The holidays are a time for people to relax, be thankful for what they have and where they find themselves. A time to be celebrated with family and people who make their lives considerably easier. Holidays could be religious, cultural, or commemorative to a group of people. 

Religious holidays have often been the posterboy of all holidays; receiving all the cheer and camaraderie. Holidays like Ramadan, Easter, Christmas, Eid, Pancha Ganapti, Hanukkah, Yule, Kwanzaa Celebrations bring people across ethnic, racial and cultural lines together. 

Cultural celebrations on the other hand are festivities peculiar to a certain cultural group. These types of holidays predate religious beliefs and hold more water to some people as a person can hold different religious beliefs but a cultural belief is central. Cultural holidays vary depending on the cultural background of employees. 

Other kinds of holidays include special days in the year to keep people aware of certain groups in society, like autism awareness month, women celebration month, mental health awareness month, international day of persons living with disability, Juneteenth etc.

Management teams can spotlight these important days to make their employees who fall under these categories feel more seen, respected and valued. Employees also feel more proud when they know the company they work for genuinely stands for something important.

How can companies incorporate the Holiday celebrations?

A diverse workplace makes for diverse holidays. The more diverse the workplace, the more diverse the holidays. Gone are the days when companies only recognized Christmas and New year celebrations. As the workplace becomes more open and diverse, management teams must expand their net to incorporate the Holiday celebrations that matter to various people within the workplace. Creating an inclusive environment goes beyond hiring a diverse team—it requires actively acknowledging and honoring employees’ cultures and backgrounds. 

When companies recognize diversity holidays and cultural celebrations, this sends a powerful message to employees that their identities matter and the organization values their contributions beyond professional capabilities which, in most cases, improves performance and employee retention.

It’s almost impossible to strategize and execute the perfect inclusion plan. Management teams must stay thoughtful and take genuine interest in the backgrounds and beliefs of their employees, the impending outcome will most likely be a net positive.

To achieve this management teams must do the following;

• Be aware of employee backgrounds

Goes without saying that in order to incorporate holidays into your system, you must know the cultural and religious background of your employees. For example it will be insensitive to plan a team ‘night out’ during the Ramadan season or plan an important meeting during a cultural holiday.

• Open to learning

Again, no perfect inclusion plan exists. It is a reiterative process that requires a lot of learning. When companies put themselves in a position to genuinely learn from their employees about what holidays matter to them, how they’d like to be treated during these holidays then they will often get it right.

• Asking what holidays matter 

One important way to get holiday planning right is to compile a survey to find out what holidays are important to people in your organization. Armed with this information management can plan their calendar around these holidays and get an insight on how to make it special for their staff.

• Keep a yearly calendar

This is super important in a company. A yearly holiday calendar helps the company plan its activities around the holidays. Things like coverage to ensure continuity of work and creating a thematic environment to support the celebration and make employees feel more seen.

• Encourage people to share cultural or declarative holidays freely 

While some holidays are cast in stone, like Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Easter, Eid etc., other holidays are declarative. Depending on the occasion some countries can declare holidays to celebrate some achievement or personality of national relevance. By creating an environment that’s open to sharing, employees are given the chance to communicate these holidays to management, so that it can be honored and continuity of work is planned around it.

Management can use Holidays celebration to connect more with their employees and their immediate communities. The staple of any holiday is gratitude, caring and sharing. Management teams must use the holidays celebrations as a time to give back to their employees in the form of recognition and give back to their communities for the opportunity to operate in their environment. This helps create a safe and hospitable environment for the company to operate in and a conducive environment for employees to work in. The ROI is immeasurable.