Exploring the key themes of International Men’s Day

Making a positive difference to the wellbeing and lives of men and boys

As a first step, you could use this day as an opportunity to check your policies and ensure they are gender inclusive. This means ensuring that paternity leave it made clear, that parents are given equal access to support and that you use gender-neutral terms.

If you have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or other platforms to support your colleagues, then advertise these throughout the day and link them to the themes of International Men’s Day.

You could also use the day to promote local support and wellbeing groups for men. There are lots of social and talking groups for men both in-person and online so do some research and showcase them throughout the day.

Promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity

International Men’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to showcase role models in your organisation and you could run profiles on men from your organisation talking about inclusion. Remember this day is for all men, so ensure you have diversity in your role models and give them time to share why this day is important to them.

Depending on your work environment, you could run some virtual or in-person events to celebrate the day. It could be as simple as having a dedicated display in a team area through to having guest speakers or running some development programmes.

Use your organisation’s social media and international communications channels to share what you’re doing! International Men’s Day is all about opening up the conversation so use your platforms to their full potential. The day is also an excellent opportunity for men to be seen and heard as inclusion role models talking about inclusion and why it matters.

Raising awareness and/or funds for charities supporting men and boys’ wellbeing

If you have the budget, consider donating or raising money for charities that support men and boys’ wellbeing. You could ask colleagues or staff networks to decide on some charities or do some research on local organisations.

To go one step further, you could sponsor a local award to recognise the contributions of individuals or organisations in supporting men and boys’ wellbeing. It would be great to make this an annual event and really commit to International Men’s Day.

If you’re not able to donate financially, you could look into donating ‘in kind’ and giving space to organisations who support the wellbeing of men and boys. This could be some meeting space, use of kitchen facilities or even a ‘social media takeover’ for the day.

A note on Intersectionality

International Men’s Day is for all men in all their diversity. As with all work in inclusion, make sure that whatever you do for International Men’s Day you do it from an intersectional perspective.

Here are some tips on how to work intersectionally this International Men’s Day:

• Speak to your staff networks or employee groups to ensure that you incorporate diverse voices into your plans
• Consider how LGBTQ+ groups may feel around gender stereotypes, particularly toxic masculinity and open up the conversation
• Work with women in your organisation and ask for their input on positive male role models
• Often men who are carers can be excluded from conversations around caring and parental responsibilities. Use IMD as an opportunity to ensure they are represented in your policies and communications.

Whatever your approach to International Men’s Day, it’s really important that you consider a diverse range of voices on how to celebrate and commemorate the day.

Final thoughts

International Men’s Day is a wonderful opportunity for all employers to ensure men are truly part of the inclusion conversation.

It’s an important day to focus on issues facing all men from an intersectional perspective. The day is not in competition with International Women’s Day but should complement it alongside other awareness days, weeks and months. In doing this we can reflect on the challenges faced by all genders in our society and work toward a more inclusive future side-by-side.

If you’d like us to support you to celebrate International Men’s Day in your organisation, please get in touch or speak to your account manager.

Members can also access our International Men’s Day factsheet in the resources area of our website.