Make Sure Your Next Holiday Season is Inclusive. Here’s How:

A couple of weeks into the new year, it’s easy to push forward, past the holiday season, without spending some time reflecting on how inclusive it was for your team and work colleagues.

In fact, it’s likely the only moments you’ve spent thinking about this past holiday season involve the new gadgets and goodies you received from loved ones, the loungewear set you gifted yourself during a cold night of online shopping, or the plans you made to make sure 2021 is a better, more productive year than the difficult one we all just endured – certainly, 2021 has to be better than 2020, right?

But in our professional lives, as advocates of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplaces, we may find that there is much to reflect upon when looking back at this holiday season and much to potentially improve. In fact, as the holiday season is consistently considered the time of year with some of the highest instances of loneliness, anxiety, and depression, we may be looking back and looking forward to some of the most trying holiday seasons we’ll see in our lifetimes.

“But in our professional lives, as advocates of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplaces, we may find that there is much to reflect upon when looking back at this holiday season and much to potentially improve.”

Though 2021 promises to be better, with many continuing to staying isolated from family members, some mourning the death of a close friend due to the ongoing pandemic, and still others coping with financial struggles, there most certainly are opportunities to make the upcoming 2021 end-of-year season more inclusive and equitable for your employees, supervisors, and peers.  

And, yes, there are actions you can take right now to get started.

It may seem far away, but here are some steps you may want to consider taking to make the 2021 holiday season more inclusive than this past one:

Institute Flexible Floating Holidays Throughout the Year

Though many countries in the western hemisphere center Christmas during the holiday season, it is important to recognize that not everyone celebrates Christmas. In fact, not everyone is celebrating a holiday during the “holiday season.”

For this reason, leaders and human capital practitioners may find it useful to institute flexible floating holidays, days employees can take off throughout the year during which they traditionally observe a holiday. There’s no need to wait until the end of the year to do this. In fact, it’s likely to take a few months to advocate for and institute. And you won’t want to wait because a practice such as this one can truly signal to employees your company’s dedication to inclusion.  

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Raise Awareness of all Holidays Through the Use of a Holiday Calendar

Traditional calendars observed by most American companies, do not acknowledge many of the holidays and celebrations recognized by a diversity of people within the United States. In fact, there are quite a few holidays that many employees within your organization may hold near and dear, but are never officially acknowledged by their company. Meanwhile, certain holidays are mentioned regularly, even scheduled around on a consistent basis.  

You have an opportunity to change this today by raising awareness through a company holiday calendar, one that acknowledges and shares a plethora of holidays and events celebrated by the diverse workforce and customer/client base you serve. One way to make people feel even more included is to provide means by which people can submit events and holidays that may be missing from the list. It also may be a good idea to allow for the regular announcement of upcoming holidays in a consistent public forum.

“You have an opportunity to change this today by raising awareness through a company holiday calendar, one that acknowledges and shares a plethora of holidays and events celebrated by the diverse workforce and customer/client base you serve.”

Here’s an example of an inclusive holiday calendar by Diversity Best Practices that you may want to use as a reference and starting point.

Recognize Religious and Cultural Diversity Within Your Organization

Many dimensions of identity may be present within your company. When attempting to make your holiday calendar more inclusive, it will be beneficial for everyone if your organization finds intentional ways to recognize as many of those dimensions as possible, including religious and cultural diversity.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), communities that come together to support employees sharing a particular affinity, are great resources for any organization. This is especially the case when attempting to ensure that holidays are treated as inclusively as possible across a company.

ERGs may be able to plan educational and celebratory events that allow employees the space and time to share their experiences with others. This not only allows those whose holidays and important dates are acknowledged to feel more part of the workplace, but it also encourages people across the firm to build their awareness of other cultures.  

Provide Resources and Opportunities to Discuss Mental Health

As mentioned, holiday seasons can be a time of increased anxiety and depression. This is especially the case amid a pandemic and social distancing.

Though 2021 promises to be better than 2020, you can start now to ensure your workplace offers a plethora of resources to support mental health. You can look to destigmatize conversations about mental health and begin to put structures in place that allow employees the opportunity and the means to access the help they need when it’s needed.

We may be a whole year away from the next holiday season, but if you start now, you could be making a big difference in the way your employees experience it.  

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