Celebrating International Women’s Day: What Your Company Can Do to Support the Women on Your Team

International Women’s Daywas originally founded in 1975 as a day to celebrate the accomplishments and social, political, and economic values of women in society. More than 45 years later, this day remains an important part of our global calendar.

International Women’s Day offers companies the opportunity to reflect on their female team members and to recommit themselves toward ensuring workplace equality. If your HR department is looking for inspiration to achieve these goals this March, consider taking some of the steps outlined below. 

What HR Can Do to Support Female Employees

Re-evaluate Corporate Benefit Offerings

Women have unique wellness needs, making it important for companies to consider whether their benefits offerings currently support these health requirements. When celebrating International Women’s Day, focus on considering whether there is room for improvement in your corporate benefits package.

For example, do your current offerings provide reasonable access to women’s health care providers, such as gynaecologists and OBGYNs? What about mental health access? Certain mental health disorders, such as Bipolar II and anxiety, are more likely to be diagnosed in women, making it important for them to have access to medication and therapy for treating these conditions. 

Consider Payment Disparities

The issue of payment disparities between men and women is nothing new. Equal rights activists have long been fighting to decrease the pay gap between these two groups; on average, for every dollar a man makes, a woman doing the same job with the same level of experience earns $0.98.

International Women’s Day poses the perfect opportunity to evaluate the earnings of women on your team. Consider how these salaries compare to men within the company. If there are significant differences between the two, determine if the gap is caused by other factors, such as experience or length of employment. If there isn’t a concrete reason available as to why the gap occurs, considering issuing percentage-based raises to help close this gap. 

Request Feedback

If HR is looking to improve the culture to better benefit women, there is no better resource of feedback than the opinions of those team members themselves. Put together a comprehensive survey that focuses on a broad range of issues, from corporate culture to growth opportunities. Send this survey to all the women in the company and ask for anonymous feedback. Once the results have been collected, evaluate and address accordingly.

This International Women’s Day, consider teaming up with Wellhub to improve your offerings to the women on your team. We are proud to provide companies with customisable, comprehensive packages that provide physical, mental and emotional wellbeing resources. Check us out here to learn more about what we can offer your business.