Discover the November holiday celebrations and monthly themes!
You can use this calendar as a reference while you and your team prepare significant internal events and activities for November. National Native American Heritage Month and Diabetes Awareness are the main topics this month. Additionally, a lot of organisations and teams are coming together to promote Movember (awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer) and accept donations.
Add Epoch’s calendar to be ahead of 2022’s cultural and holiday events!
Take Our Kids to Work Day is a special day in Canada to introduce kids to the workplace and allow them to explore careers for their future. Encourage employees to bring their children into their calls and take them through their daily tasks for the day to spark the curious minds of young children. Have employees show their kids what mommy and/or daddy do at work all day. Whether kids are joining virtually or in-person, send them a swag bag that includes a name tag and company swag items to get them excited for this special day! Brand Aid is a helpful resource to design and ship swag bags/items directly to your customers and would be a great idea for Kid-friendly swag bags.
Virtual Idea: Encourage the parents on your team to bring their kids to work virtually by bringing them into their home office and engaging in various kids-friendly virtual activities throughout the day. Here are some kid-friendly activities that can be done from home.
In-person Idea: If it is safe to do so and your local restrictions allow for it, employees can bring their kids into the office for the day. Give the kids an office tour, plan fun activities for them throughout the day (plan activities around different age groups) and have a team lunch all together.
World Freedom Day was created to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall, but today it represents freedom and liberty to all (as it marked the end of communism in various parts of Europe). It is a great time to start the conversation and encourage employees to read up on the history and the people who played an important role in this topic.
Idea: Host a panel or lunch & learn to discuss the topic and educate your employees. This can also include an article or documentary on this topic to supplement the discussion. Another focus for this special day is knowing your rights and freedoms (in the legal system) as an individual and how to exercise those rights.
In the US, Veteran’s Day is a federal holiday that happens annually on November 11th and is dedicated to honor and celebrate military veterans for their service. Encourage everyone to take a moment of silence at 11 am on this day to show appreciation and honor our veterans.
Idea: Do an internal or social media campaign to feature the veterans in your office on this day and allow them to share their stories and experiences with everyone. Allow them to have a platform to educate others within the team and a younger audience through social media who may be considering serving for their country. If they aren’t comfortable speaking, fill their office space with gratitude notes from employees and patriotic decorations.
Idea: There are excellent organizations to support on this day, including Support Our Troops, that allow you to send care packages to deployed troops around the world. It’s a great way to come together as a team show gratitude and boost the morale of the deployed troops.
Remembrance Day happens every year on November 11th and allows Canadians to reflect and show gratitude for those who fought for their country. Many lives were lost and families will continue to be affected for generations. Allow the Canadian employees on your team to take a moment of silence on this day and provide Poppies for those who wish to wear them.
Idea: Bring your Canadian team (or employees) together and find ways to support war veterans and those working for the Canadian Armed Forces or RCMP. The Royal Canadian Legion has excellent resources for how you and your team can support them and give back in many ways. Allow employees to also share their personal and/or family stories in small empathy circles to receive support from one another.
World Kindness Day is an international observance and was introduced to remind every one of us to be kind to the world, to others, and to ourselves. Spread kindness throughout the team on this day (and every day) to make everyone feel welcome and cheerful virtually or in-person.
Idea: Host speaker talks with a kindness focus for your team. Have an employee lead the talk or invite a guest speaker to inspire your team and learn how to improve company culture through kindness. Alternatively, you can also host a viewing party for Kindness TED Talks that can be found on YouTube:
This fun day takes place on November 15th and is a helpful reminder to clean out your fridge. It comes at the perfect time so you can make room for your Thanksgiving leftovers in a few days!
Idea: Turn this into a company-wide challenge to find the best-organized fridges and the best fridge transformations on your team! Create a dedicated Slack channel for this day where employees can post photos of their fridges and interact with each other. What’s in your fridge?
Every year on November 20th, those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia are remembered and honored. Trans Day of Remembrance was first started in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith. It also draws attention to the violence that takes place globally towards trans and gender-diverse individuals. The best way to get involved and show support is to attend a vigil to honor those who lost their lives or have experienced violence in the Trans and gender-diverse community. You can also help support the many organizations dedicated to helping those affected by these tragedies.
With the fall breeze in the air and leaves falling off the trees, you know it must be close to Thanksgiving! A time of year when families and friends can come together, share a delicious meal, and give thanks. Now the big question is, apple pie or pumpkin pie?
Idea: Share family photos, feasts, and traditions that make Thanksgiving unique to you with your team members. Give thanks and share in team channels what you are grateful for. Leading up to Thanksgiving, you can also host cooking classes on how to cook the perfect turkey or how to bake a yummy pumpkin pie!
The Native American Heritage Day Bill encourages people of all backgrounds to celebrate Native American Heritage Day on the day after Thanksgiving by participating in suitable rituals and activities. Additionally, it promotes the teaching of Native American history, accomplishments, and contributions in the classroom to improve students' understanding of Native Americans.
Ideas: Some ideas to celebrate and further gain knowledge on Native Americans would be to visit reservations or museum, attend educational events, and further read into the rich history and culture of Native Americans.
Every year, the Tuesday after Black Friday is known as Giving Tuesday. It is a global generosity movement that promotes giving back to others and communities. Everyone has something to give no matter how big or small the gesture is. To learn more about how to celebrate this day as an individual, team, or company, check out the GivingTuesday website.
Idea: Encourage each team member to complete an act of generosity on this day and post about it on a company-wide Slack channel for all to see. To help motivate everyone to participate, instruct them to post their acts of generosity on Slack with the #GivingTuesday and enter every employee into a raffle for prizes to win for giving back.
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👉 Check out our full list of workplace culture and holiday events for 2022 here! 👈
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