International Women's Day is a good time to make sure we all thrive

One of the things I find truly uplifting about this time of year is our celebration of International Women’s Day. It’s a special day in my calendar and each year we hear even more inspirational stories and find new ways to engage and inspire our teams.

Because International Women’s Day is all about accelerating equality for all and creating experiences of belonging, this year, we’re tapping into an Accenture initiative we call Thriving Together. It’s a new behavior change experience we’ve created in partnership with culture change organization, Thrive Global. Thriving Together aims to help our organization’s individuals and teams understand why well-being, resilience and belonging are essential elements in helping us all to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity.

The Thriving Together program is a hybrid e-learning course and digital app experience that helps our people navigate everyday challenges, both personally and professionally. It’s supported by live team workshops that help reinforce what belonging truly means and how people can take action in their own teams.

As a leader, I take my responsibilities seriously when it comes to helping our people feel seen, safe, connected and courageous. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to do just that as I co-host 60-minute team workshops in seven key locations over the coming weeks—Buenos Aires, China, India, Ireland, the Philippines, Spain and the United States. My colleagues Melissa Summers, Latrise Brissett and local leadership will be joining me to share relevant content about International Women’s Day and what it means to those specific geographies.

We know that when people increase their own resilience and self-compassion, develop confidence and feel in control, they are more optimistic and better able to listen and care for others. The team workshops will look at increasing awareness of “belonging to self,” reflect on what’s working and areas for improvement and commit to a set of practical actions.

Workshops with women in mind

In addition to Thriving Together workshops and discussions taking place around the globe as part of International Women’s Day, we’ll be covering other topics that are top-of-mind in the inclusion and diversity space:

• Accenture “Better to belong” research: By analyzing data from our Better to Belong research with a gender lens, we uncovered that women are among the groups of people (including LGBTQ+ and racial and ethnic minorities) that have the longest runway to an equitable work experience. The research explores the opportunity leaders have to increase women’s human potential. For example, when day-to-day experiences for women are maximized, they can increase women’s experience of being “net better off” by almost five times. I know creating an inclusive organization where women can thrive is at the top of my agenda.
• Creating inclusive design: These workshop sessions will focus on creating a truly inclusive design process when it comes to creating products, services and process. We look at how inclusive design can open up untapped audiences—did you know US$31.1T of annual spending is controlled by women globally?—and can create experiences that work better for everyone. I’m ready to put into practice the actions that can create more inclusive experiences for our teams, every day.

It’s important for Accenture to create a culture of equality where all our people, regardless of their background, feel they belong and can be at their best selves at work, each and every day. As American research professor Brené Brown says we’re hard wired for belonging but “true belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are. It requires you to be who you are.”

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I’m sure you’re seeking out that kind of equality and belonging for your teams. I’d love to hear more about what commitments and meaningful actions you will take to accelerate equality for your teams/organization.