Cultural Sensitivity and Event Planning
By Dawn Robson
A multi-cultural employee base is a common reality within Canada. According to a recent Statistics Canada report, 22.3% of the population of Canada, or 7.7 million people, are visible minorities.
During the holiday season, and throughout the year, organizations should recognize that their team members may have different religious and cultural traditions. This may play out in their willingness to participate in different activities within the office or in their requests for different holidays or time off. In order to provide a culturally sensitive environment, it is important to encourage learning about and respecting individual customs and traditions. Respecting diversity means understanding, accepting and celebrating differences versus trying to ignore them or trying to make everyone fit into one homogenous culture.
If you are responsible for planning events for your organization, you should ensure that you respect these cultural and individual differences. It is a good rule of thumb to check a multi-faith calendar when you are planning an event to ensure that it does not fall on a religious holiday that you may not be aware of. If you are planning a full or multi-day event and have observant Muslims or Jews in attendance, you may want to check to see if there are mosques or synagogues nearby or provide for a designated prayer room.
You will also need to consider your menu, for, in addition to dietary restrictions, some individuals may choose not to eat certain foods for religious reasons (i.e., Jews and Muslims don’t eat pork, and there may be a requirement for Kosher food.) It is important to ensure that you have lots of food alternatives, so that everyone can find the options that align with their needs and they don’t feel left out or that they have to “bring their own” food.
It is also a good idea to do some research into the customs and traditions of your team members as you won’t want to unknowingly offend everyone. If you are organizing entertainment or activities, be aware of the potential impact and try to find something that will appeal to people of all cultural ethnicities.
Being as inclusive as possible in organizing your events will reflect well on your organization. As members of a multi-cultural country, we have a unique opportunity to learn and appreciate the variety of interests and customs from around the world.
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