Five Ways You Can Celebrate World Culture Day in the Workplace

Recently, our UK Gravitonians came together to celebrate World Culture Day, also known as World Day, for cultural diversity, dialogue and development, as a time to recognise the diverse community that makes up our organisation.

As an idea brought to light by our DEI Committee, it was a fantastic opportunity to be able to learn more about our colleagues background and heritage through various office activities where everyone could get involved.

Whilst we reflect upon the fun day that our Gravitonians had, we hope to inspire others to get involved with the initiative. Here are five ways you can celebrate World Culture Day in your workplace. 

Decorate to celebrate

One of the easiest things to do when celebrating an occasion is to put decorations up, and World Culture Day has the perfect opportunity to do so.

We decided to reuse World Cup decorations from last year instead of buying more, which included world flag bunting that had an array of different countries’ flags. We also encouraged everyone to bring their own country’s flag in. On the build-up to the day, we also put up a world map that our Gravitonians could label their names on, to show the office where they or their family were from. This was a great conversation starter across the offices, even before the day had started!

Bring in food to share

Food is the way to the heart and what’s better for experiencing another culture than trying food, just like we would on holiday or visiting a new restaurant. Our Gravitonians were very excited to bring in food to share across the offices, with an array of food from jerk chicken, summer rolls, noodles, and cakes.

Alternatively, our Leeds office decided to split the office into teams, with each team having a volunteer captain who wanted to represent a certain country or culture that resonated with them. Each team supported their captainby cooking food from their culture, dressing in the flag’s colours or for those who opted out of cooking, another option was to bring in snacks for people to try. This was a great way of getting everyone involved and maybe cooking a new recipe.

Create an office playlist

Another way to experience another culture is through music, and music is known to bring people together. Alongside the decorations, putting together a great playlist can be fun way of bringing a celebratory feel to the office environment.

Our DEI Committee members in each office created a collaborative Spotify playlist, where our Gravitonians were open to add songs that resonated with their background. Our offices were playing a range of music, from afrobeat, to Irish folk, to French dance music and even Eurovision. Our Gravitonians were able to refer to the playlist if there was a song they wanted to save and listen to another time.

Organise a group office activity

Getting the office together for a fun activity is a great team bonding exercise and might give some colleagues a chance to spend time with others they might not be able to on a regular basis.

The DEI Committee organised for our teams to take some time out of their day away from their desks to get together for ‘The Big World Culture Day Quiz’. Everyone tested their geography knowledge across a range of questions such as countries’ flags, different traditions, fun facts and even had a go at guessing a country just by its outline.

Use World Culture Day as a chance to learn more about people

An important message to take away from World Culture Day is understanding and learning about different cultures. It brings an awareness in celebrating and respecting the differences that comes with any cultural background.World Culture Day is a great chance to give those a platform in the workplace to share more about their family, background, and traditions.

At Gravitas, we have a range of DEI initiatives, but a particular initiative that resonates with the message of World Culture Day is our workshop series, My History, My Heritage. Launched during Race Equality Week, DEI Committee Member, Jennine Gibbs, hosted the first session, where she gave the UK offices a presentation into her career journey and her Jamaican background. 

However, learning about other cultural backgrounds doesn’t have to just be in a presentation format. It could be a video, an article, or a Q&A session. Have a think about what your organisation could resonate with as part of World Culture Day, making it a part of your wider DEI strategy.

Key takeaways

• Decorating the office can have everyone feeling the celebration of World Culture Day.

• Bringing in food to share across the office is a great way of experiencing another culture. 

• Create a collaborative playlist for everyone to share some songs that others may have not heard before.

• Organise an office activity to bring everyone together. 

• Use World Culture Day as a platform for people to share their cultural stories and background.

Do you want to learn more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Gravitas? Visit our DEI page or meet some of our DEI Committee Members here.

If you want to be a part of Gravitas’ diverse community, think about continuing your career journey by browsing our Gravitas jobs here.