Corporate Events: Ensuring Diversity at Christmas

During the Christmas season, many companies and associations grapple with ensuring diversity at corporate events. Some organizations have taken the route of banning Christmas trees and cancelling the annual Christmas party. Others have opted for the name “festive event” in order to project a politically correct image. Changing the label doesn’t make events diverse.

I have a different take on this issue. My perspective comes from growing up in downtown Montreal in a truly diverse environment before the word multi-cultural existed.

Diversity does not mean eliminating differences or being blind to them. Diversity is a celebration of differences,  the unique and special cultures and traditions that make every part of the world special.

My elementary and high schools were each a virtual United Nations drawing students from a large Jewish community and a neighborhood with immigrants from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and a handful from the Caribbean. There were synagogues in the area and teachers and classmates took Jewish holidays. The same diversity applied at churches.When our Brownie pack visited other churches we were exposed to a range of faith communities from Greek Orthodox to Chinese Presbyterian.

Diversity was a given and celebrations and events reflected that. Potluck luncheons were a potpourri servicing up a delightful mix of cabbage rolls, porgies, Polish sausages, and, of course, Jamaican banana fritters made by my mother. No legislation or policies were needed to ensure that talent shows included Greek, Ukrainian and Polish dancing. This happened naturally.

As my business and personal travel have taken me to many parts of the world, the places that have Christmas celebrations may surprise you. I shared a couple of examples last year.

Last year, I was far away from home at the start of the Christmas season and feeling somewhat homesick. In Malaysia and United Arab Emirates, 2 Muslim countries, it was comforting to discover colourful decorations and Christmas celebrations in unexpected places so I blogged about the experience. I was thrilled that a traditional Jamaican Christmas carol was included in the selections that were played at KL Pavilion Mall. Companies in North America should also make the effort to ensure inclusiveness.

• Are there lessons that corporations can glean from these experiences?
• How do we ensure diversity during the Christmas season and throughout the year?
• Is it a matter of playing with dreidels, having a Menorah and singing Chanukah songs at holiday parties?
• To make employees from the Caribbean feel more comfortable should we add poinsettias to holiday decor, play Parang music, or serve sorrel (a delightful red Christmas drink)?

I would suggest that merely adding games, decorations and multi-cultural holiday cuisine will not create a culture in which diversity is embraced. To create truly diverse organizations, policies, practices and  strategies to ensure that the brightest and the best are hired and promoted must be in place 365 days of the year. Companies and their clients deserve no less.

I have had employees from some companies in North America confide that they are afraid to take Jewish holidays as they fear disclosing their religion will hurt their chances of promotion. Is the executive team still predominantly male? Is almost everyone from manager to CEO from the same background? Are members of visible minority groups passed over for promotion even when they are over-qualified? Token diversity at holiday parties won’t change that.

Here is another example.

A few years ago, a Toronto based company contacted our sister training and development company about our Changing Face of Diversity workshop. They wanted to put their entire management team through training  to deal with a sensitive issue. Employees from some cultures didn’t know how to use western toilets and they had a significant number of shop floor employees from those cultures.

Sure, it’s great to be paid to deliver workshops but I thought the request was truly bizarre. I asked:

“Wouldn’t it be easier to install eastern toilets in a couple of stalls in each washroom? Companies, shopping centres and airports in Asia and the Middle East accommodate by providing western toilets”.

The idea hadn’t even occurred to them. 

Why focus just on Christmas? If a company has a diverse workforce and client base, how it conducts business and celebrates throughout the year should reflect this.

Two nights ago, there was a beautiful example of diversity in action on one of the Chopping in a Winter Wonderland TV specials for Chopped. Jewish, African American, and Mexican American chefs all drew on their roots and created a range of festive dishes from identical ingredient baskets. Che Rachel Willen of New York’s FoodFix Kitchen won with Chanukah inspired cuisine. Watching her work was truly inspiring.

In the same way, when a diverse event planning team or conference committee plans corporate events and holiday celebrations and decisions are approved by an executive team that is multi-cultural, diversity will emerge organically.  Anything short of that, is window dressing.

Photo Credits: Executive Oasis International, wayneandwax

Incentive Travel: Lessons from Hurricane Sandy

Generally, weather in the Caribbean is beautiful, but you never know. Even during hurricane season in the Western Hemisphere, major storms, particularly those that come late in the season, are rare. For example, one of my clients travelled to a beautiful Montego Bay resort for a 4-day group event that my company had organized. Some guests had extended their stay beyond the group event. Then came Hurricane Sandy.

Due to exceptional service by the airline, resort and DMC, my clients were comfortable and safe during Hurricane Sandy. and they returned safely to Canada at their scheduled departure time.

Bad weather happens. But before it does, here are 12 take-aways to help event planners prepare for when Mother Nature strikes or natural disasters occur.

1. Ensure that hotel and airline emergency procedures, early departure and cancellation policies of selected are clearly stated in contracts signed by clients.Some airlines provide accommodation if flights are cancelled due to emergencies, natural disasters and severe weather. Others don’t. Some hotels extend the group rate if guests can’t depart on their scheduled date.
2. Brief clients about possible emergency scenarios and the type of information required to provide assistance.
3. File (or ensure that the client files) a list of all attendees and their hotels with the destination’s consulate or embassy.

   Include names and contact information for the members of the hotel’s M.I.C.E. team.Here are U.S., Canada and European Union consulates and embassies.

4. Obtain emergency contact information for participant as well as information about allergies, food sensitivities and medical issues.
   Summarize this information in a spreadsheet for hotel(s).It doesn’t happen often but a few clients may object to asking employees to provide medical information. Ask the client to check with its legal departments about why this is important.As a compromise, prepare a short form in duplicate. Ask participants to provide the completed forms in sealed, envelopes with their names and marked confidential. Ask the company to provide the sets of envelopes to 2 members of the executive or HR team who are traveling with the group, In an emergency, provide the required envelopes to medical personnel. Shred or return the envelopes to individuals after the trip.
5. U.S. companies should ask travelers to register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). For Canada, registration is through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
6. Identify the emergency services number and locations of hospitals and clinics at your destination. 
   It’s 9-1-1 in the U.S. and Canada and 1-1-2 in the European Union.
7. When there is a severe weather warning or an emergency, send a group list with more detailed information to the department that handles foreign emergencies for the country of origin of the majority of participants. This will be used if evacuation becomes necessary.
   Include names, dates of birth, mobile numbers and e-mail addresses, schedule arrival and departure dates. While many airlines and hotels no longer require this, passport numbers are important for emergency services.For Canadians, send it to Emergencies 24/7 operated by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
8. Consult the airline website for alerts and flight updates.
9. Get regular updates from Group Sales or the MICE Department at hotels.
10. Brief your client and/or employees about their options. 
    Be sure that you let clients know about the requirements for duty of care so that they can make an informed decision. Some companies will insist that all employees return home immediately. Others will leave the decision up to employees if they have extended their stay after the group event is over.
11. Stay in touch with individuals who have elected to remain at the destination.Your DMC can greatly assist you.
12. During emergencies, use the services of Tourist Board or Convention Bureaus.
    During Hurricane Sandy, I was pleased that, by contacting @askjamaica on Twitter, the Jamaica Tourist Board was immediately able to contact the members of the group who had re-located outside the group block and quickly confirm that the guests were safe, comfortable and in good spirits.

Everything worked out fine for my clients. They had a great time in Jamaica and can hardly wait to return. The whole experience underscored best practices for incentive travel. I hope that you have found these tips beneficial.

Incentive Travel and Event Planning: Responding to Third Party RFPs

Most 3rd party planners who outsource work to other planners have high ethical standards. Unfortunately, there are some pitfalls to avoid when you receive a request for quote from a third party planner (instead of directly from the client). When responding to third party RFPs, there is nothing to prevent:

• the third party planner from going directly to suppliers after the site searchs and other time-consuming legwork has been done
• the client from cutting everyone out…..including the original third party planner and going directly to hotels, tourist attractions and private dining
• the third party planner or client from sharing the excellent ideas farmed from an experienced planner with an inexperienced (read that less expensive) planner.

How do you spot a third party planner who is dealing in good faith? Here are a few things to look for. There is full disclosure and transparency as well as early contact with the client. At times the client has made the initial contact and brought their travel agent or third party event planner of record into the loop after an initial conversation.

I have followed up with the client when a number of requests for inquiries by third party planners have gone south. With few exceptions, it has turned out that one of the following scenarios was at play:

• The third party event planner was not authorized to involve other planners.
• The third party event planner had not yet been engaged for the event.
• The inquiry was speculative at best (the client was only thinking about having the event).
• The client had never heard of the third party planner.
• A student was gathering information for a term paper.
• A prospective employee was applying for a job with the company and wanted to produce a sample for their portfolio.

Asking the following questions can ensure that you don’t invest a lot of time in inquiries that are merely just an attempt to come between you and your intellectual property.

• Who is the client?If the person contacting you will not provide the name of the client, this is a major red flag. Offer to sign a non-compete agreement. If the third party still won’t reveal the client. Pass on the opportunity.
• Has the client already selected you as the planner for this event or is the selection process still in progress?Only provide RFPs to other event planning firms after they have been selected.
• If you have not been selected, how many other event planners has the client contacted?
• Have you done any other business with this client?If yes, what type of events have you organized for them? Why are they conducting a search?
• To how many other event planners are you submitting this request?If it is more than two, the likelihood of being awarded the business is low and you may want to pass on the opportunity. If the 3rd party planner won’t answer this question, this is another huge red flag.

If you are not satisfied with the answers to these questions, insist on a brief three-way conversation with the client, request a deductible retainer or invest minimal time in responding to the inquiry until you are certain it is bonafide. Do not conduct site or supplier searches without the name of the client and a retainer or a signed contract. It is sometimes better to pass on opportunities instead of educating competitors or burning your good will with event venues and other suppliers.

Photo Credit: xdmag

Business and Incentive Travel: Mind Your Manners

Today it’s time to tackle a tough issue related to planning incentive travel, business meetings, team building retreats, and corporate events in foreign countries.

Often, when one thinks of business etiquette, local dress codes, dining and protocol come to mind. Some hotels offer this information on their websites and through their concierges. Unfortunately, some groups haven’t even mastered the basics.

Inappropriate behaviour is not limited to the corporate sector. Headlines about the drunken RIM executives who were restrained on an Air Canada flight and members of the US Security Service detail who were cavorting with prostitutes in Columbia have swept traditional and social media.

Due to complaints from leisure guests about the inappropriate behaviour of some corporate groups, some luxury resorts are declining the opportunity to submit proposals for group accommodation without a full buy-out the property.

Who can blame them? The reason that some properties have had no option but to take this step is that, when groups are away from the office at a foreign destination, there is a tendency to feel that it’s okay to just “let it all hang out”.

I have seen or heard of guests at foreign corporate events:

• being rude and demanding when interacting with staff
• disturbing other guests by being rowdy in the dining area or in the middle of the night
• spitting
• chewing tobacco
• skinny dipping in the pool
• relieving themselves in flower beds
• groping female staff at dinner (and these were executives)
• being drunk and disorderly on flights or at luxury resorts

Scenario 1: I was once a leisure guest at a luxury Caribbean resort. At about 11 AM, there was a ruckus at one of the bars. Two security guards were seen escorting a drunken guest with his hands tied behind his back to his room. I was shocked. When they returned I spoke to one of the security guards and he told me that this happened every day.

All-inclusive doesn’t mean drinking to the point of being obnoxious.

Scenario 2: A young executive team stayed at an exclusive retreat in Europe. The number of changes the group made never stopped. It was very hard on the staff. After dinner the liquor kept flowing. A few of the executives started chewing tobacco. Another one went outside and mooned his colleagues through the window. Fortunately, it was a buy-out so no other guests were disturbed but the staff was shocked.

There really should be no need for this. After all, while the chances of running into an important client or prospect are minimal, you never know.

Consider these recent comments on Tripadvisor.

“Corporate retreats have ruined my favorite destination”

For the next one, I have edited the title to remove content that is not politically correct.

“Beware of Corporate Events & Rowdy Behavior

My husband and I returned from 11 day stay at ______ …. and were disappointed overall. . The problem was mostly with the corporate events held at the resort. Second week event was ________ from ________ very loud, obnoxious, pounding back the booze….Overall, the corporate events ruined the whole vibe of the trip for us and we won’t go back for that reason.”

(I have removed the company name and locations from the quotes but they were included in the Trip advisor review.)

When it’s a company event, all negative behavior has the potential to erode brand equity. With social media, news of inappropriate behavior can spread fast.

In the UK, Microsoft has issued a stringent code of conduct after a highly publicized lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by executives as the result of heavy drinking at corporate events.

Perhaps the time has come for other companies to develop codes of conduct. It would appear that the time has come to include content about basic etiquette and protocol in company orientation, management and executive development programmes. Briefings about appropriate behavior and local etiquette would also be prudent for groups before they head overseas.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Kumar