Mother’s Day can be a great time to recognize this complex context, support your employees, and celebrate in a meaningful way.
Mother's Day began in the early 20th century when Anna Jarvis campaigned for a day to honor mothers and their contributions. The holiday was officially recognized in the United States in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Today, it's a time to celebrate and appreciate mothers and maternal figures with flowers, cards, and special gestures.
Today, Mother's Day is celebrated with thoughtful gestures, such as giving flowers, cards, and gifts to mothers and maternal figures. Many families have special meals together or plan activities to show appreciation and love. It's a day dedicated to honoring mothers and expressing gratitude for their hard work.
Mother’s Day may seem like a lighthearted personal occasion to celebrate. But in the workplace, you will face as many feelings about Mother’s Day as there are employees. While we all value belonging and community, every employee is living their own experience when it comes to family, pregnancy, and birth.
If you lead a team or an entire organization, I’m sure you could add more bullet points to this list. Maybe a team member recently lost their mother. Maybe, they are dealing with postpartum.
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Mother’s Day is a delicate occasion, but if done right, it can be a great time to recognize its complex context, support your employees, and celebrate in a meaningful way.
Revisit employee benefits
Use Mother’s Day and Father’s Day (coming in June) as an occasion to ask your team about what family means to them. Some of them are caretakers. Some may not have an extended family. Some may not be ready to start a family but need support from their extended community. In our interview last week, Mija Lieberman shared examples of family-related benefits her team set up after listening to employee groups.
Create space for extended community
Host a family day to bring employee families and extended community together. Here are five team building events that fit all sorts of budgets:
Get together over gift-making
Get employees together over a casual activity, where they’ll make and send gifts for their loved ones. Enjoy these five team building ideas:
We curated light-hearted and gift-making activities that you team will enjoy this Mother's Day. These are just a few things you can do together. Make sure to check out our home page for all fun team activities!
