Have we lost our way with International Women’s Day?

Written by Michelle Mullany – MHA Moore & Smalley and member of the pro-women committee

In the period building up to and including International Women’s Day (IWD) it has been intriguing to see quite polarised views on the topic of IWD. Whilst some talk of inspirational talks and a feeling of empowerment I have seen just as many who feel the theme to #EmbraceEquity was lost and felt the many #IWD posts were more marketing led than true intent. So the question I asked myself was “Have the fabulous events many of us enjoy for IWD overshadowed the true purpose and meaning to drive change?”

IWD has a long heritage going right back to 1909 in New York where there was a focus on women’s rights, activists suggested there be an annual Women’s Day as a means to continue promoting the rights of women. In 1911 IWD was officially marked for the first time with more than one million people celebrating whilst also demanding the right to vote, to fight against sex discrimination in the workplace, and to hold public office.

As we saw at the pro-manchester International Women’s Day Event, there are outstanding examples of women across Greater Manchester who are making a difference in their communities such as Professor Erinma Bell who has devoted her life to protecting young people in Manchester and to strip away gun crime not only in Manchester but across the UK, as well as women in business such as Christy Foster, CEO and Co-Founder of Online4baby who has come from humble beginnings on market stalls around Greater Manchester into a national success story.

Whilst we celebrate these and other women across our region clearly there is significant work still to be done, in a recent PwC study it showed that UK companies have taken a step back when it comes to gender parity, as the gap between what the average man and the average women are paid each hour has widened. At the rate the pay gap is closing, it will now take more than 50 years to reach gender pay parity so clearly we as individuals and businesses across GM have a lot of work to do.

Personally I have welcomed the 2 International Women’s Day events I attended recently and found it was a time to come together with other wonderful women, to listen to what they are doing and to learn what could I do better and share learnings with other organisations. Like many other women and male allies across GM, the work to drive change is year round – whether you lead on the EDI agenda, volunteer in your local community, give talks to inspire the next generation, work with recruitment to tap into more diverse talent pool, supporting and work with organisations who are instrumental to changes we want to see such as She Leads for Legacy and the Digital Independent Specialist College. I feel these events give that needed boost to keep going, to take stock of what you’re doing and question if what you are doing is making the most impact, what can I do differently, what are other organisations doing that I could incorporate into my own business.

My call to action is for businesses and individuals to use this time to ask those questions and to make a meaningful difference so that when IWD 2024 events come round you will use them to celebrate the difference you have made this year and not just an opportunity for a nice lunch. pro-manchester’s Pro Women Committee continually strive to be better and we would like to #EmbraceEquity and have a more diverse committee as we know this will bring greater innovation and so we would welcome anyone who would like to be an active member and make a difference in their business community to get in contact.

MHA Moore and Smalley are an independent UK member of Baker Tilly International and provider of a full range of accountancy and advisory services to large corporates, owner managed businesses and individuals.. We are ranked among the world’s top 10 branded networks, with a presence in 148 territories.

Our ambition is to provide the insights our clients need now, to accelerate growth, to prepare for tomorrow’s challenges and to seize tomorrow’s opportunities.  We believe in the power of great relationships. We lead and listen for great conversations.

Our Manchester office works largely with mid market, owner managed, entrepreneurial businesses.  A locally focused team is in place to support the growth ambitions of businesses across Greater Manchester with audit and accounting, payroll, tax, financial planning and wealth management as well as transactions advisory services.  We are regularly recognised for our achievements, more recently being shortlisted for Dealmaker of the Year at the 2022 NW Insider Dealmaker Awards.