Celebrating International Women’s Day

In the week of the 8^th of March, we celebrated International Women’s Day. At IGW, too, we recognise the importance of this significant day and therefore, we like to thank our female colleagues for their hard work. In this article, we go to IGW Oostkamp for their take on this yearly event.

Bonding activities

Usually, our colleagues in Oostkamp pull out all the stops to thank the women working at the plant and put the spotlight on them. Indeed, when we aren’t dealing with a pandemic, International Women’s Day is spent performing an activity that allows us to focus on other matters than our day-to-day tasks. Over the years, these activities have included a calligraphy initiation, line dancing, yoga sessions, making Belgian chocolates or a guided tour in the picturesque nearby city of Bruges. However, this year the current health situation does not allow for such activities. Nevertheless, we showed our appreciation for our female colleagues by presenting them each individually with a goody bag.

A colleague in the spotlight

Also, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, we like to put one of our female colleagues at IGW Oostkamp in the spotlight. Stéphanie Vande Cappelle is the logistics team leader for our Oostkamp plant. Her job is to coordinate internal transports as well as the central warehouse, that takes care of all the items that are provided for the production department. Stéphanie is comfortable in her position and has a good understanding with her team members. “My job offers me plenty of variation and I really treasure it. Unforeseen circumstances are a part of it and while they can be challenging, I really relish resolving them.” The fact that she is the only woman in her department has no influence at all: “Personally, I don’t give it much thought. I get along very well with my colleagues and that’s what matters.”

Over the years, Stéphanie has seen more and more women choosing to join IGW. “I was actually one the first women whose job involved regularly coming to the shop floor. However, over the years, the efforts by IGW to persuade more women to come work for the company have paid off.” “In the end, IGW is just a good employer and the fact many people spend significant parts of their careers here is proof of that.” According to Stéphanie, the fact that many people work for IGW for many years is a big contributing factor to the family-like atmosphere at our worldwide organisation.

Celebrating International Women’s Day remains important and as such we like to take this occasion to pay tribute to all the women working worldwide to keep driving us forth. Thank you!