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Heritage Months serve as celebrations and acknowledgements of the histories, backgrounds and legacies of people with a shared experience or identity. Some example you may have heard include Women’s History Month (March), Black History Month (February) and AAPI Heritage Month (May). You can check out a more comprehensive list of heritage months here.
This article is to give you a few tips to keep in mind if you’re planning events during a Heritage Month at your company. We often see passionate employees from one of these groups, or an Employee Resource Group that represents them, spearheading the planning effort.
After 2020, our expectations of where and how people work has changed drastically. When you’re planning your heritage month, make sure you’re keeping in mind employees who might not be able to attend in person. Planning a way to participate virtually shows your commitment to every employee in the company to get involved.
Tactical Tip: See if you can include a component on Zoom so people can follow along virtually, or you can use a more comprehensive virtual events platform like Hopin.
Often employees feel like they have to make time outside of work hours to participate in Heritage Month events. See if you can set aside company time, say an hour or two on a Friday lunch, so that people can participate during the workday. This shows the company’s commitment to the effort, and doesn’t force people to choose between their personal commitments (i.e. caregiving, self-care etc.) and their commitments to their co-workers.
Tactical Tip: Does your company have time set aside for a town hall or a company lunch? See if you can get sign off from a company leader to use that time for a Heritage Month celebration or event instead.
Planning a heritage month event is no easy task. It’s a ton of though leadership work, logistical planning and coordination - often on top of an employee’s regular duties. By collaborating with others, not only does it lighten your logistical load, but it an be a great way to get more people from other parts of the organization involved.
Tactical Tip: Types of partners could be: other ERGs, other departments (i.e. marketing, graphics) or diverse vendors.
Keep in mind, Heritage Months are times to feel seen and acknowledged. Don’t hesitate to ask for help or say you don’t have the right answer. Need some extra support? The Verbate team is always happy to help, drop us a line!
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As you plan your Heritage Month, these are few things to keep in mind.