World Cup Fever has definitely hit the Gentle household, with Nikita booked to go to 10 World Cup games including the final. Nikita is an avid sports fan and it’s been a dream of hers to attend the Women’s World Cup, so to be a co-host nation, she’s seeing the dream become a reality.
We have had members ask for us to provide suggestions of activities that can be undertaken to improve the workplace.
The Soccer…sorry…Football World Cup, brings together so many cultures, so we thought this would be a good time to celebrate culture within your workplace.
To have a good work culture, you need to respect the culture of your employees, and we thought this was a great time to celebrate that diversity of cultures.
You can do activities such as: have a morning tea, or lunch, where people bring in foods from their respective cultures, have toolbox meetings and allow employees to explain culture practices they may adhere to.
For the FTMA Team, we have decided to share our favourite recipes from our respective cultures:
Don’t just take our word for it, studies show celebrating culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) employees, can help everyone to acknowledge and honour their individuality. Everyone has something to offer, to add value to, and to help the workplace thrive and grow. Advantages of having diverse employees are that different people will see things in different ways, have different skills and strengths, and help think outside of the box. Given that Australia is a very culturally diverse country, having diversity in the workplace can encourage new business markets with a variety of consumers.
According to the Australian Government business equal opportunity and diversity overview, diversity “will enhance your business through different perspectives, experience and knowledge.” Diversity in the workplace will bring better creativity and innovative insight.
The Diversity Council of Australia says that 75% of diversity and inclusion management is not implemented effectively in Australia. That’s a pretty high statistic, but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t diversity happening in the workplace. It’s a great opportunity to look at our workplaces, celebrate diversity, and think about ways in which we can be inclusive. “In our tight labour market, and with employers saying it is difficult to fill roles, making workplaces more inclusive is a proven way to attract and retain workers. More and more employers are not only looking at diversity but looking to make the most of both diversity and inclusion,” says the DCA.
The DCA also have some great statistics about positive inclusion in the workplace and how it leads to business productivity. Employees are;
- 4 times less likely to experience discrimination and/or harassment
- 8 times more likely to be highly effective than those in non-inclusive teams
- 8 times more likely to be innovative
- 4 times more likely to provide excellent customer service.
Enjoy the World Cup Fever while you can and celebrate diversity within the workplace!
We’d love to see photos of how you and your team are celebrating cultural diversity, so please send them through to us!
Bonus points for anyone who can guess the countries of all nine jerseys Nikita has (right).
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