Be inclusive during the Holiday season

According to our 2021 census the top 5 religious’ affiliations in Australia are:

1. No religion (38.9%)

2. Catholic (20%)

3. Anglican (9.8%)

4. Islam (3.2%)

5. Hinduism (2.7%).

From this it is evident that there many Australians who may acknowledge or celebrate Christmas (43.9%), yet it is not everyone. In fact, the census data shows that over the past 50 years, there has been a steady decline in the proportion of Australians who reported an affiliation with Christianity. The same period has seen a consistent rise in Other religions and No religion, particularly in the last 20 years.

So, it’s interesting to me that despite these visible changes in religious affiliations in Australia, the dominant symbols of religion we see relate to the Christian religion e.g.,

• national public holidays for significant dates in the Christian religion

• enterprises sending customer emails with wishes for Merry Christmas

• signs and images in retail stores with Christmas wishes.

Furthermore, Australian organisations have adopted a practice of ‘shutting down’ for a minimum of 2 weeks over Christmas and New year period. I will come back to this shortly.

Whilst I personally fall into the category of Other religions I have some family and many friends who affiliate with Christianity. I love seeing them enjoying a variety of Christmas traditions and celebrations at this time of year. I respect and support people’s choices to engage in Christmas traditions, practices, and celebrations. I also believe that our policies, practices, symbols and rituals need to be updated to more consciously include all religions, and also respect people’s choice to not affiliate with any religion.

Currently Australian organisations need to adhere to the National Employment Standards. These standards and employment laws are intended to guide organisations in providing equitable and fair treatment for all working Australians. Yet they anchor to outdated ideas of religion and are influenced by being a member of the Commonwealth. This results in the original intent (ensuring equitable and fair treatment for everyone) being compromised – with 56.1% of Australians being forced to take leave in acknowledgement of significant dates for a religion with which they don’t affiliate.

Yes, in Australia this forced annual leave is hardwired into many people’s employment contracts. The narrative internalised and communicated by many leaders is that:

• most businesses shutdown at this time of the year

• there isn’t much work for people to do at this time of the year

• it’s important for our people to use their annual leave to ensure their wellbeing and manage the financial risks of accrued leave in the business’

Whilst many of these assumptions may have been true at a point in time, they do not all hold true today and certainly not for all industries. For example:

• most people are under pressure to do more work with less people, time and resources. Whilst there may be some things they cannot do (if their clients or suppliers are not working) I am sure there are many other productive and meaningful things they could do. The end of the year could provide the much needed breathing space to build relationships, plan and organise, or build capability to name a few.

• People do want to engage in activities that refill their tank, help them to recover from intense work and switch off from work. Most people understand there are boundaries in which they need to operate, including when it comes to their annual leave. They want some freedom within these boundaries about when and how they use their annual leave. For example, many Australians need to travel to visit their families - 29.1% of Australians were born overseas. Not everyone can afford to travel during peak periods where rates are significantly higher.

I am not naïve to think these laws and standards will change any time soon. I do believe that organisations can be more creative to ensure their policies, practices and rituals consciously include all religions whilst also adhering to the legislation and standards.

Here are some quick tips.

Tip #1 - get to know your people & customers

Once you know more about their context, preferences, and constraints you can be more effective in adapting to achieve a win-win-win outcome. Win for the individual, Win for the team/ business and Win for the customer.

Tip #2 - Adapt

Adapt your messages and ways of engaging to include your people and clients more consciously. For example, if you learn that someone is not religious – don’t send them a merry Christmas message in December. Rather send them an end of year message.

Tip #3 - create freedom within a frame

When creating policies consider the different contexts, preferences and constraints of your people, business / teams, and customers. Build in reasonable flexibility to ensure equitable treatment and outcomes for everyone.

For example, mandate people take a block of annual leave (e.g. 1 or 2 weeks) every year and let them choose when they take this block of leave.

This enables the business to mitigate against people burning out and reduce liabilities of excessive leave loading, whilst also enabling people to take leave at a time that better suits their personal context.

Tip #4 - be genuine not tokenistic

Consider the extent to which you acknowledge, seek to learn about and or support others to celebrate significant dates for different religions and cultures. It’s important to be authentic and respectful – not tokenistic.

To avoid being tokenistic move beyond simply acknowledging significant dates in your newsletters and or town halls. Ask people from that religion / cultural background to share examples of meaningful practices or rituals that may be worth engaging in at work.

With 2022 coming to an end I’d like to wish you health, joy and a meaningful year ahead.