As a business with teams and or clients (or both), it is very important to be culturally sensitive. You may not know what holidays your team or clients celebrate, or their likes. Here are a few suggestions as to how to navigate likes and cultural sensitivities like a pro.
It is not about you. You can celebrate your holiday in your own home. To be sensitive to your clients and teams, try being generic and use “Happy Holidays”. that way regardless if they celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah, something else, or nothing at all, you are not offending anyone, and simply just celebrating the holiday season. After all, does it matter what holiday you and others are celebrating? I think not, just as long as you are celebrating inclusivity and not leaving someone out even unintentionally.
When giving gifts, I know some people who send chocolates or wine. Well, you don’t want to make a faux pas and send chocolates to a diabetic or wind to an alcoholic. Be sure that you know the person you are gifting to before selecting a gift, or go with something generic, like a gift card.
Avoid logo’d SWAG. We all have SWAG with our logo’s produced. This is great to give any time of the year, except the holidays. Now, that is just my opinion. I look at the holidays as a time to get more personal, and there is nothing personal about receiving something with a business logo on it. And trust me, this type of thinking will go a long way with your team and clients. When they say it’s the thought that counts, this is what they mean. Put thought into deciding the gift.
It’s the time of the year for generosity. If your business can swing it, give people some extra time off, work on skeleton crews. The more you work with your team to allow them extra time to shop during non-peak times, or with family, the more respect you will get from your team. If you can swing a holiday bonus, even better.
Your gifts to your team member may be taxable to them, and your bonus certainly is. Make sure that you check in with your bookkeeper to ensure you are taxing items properly. This is not the time to do first and ask for forgiveness later.
These are only a few things to think about. If you spend time, I’m sure you can up with more holiday considerations. If you follow the above guidelines, your efforts and generosity will be returned with loyalty – from both your team and clients.
Until next time,
