• Replies 28 replies
  • Subscribers 3 subscribers
  • Views 5072 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related

When will CIPD stop wishing me a Happy Christmas and start wishing me Happy Holidays?

Debbie Aarons

I have been a member of CIPD for over 20 years and every year the organization sends me an email to wish me a Merry Christmas.  For the past 5 years, I have sent a message directly to CIPD to ask that this message be changed to a more inclusive holiday greeting.  Clearly, this wish is not respected.

As an HR professional, I encourage employers to practice inclusive work practices.  Wishing people a Happy Holidays is inclusive as is Seasons Greetings.  Not all employees celebrate Christmas and I'm sure that this applies to CIPD members too.

I do not take offence each time someone wishes me a Merry Christmas as I appreciate that this is a message of goodwill.  However, this does apply to a professional body such as CIPD.  I see little value in writing about the value of inclusivity if you are not willing to practice this yourself.

Wishing all members of CIPD a peaceful and happy holiday season.

Parents

  • Hi Debbie, thanks for your message, it's interesting to hear different viewpoints.

    We take a varied approach with our seasonal greetings here at the CIPD. Our official cards say Season's greetings, we refer to 'festive' activities quite a lot in messaging as it seems to sum up the general 'vibes' around this time of year. But yes we also refer to Christmas, often in longer messaging pieces, as that's extremely common phrasing for this period, culminating of course in Christmas Day on 25 Dec.

    Having worked with and known some Jehovah's Witnesses for example, I am aware that they (or the ones I know) do not celebrate at all and refer to the period as a holiday. As others have said, we also celebrate other festivals and celebrations to reflect our wide membership (and staff) base and the fact we have offices in other countries such as Singapore and Dubai. I'm sorry your wish to not get that particular greeting via email has not been noted sufficiently and will pass this on to our database team so we can log for this time next year. Our new inclusion resource for CIPD members provided by our friends at Diversiton is now available in the form of a calendar for 2019.

    All the best, Johanna, CIPD Social and Community Manager.

Reply Children
No Data