Multicultural Business Environments Present Unique Challenges for the Holidays

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(Free-Press-Release.com) December 19, 2008 -- 12-1-2008

Multicultural Business Environments Present Unique Challenges for the Holidays

Outsourcing, offshoring, hiring foreign consultants and other factors have created multicultural environments in many corporations.

“Many businesses have a tradition of a big company Christmas party, Christmas bonuses, and all that. And many are uncomfortable because they’re not sure if that’s okay in a multicultural environment.” Said Paula Williams, the host of Ravenwerks , an online community devoted to ethics, etiquette and effectiveness in multicultural environments.

“There’s nothing wrong with celebrating any particular holiday, but it does make for interesting planning when you have work teams that celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, Diwali and the Lunar New Year.”

Williams published a series of tips on the Ravenwerks web site, and welcomes questions and comments from readers.

Williams emphasizes planning ahead, keeping an open mind, and allowing as much flexibility as possible in scheduling time off and scheduling events to keep employees of all cultures and backgrounds.

She also recommends allowing employees to host potlucks and other lunchtime events to celebrate holidays, as long as all employees are invited and there are no overly religious overtones. She first learned about the Hindu festival of Diwali, for example, while attending an employee lunchtime event at a Wells Fargo office in San Francisco.

“People had brought wonderful food and decorations and made everyone feel welcome. We had a wonderful time talking and sharing experiences, and I felt closer to that team than I had before.” Williams recommends setting parameters for celebrations – make it clear what the company will provide in terms of paper plates or other standard items, outline time constraints such as ensuring the festivities are over within the lunch hour and do not disrupt regular activities, explaining that cleanup must be performed by the group responsible for the party, and so on.

Williams cautions against making assumptions about what holidays a person is likely to celebrate based on their nationality or background, and warns that there are some groups, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, that do not participate in holiday celebrations at all.

Readers can see more tips and cautions in the article Celebrating The Holidays in a Multicultural Environment Without Going Broke, Crazy or Out of Business at http://www.ravenwerks.com/leadership/holidays.htm

A list of holidays for 2009 can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_holidays_by_country

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