BONUS ISSUE: How to celebrate International Women's Day 2021 virtually

Next Monday it's International Women's Day. How will you celebrate this year? Happy, because you're making progress and achieving your goals? Or a bit saddened, because the pandemic made clear what a balancing act pursuing gender diversity really is?

The official theme for IWD 2021 is "Choose to Challenge", recognizing the need to call out gender bias and inequality. It's been a tough year for women in the workplace as they battle the social, economic and political fallout from Covid-19.

It doesn't help that the pandemic is turning out to be a "she-cession": Women have been profoundly affected, with female unemployment hitting double digits in many countries for the first time since WWII.

We will certainly see that in the overall DEI numbers, and I expect a set back to achieving gender diversity goals. But not all is lost - because we realize what is happening, we can take special action to correct it. So make sure you check your plans, focus on your goals, and go after them with new energy!

And because we are still working from home I share a couple of links that give you practical advice on how you can celebrate International Women's Day virtually.

Have a wonderful International Women's Day! It's been never been more important.

Anita

---

Because we're all still stuck at home, the IWD organization is encouraging women to use selfie cards as background for social media posts. Read the guide:

International Women's Day #ChooseToChallenge selfie cards — www.internationalwomensday.com Download International Women's Day selfie cards - #IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge

A great overview of why it's more important than ever to celebrate IWD2021, including the history, how you can get involved, links to international events and ideas for virtual celebrations:

International Women's Day 2021: why it's still needed, and how to celebrate virtually  — www.telegraph.co.uk The celebration is held on March 8 every year. Here is everything you need to know for 2021...

Making sure that women advance in the workplace can't be a female responsibility: it's critical to involve people of all gender to succeed. You need a team! How you do that, and some other ideas for longer term impact, can be found in this article:

8 ways to celebrate International Women's Day 2021 with your team — www.humanresourcesonline.net With safe distancing still very much practised around the world, Priya Sunil has put together eight simple and safe ways you can commemorate IWD 2021 - be it with your team or as an organisation.

And in line with #7 from the prior link: if you are wondering what to do about your Diversity, Equality and Inclusion approach, and how to achieve better results, here's an article I wrote that contains a handy checklist:

Diversity & Inclusion in Global Companies: A Checklist for Every HR Leader | People & Payroll — peopleandpayroll.com We already know Diversity & Inclusion are not just nice-to-have buzz words. They help businesses achieve better results. But how do you bring these words to life in global companies, across different locations? The other night I was watching TV and saw a commercial for a health science degree. At first glance, it was diverse, […]