International Labour Day is celebrated in many countries around the world on May 1, honouring the contribution and achievements of working people. The day marks an event in US history that happened on May 4, 1884. This event, ‘The Haymarket Affair’ was a general assembly of people who had gathered to demand a reduced 8-hour factory shift.

Significance of Labour Day
The UN body dealing in labor affairs, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) marks the day by spreading awareness about labour issues worldwide by organising rallies and disseminating information in a bid to improve working conditions for workers. The issues they tackle include better wages, eradicating child and forced labour, ensuring safety, health insurance and protection for workers.

As entrepreneurs, Labour Day is a day to step back and appreciate the role that your team plays in the functioning of your enterprise. While the business vision may be your own, it is your team members who are the building blocks of this vision and make it a reality. Whether it is the building of a digital enterprise or the establishment of a restaurant serving cordon bleu food, workers are an essential component of making an entrepreneur’s dream a reality.

Motivating your team 

Labour Day is a wonderful opportunity to inspire your team. Recognising your team’s efforts can go a long way in motivating them to perform better. Steering your team to greater heights and towards a greater level of cohesion will involve quality leadership. Every entrepreneur’s strategy in this regard may be unique. 

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” A lofty quote it may be, but Martin Luther King Jr.’s words have a way of putting Labour Day in perspective. 

As an entrepreneur, his quote, shows that impressing upon an employee the value of their work and granting them a dignity to their labour can push them towards greater things.

For team members, it is a way of appreciating that the time spent engaging with and executing work is also a valuable part of their life. It is not that life begins where work ends. Rather, the time spent at work, a significant portion of our lives for most of us, must be the most value-creating time of all.