of the month!

Best practices for commemorating women’s history in the workplace

For a Women’s History Month program to be effective and come across as genuine, a little strategy is called for. Many organizations like to plan out the month with themes for each week. A common approach involves using the beginning of the month for awareness and education, the middle of the month for service and action, and reserving the last week of the month for pure celebration.

Devising a cadence or strategy of events can help streamline the organizational process and possibly make it easier to decide what types of events to host or gestures to make, while ensuring that your efforts are spread evenly throughout the month.

Celebrating Women's History Month with purpose and inclusivity

In acknowledging Women’s History Month, it’s imperative for organizations to align their efforts with the core goals of awareness and education while fostering an inclusive environment.

By understanding the diverse needs of their workforce and implementing thoughtful initiatives, businesses can effectively honor women's contributions, address historical challenges, and pave the way for a more equitable future.

Through targeted strategies and meaningful actions, organizations can ensure that their celebrations resonate authentically and leave a lasting (and positive!) impact on employees.