If you’re looking for ideas on how to celebrate Women’s History Month at work, you’re on the right track. Celebrating and empowering women in the workplace is a must for today’s businesses.
Female employees are the backbone of the workforce, and Women’s History Month is all about recognizing their contributions to create lasting change. It’s time to go beyond surface-level celebrations and create an environment that truly empowers women.
In this article, we’ll explore how to celebrate Women’s History Month at work and ways you can empower women at work all year.
Building a Workplace Culture of Female Empowerment
In the podcast episode, Building a Workplace Culture of Female Empowerment, leadership coach and Bridgewell LLC CEO Asia Bribiesca-Hedin shared valuable insights about female empowerment in the workplace.
“It starts with self-mastery and distinguishing what’s most important to you and why. And then how you want that expressed in your leadership. How you want that expressed in how you show up. How you elevate others as well as getting clarity on what’s important for your role,” said Bribiesca-Hedin.
If you’re ready to create a foundation for women to thrive in the workplace, give Asia’s podcast episode a listen! And don’t forget to bookmark this article for tips on celebrating and retaining female employees for long-term growth.
Remember, everyone wins when you empower women at work.
Why Empowering Women in the Workplace is Important
Empowering women in the workplace is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business.
Women’s contributions to the workplace are significant and measurable. According to Catalyst research, companies with higher percentages of women in management report profitability levels 35% higher than those without.
Female employees are more likely to stay in a job for longer periods, less likely to leave their jobs due to dissatisfaction, and they contribute more hours when working from home.
Empowering women in the workplace can have several positive effects on a company as well, including:
- Improved communication and collaboration
- Greater innovation and creativity through diverse perspectives
- Enhanced team morale and engagement
- Increased productivity and profitability
- Better talent retention and attraction
To achieve these benefits, employers need to create a workplace environment that supports female employees.
Understanding the Challenges Faced by Women
Women face a wide range of discrimination and marginalization in daily life from a young age. They have historically been oppressed and disempowered.
Asia notes in her podcast episode,
“Little girls versus little boys are socialized to be like, ‘It’s okay to be a little bit louder if you’re a boy, it’s okay to be rambunctious.’ We never say that about girls.”
These challenges continue throughout women’s lives.
Gender Pay Gap
Did you know that the gender pay gap in the U.S. hasn’t changed much in the past 20 years? A study from the Pew Research Center showed that, in 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, up just 2% from 2002.
This disparity in fair and equal pay is even greater for women of color, who must face the discrimination and disadvantages of two or more marginalized groups.
This lack of improvement in the gender pay gap underscores the importance of celebrating Women’s History Month at work and empowering women in the workplace year-round.
Sexual Harassment
Women continue to face unwanted and unacceptable behavior in the workplace. For example, 34% of female employees say they’ve experienced sexual harassment from a colleague. That’s over one in three women.
That harassment can disrupt their success and employer’s job retention. Of the women who have been harassed, 38% say it contributed to their decision to leave a job early, and 37% say it interfered with their career advancement.
Work-Life Balance
Women often face unique challenges in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. According to a report from the Pew Research Center, 34 percent of working mothers say they have difficulty balancing their work and family responsibilities.
A poor work-life balance can impact mental and physical health, job satisfaction, and overall well-being, putting women at an even greater disadvantage.
Burnout
The challenges discussed above all contribute to an increased risk of burnout for women in the workplace.
“Burnout is just doing things, spending your time on things of little importance, and doing the wrong things. Burnout can also occur even when we’re doing the right things and see that our work matters… Eight hours slips into 12 hours slips into 15 hours and we don’t even notice because we’re so in it,” said Bribiesca-Hedin.
How to Celebrate Women’s History Month at Work
Before we dive into our favorite Women’s History Month ideas for the workplace, let’s talk about how to make it work.
Here are some tips for successful Women’s History Month event ideas for work:
- Pick inclusive, accessible events
- Focus on actionable outcomes
- Ask for feedback from female employees
- Connect activities to year-round initiatives
- Measure and share the impact of these events
With that out of the way, let’s discuss our favorite Women’s History Month activities in the office! Each of these ideas can be hosted for virtual and hybrid workplaces.
Essential Pieces
TeamBonding’s Essential Pieces activity was designed to bring people together. It makes our list of the best Women’s History Month activities for work before it emphasizes how each person contributes to the team on a meaningful level.
This program uses a custom app to get team members working and playing together. They’ll complete a multi-sensory puzzle through the art of conversation, puzzle assembly, and, well, art!
Impact Online
With Impact Online, you give your employees a chance to make a real difference in key global issues. They’ll learn how to make meaningful changes that support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals published by the United Nations.
Many of these goals are perfect for Women’s History Month activities in the office. The list includes gender equality, good health and well-being, quality education, inequality reduction, and decent work and economic growth.
Survey Says
Don’t forget to have some fun with Women’s History Month games! In Survey Says, your team will get to know each other better and test their knowledge of their colleagues. It’s like a team building version of Family Feud.
Employees participate by answering questions about their co-workers, company, and company culture.
Summit to Success
What better way to lift your female employees up than by taking them to the top of a (virtual) mountain? In Summit to Success, your employees play a game and accumulate points as they race to reach the peaks of 12 mountains.
How to Empower Women At Work Year-Round
While learning how to celebrate Women’s History Month at work is a focused opportunity, true empowerment requires an ongoing commitment. Here are strategies to help you make a lasting impact and lift up your female employees:
Offer Flexible Work Options
Female employees often have to balance work and family responsibilities. Offering flexible work options can help them manage these responsibilities more easily.
Provide Leadership Opportunities
Give your female employees opportunities to leave projects and initiatives so their voices can be heard loud and clear. This is part of creating an inclusive work culture.
Asia shared a powerful thought on this topic: “Get really curious when having women in places of power or certain groups or characteristics in places of power are still outliers in your organization.”
Offer Professional Development
Invest in training and growth opportunities for women. Female employees often don’t get the same access to professional development opportunities as their male counterparts.
Investing in the development of female employees can help them reach their full potential. In her podcast episode, Asia emphasizes the importance of stretch roles—in other words, opportunities that allow women to grow into new capabilities with support.
Encourage Networking and Mentorship
Female employees often look for opportunities to grow and develop their skills. And they benefit from networking and mentorship opportunities.
Offerings like mentorship programs, tuition reimbursement, and professional development workshops can be major draws for talented women looking to take their careers to the next level.
Host Regular Female Team Building Activities
Team building activities can make everyone on your team feel more connected and engaged. So, ask the women in your workplace what team building activities they would enjoy doing on a regular basis!
These events don’t have to be exclusively for women—team building activities like stress-relieving Laughter Yoga can be fun for everyone! What matters is that you’re letting the women in your workplace choose some regular team building activities.
Maintain Fair Policies
Schedule regular policy reviews to ensure your workplace protects all employees equally. Address any systemic barriers within your company through policy changes. This means:
- Equal pay initiatives
- Family-friendly benefits
- Flexible and hybrid work arrangements
- Clear career advancement paths
How to Attract and Retain Female Employees in Your Company
You can make your company more attractive to female job seekers and set your business up for success with some small but essential changes.
Employers need to put their best foot forward and empower themselves as well. The buck does not stop at the employee level. Promoting company core values by living and breathing them is the best thing you can do, especially in a leadership role.
Offer Family-Friendly Benefits
Family-friendly policies attract better talent and keep women in full-time positions. They also help close the wage gap and assist women in occupying leadership and board positions.
Promote a Positive Company Culture
A positive workplace culture is essential for attracting and retaining employees of all genders. But it can be especially important for women, who are often juggling multiple responsibilities both inside and outside of work.
Promote a culture of respect, collaboration, and inclusion, and make sure that your company’s policies support these values.
Moving Forward With Female Empowerment in the Workplace
As you explore how to celebrate Women’s History Month at work, remember that women (and people in general) love working for higher purposes—this is often a core driver of workplace satisfaction.
Asia drives this point home by saying,
“It’s about being true to yourself because from there, you’re showing up in a way that others respond to even better.”
Be sure to listen to the entire podcast with Asia Bribiesca-Hedin to better understand the significance and benefits of empowering women in the workplace. You’ll also learn what you can do to make your workplace more welcoming and engaging for everyone.
Ready to Celebrate the Women in Your Workplace?
Women’s History Month is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of female employees. It’s also a great time to launch new initiatives because true empowerment demands ongoing commitment.
If you’re interested in incorporating team building activities into your employee empowerment strategy, check out our unique team building programs.
Our activities are precisely designed to help employees build relationships in exciting ways, bond on a deeper level, and establish stronger connections. Contact us if you’re interested in exploring customized team building activities.
