How do you respect identity and honor ethnicity in the workplace? Start with your staff.

Respecting, honoring, or celebrating different ethnicities means both understanding and valuing different cultures, and understanding how the dominant society and culture devalues them as "other." From day to day, it means valuing and respecting the identities of the people around us, and being aware of our own assumptions about them. For a business owner it means fostering a workplace culture that values the diverse cultures of its employees, rather than pressuring them to conform to an imposed standard. It is with its own employees a business must begin in building a culture of respect and inclusion for a culturally diverse workplace.

For example, this is the time of year that in the retail world we call "the holiday season." Most businesses -- and certainly most bookstores -- keep a cultural calendar of holidays and celebrations, usually dictated around the eleven officially recognized Federal holidays

Allowing employees to help build the cultural calendar for the year is one way expand the traditions such holidays celebrate. It gives staff the opportunity to observe the holidays meaningful to them without requiring they make a special request or ask for unpaid time off. An employee-built cultural calendar gives owners and managers the opportunity to plan activities for the store around the celebrations that are important to their staff, being mindful of the cultural nuances such as dietary restrictions, work day limitations, or key traditions and practices for the holiday.

Organizations like to share how they are celebrating important days: what they plan to serve for Thanksgiving Dinner, where they went to watch the fireworks on July 4th. Welcome staff to do the same if they are inclined: post pictures on the bulletin board you have in the store, add posts from staff to the store Instagram and TikTok accounts. Mention them in the store newsletter.

Engaging your staff underscores how much you value them. An engaged staff that feels a sense of belonging has an effect on your company's vitality and success. What starts as input about the store cultural calendar may grow to influence your business's local impact. Your employees may have ideas about other local businesses to partner with. Other charities and organizations in their communities to support. They may have a perspective on cultural issues in the community that align with your values. A diverse workforce is always greater than the sum of its parts.

Sample Cultural Calendars:

Cultures Connecting Diversity Calendar for 2023-2024
Developed for to help teachers and schools to respond to and celebrate the diversity of their student body. In particular it notes if a celebration is religious or cultural, and when it may require a student to miss school.

Diversity Cultural Calendar for 2024
Includes religious holidays, heritage months, and monthly diversity themes

Global Diversity Calendar for 2024
For organizations creating DEI programs and training, the full kit (which requires a subscription) includes materials to center events in conversations and diversity initiatives

PTA Multicultural Calendar for 2023-2024
A resource for parent-teacher organizations with guidelines on engaging underrepresented communities.

Cooleaf Workplace Diversity Calendar (evergreen)
Targeted towards workplace environments, this is a Google calendar that can either be downloaded for the year, or imported into your Google Calendar account, in which case it will update every year.