Merry whatever! The annual Christmas e-card dilemma

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

Ah Christmas! A time of giving gifts to loved ones, a time for families to unite and a time for communicators to tear their hair out when they realise it’s that time of year again when they have to debate the appropriate message to deliver to their employees on the annual festive e-card.

We’ve been inundated with responses on the Melcrum Listserv about how communicators should approach this yearly ritual. But surely we should know what to write by now? But no, we’re still umming and ahhing and concerned that if we deliver the wrong two-word greeting to our globally, religiously and culturally diverse workforce we’ll upset employees.

I for one don’t believe in political correctness and nor do millions of you I’m sure. We now live in a world where you literally can’t say anything without someone being offended and filing an official complaint.

Christmas is a great time of year for us all. It’s the end of the year and a time to celebrate. It might not always be for religious reasons and if you do celebrate it by going to church then that’s great, you and I, as communicators must respect that and we do, everyday of the year. A communicator that doesn’t respect diversity and choice needs to rethink their career path.

But we shouldn’t be ashamed to use the word Christmas. There is simply nothing wrong with choosing to deliver a Christmas message. At its core it symbolises and celebrates togetherness, peace and goodwill to all mankind, something that all major religions, faiths and cultures uphold and try to live by. For example, I used to live in the Middle East and during Muslim celebrations would regularly wish my Islamic friends and colleagues a happy Ramadan or Eid. I wasn’t offended when Arab media contacts would send me baskets of dates with which to break the fast when Ramadan ended, and nor where they when I offered them my Christmas wishes. I was honoured they had thought of me in that way and visa versa.

I do agree with many of you, however, that in the corporate world many of us have been backed into a corner with very little choice left but to comply with a series of generic messages that for me, sap the spirit of Christmas from its roots. But choose we must, because if we don’t someone, somewhere in the organisations in which we work will undoubtedly complain and it will feed its way to a higher authority.

So, with that in mind we polled you, the decision makers, and asked how should organisations offer best wishes for the holiday season (see what we’ve done there) to a culturally diverse workforce and what non-specific and non-denominational message you have been obliged to type, design and deliver to the masses. I’d be interested to hear your feedback as to whether this has worked or not.

In descending order 3.6% of you said that you had tailored your messages to your audience in order not to upset anyone; 12% said you would focus on the New Year and not the religious occasion, a fifth of you (20.4%) chose the “Merry Christmas” suggesting that this was what most people were celebrating; 25% chose to deliver the rather bland and US-inspired “Happy Holidays”; while the winning gesture was “Seasons Greetings” with almost 40% of the vote.

I agree it’s a tricky one to decide what to deliver across a large organisation and it's worth the discussion but if it means destroying the essence of what the majority of people are celebrating is it worth it? I don’t think so.

One of the benefits of being a Melcrum member is the access to the Communicators’ Network Email Listserv. This is an email-based discussion forum for communication professionals worldwide. It’s a lively community that helps you find answers to your communication questions fast. The discussion is monitored so you won’t receive any unsolicited email and you can opt for a weekly round-up email if you’d prefer. To learn more about becoming a Melcrum member, or to join the Listserv, contact Laura Hassan at laura.hassan@melcrum.com

Comments

[Sona Hathi]

I'm surprised there aren't any comments on your blog yet James! Will we ever tire of this debate?! Do you actually know anyone who lives in a predominantly Christian, western country that has, or would be, offended by someone wishing them a Merry Christmas? I'm Hindu and have many Hindu, Muslim and Jewish friends, we live in England and enjoy the Christmas national holidays we get, indulge in big Christmas lunches, some of us drink too much at the office Christmas party, shop till the credit card says no more, and get into the general festive atmosphere. We wish others a Merry Christmas and expect to be wished the same in return. My suggestion to communicators constructing the companywide Christmas message is to stop avoiding the term "Merry Christmas" when that's what pretty much everyone is celebrating - say it with pride! And then why not add a line saying "Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish colleagues", or which ever other significant festival might be taking place in your country, to ensure that everyone feels included. At Christmas time, surely we can allow ourselves a few more words in our messaging?