More ways I can help you… (part 3)

The holiday season is upon us, but whose holidays? And how will they affect your business?

We all know the holidays we were brought up with, and how they are celebrated. But our businesses are becoming more and more globalized, and we are in contact with people from other traditions.

For example, in a recent Master Class on LinkedIn, the native speakers of English came from the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Australia, India … and there were anglophones from countries I didn’t even find out about during the class!

Which means you have a very real possibility of dealing with people from cultures you know nothing about. So it would be a good idea if you knew how business cycles work over the holidays in the countries you deal with.

Here is where I can help.

People don’t celebrate the same

Beyond having studied the language, literature, and culture of the countries that speak my working languages, I understand the national mood as well.

For example, if you want construction done in Belgium, nothing will happen during the “construction holidays” in July - while the rest of the country takes their business holidays in August.

The end of the year holidays are even more complex. We aren’t only talking about when decorations go up - which can be a vexing issue in the US, where Christmas decorations have been seen as early as just after Halloween…

In the US, we can see Happy Holidays greetings, which cover a multitude of days, such as Christmas, New Year, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa. But there are people who object to that way of greeting, as they would prefer to receive greetings specific to their holiday.

And even in English, in the US we say “Merry Christmas” and in the UK it’s “Happy Christmas.” Admittedly, this is only a small change, but it feels very large when one is away from home!

Other countries, other days

Once you leave the anglophone world, there are other customs that you should know about, as they will seriously impact your own business plans.

In Northern Europe, children get presents on Saint Nicholas, December 6th - Christmas is secondary for gift giving for children. Sinterklaas visits the Dutch-speaking world from mid-November, but gives the presents only on December 5th, while in Belgium and France we only see the celebration on the day.

So if you are in a business connected with children, this can change your business season.

French-speaking countries call Christmas Eve “réveillon” - but the same word can also be used for New Year’s Eve as well (which is also called la Saint Sylvestre). And the Christmas meal in many countries is traditionally served on the 24th, and not on Christmas day - which lengthens the holiday that those businesses will take by a day.

But the prize for the largest disruption to any business cycle goes to Russia - where they celebrate both the new and the old holidays.

Different calendars

When the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, many countries stayed with the Julian calendar for years afterwards. And while Russia did switch to match the rest of the world in 1918, the Russian Orthodox calendar is still based on the Julian calendar, which is 13 days later.

This means that in Russia, you are likely to be wished Merry Christmas and Happy New Year on December 25 and January 1 by those who follow Western traditions, and on January 7 and 14 for those following Russian Orthodox traditions.

Which also means that you should not expect any business to take place from about December 20th until after January 15th.

Build your relationships!

Whatever holidays you celebrate, your business partners would appreciate a nod to those that they celebrate as well. It’s an easy way for you to build your relationships for the future!

And so, I’d like to raise a glass, and wish you all Happy Holidays at the end of this long and interesting year!

Happy Hannukah! 🕎

Happy Saint Nicholas! 🎅

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🎄

Happy Kwanzaa! 🕯️

Merry Old Christmas and Happy Old New Year! 🎄

If you liked this article, please connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliapoger/ - and we can continue the conversation!