US businesses are turning to themed events for occasions like Juneteenth and Pride Month as a way of team building bringing greater inclusivity and creating a greater understanding of why diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential in the workplace.
US businesses are turning to themed events for occasions like Juneteenth and Pride Month as a way of team building bringing greater inclusivity and creating a greater understanding of why diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential in the workplace.
Tech start-up Confetti, (https://www.withconfetti.com/explore) which enables companies to book virtual team building experiences online, reports a significant uptick in the booking of experiences from Understanding Juneteenth and an LGBTQIA+ Cultural Impact Class to Drag Queen Bingo and a Queer Art Storytelling Tour.
Lee Rubin, CEO and founder of Confetti says:
“The new generation of business leaders grew up with the Internet – and the internet connected the whole world together in some capacity. In a click we could feel total strangers’ joys, sorrows, culture… and this has allowed us to see each other for what we really are: humans. This notion has increased the capacity for human empathy and COVID fuelled our beliefs of wanting to ensure our precious life-hours are being spent with the right people on the right things…including work!”
Widely distributed stats not only show us that something is wrong in terms of equality, and that companies need to work on it but that 92% of business leaders agree a strategic workforce education program should help an organization achieve its diversity and inclusion goals.”
But companies have been booking events through the Confetti platform are keen to focus on experiences that aren’t purely “celebratory”. There’s an added layer of empathetic education that delves into the history behind these holidays, giving teams a better understanding of exactly what they’re celebrating and why it’s so important.
“On top of making marginalized individuals feel equal at work, companies plan these themed events for people outside of that marginalized community to better connect and empathize with their team.
At the end of the day, this first step is awareness of the importance of inclusion. This sense of togetherness and community is the benefit companies are trying to achieve.”
And, critically, all the experiences are being delivered by vendors from the LGBTQIA+ or black communities to ensure authenticity in the experience. It is also a way for Confetti to give back to those businesses as well as to their end user clients.
“My management team and myself had several long, meaningful conversations about what allyship means,” continues Lee.
We knew we wanted to give our customers authentic experiences and we knew we wanted to be good allies. So, long story short, we decided only to use vendors who were from the represented community. It did make our job harder, but we decided the best way to be a true ally was to support communities directly by putting money into their pockets, even if that meant Confetti making less.”
And it seems to have proven popular. One participant, Victoria Espinoza, wrote:
“Absolutely loved the LGBTQIA+ History and Culture Trivia. The different question formats kept everyone engaged and everyone left the activity learning something new! We hosted it during our DEI team meeting time and would absolutely recommend as something to switch it up and celebrate PRIDE!”
Vendor, LaShana, who delivers a Black History Mixology Class, says:
“Offering our “Cocktale/Mocktale” Hour Experiences on Confetti allows us to provide companies with a fun, educational, and unforgettable experience they can share with their community. We do more than just show people how to make drinks. We thoughtfully share Black stories in celebratory, educational, and inspiring ways; helping teams to bond and meaningfully enjoy themselves.”