Hermina Van Coillie Hermina Van Coillie, Dr. in psychology, is a motivation expert, keynote speaker, lecturer in several HRM postgraduate courses, author, senior consultant and business manager at Flourish To be booked as/for Languages Tags Speaker, Workshops, Trainer, Coach, Consultant English, Dutch HQ-motivation, Engagement, Trust, Psychological Safety ▶️ Watch a webinar on motivation by Hermina. Biography Topics Testimonials Pictures Get a quote Biography Hermina Van Coillie, Ph.D. in Psychology, is an esteemed motivation expert, keynote speaker, lecturer in various HRM postgraduate courses, author, senior consultant, and business manager at Flourish. In April 2021, she debuted her first book, co-authored with Prof. Dr. Anja van den Broeck, titled "Motivating Without Control: Getting Started with Self-Determination Theory in the Workplace!" published by Die Keure. Renowned for her captivating presentations, Hermina is in high demand, delivering keynotes, inspiration sessions, masterclasses, workshops, and training sessions to diverse audiences, including business leaders, HR directors, managers, executives, prevention advisors, and coaching teams. Her unique approach brings to life the profound insights of self-determination theory, offering practical applications not only in the workplace but also in personal and recreational settings. With her charismatic presence, authenticity, and expertise, Hermina engages her audience, delivering new and practical insights grounded in years of dedicated research. Eschewing excessive theories, she empowers individuals by unveiling the innate motivations within them. Her interactive sessions, filled with thought-provoking questions, humorous anecdotes, and relatable situations, resonate with audiences across various backgrounds, leaving them with actionable insights ready for immediate implementation. Hermina's expertise extends beyond mere motivation, encompassing a wide array of HR themes such as burnout, well-being, leadership, remote and flexible working, performance management, work-life balance, and more. Through her presentations, she illustrates how high-quality motivation serves as a catalyst for peak performance and personal flourishing, ultimately transforming individuals into high performers across all facets of life. Topics People Skills How to conduct a motivating and non-irritating (performance) conversation? Lees verder Make it meaningful! More People Skills The fascinating dynamic between trust, control, and supervision in the workplace Lees verder And why trust is the solution More People Skills How do you increase psychological safety in your team? Lees verder A critical success factor for innovation, retention and growth. More People Skills How do you communicate deeply and with impact? Lees verder Speak the ABC language, and connect deeply with your employees. More Motivation & Ownership HQ motivation Lees verder How do you ensure that your employees deliver top performance? And that they feel good and full of energy at work? In short, that your employees, customers and your entire organization blossom? More Hermina takes you as a listener into the world of research on human behavior in a playful and approachable way. Whether it is about motivation, communication or leadership, again and again she knows how to convey a number of findings from scientific research in a clear and accessible way to her audience. Larded with examples taken from life, as well as experiences from her personal life. She does not shy away from critical questions and reservations from her audience and succeeds in allowing everyone to find their own value through her connecting way of communicating. Securex Frank Vander Sijpe, Director HR Trends & Insights ABC sounds good. But the power of the terms goes much further. Making ABC a daily reality in your leadership practice is less obvious for some of us. With her powerful combination of scientific foundation and to-the-point examples, Hermina inspired the HR team to make our supportive leadership initiatives - and building a culture of trust - even more focused and meaningful. Proximus Jan Van Acoleyen, Chief Human Resources I was looking last-minute for a worthy speaker for a webinar around motivation so I ended up with Hermina. She exceeded my expectations. Her pragmatic and flexible approach made for a very well prepared presentation. Moreover, she delivered her science-based keynote in a very pleasant, professional manner. And all that in a short period of time. Hermina is highly recommended if you are looking for a specialist in motivation. Cevora Toon Schouteden, Product Manager Engagement, motivation ... and how is this linked to well being, performance and retention? Hermina succeeds in communicating recent scientific research in an insightful way. She provokes thought and provides tools to work with this using the ABC method. The great thing is that this can be used in very different target groups. Definitely something we want to explore further. Johnson & Johnson Ingrid Dierckx, HR director Supply Chain Hermina is a driven and enthusiastic lady and speaks straight from the heart. With her passion for the ZDT, how motivation works, she easily takes the whole room with her. Her insights are scientifically based and supplemented with numerous examples from business, non-profit and her private life. Motivating your children in the right way is no easy task either. This makes her keynotes very recognizable, directly applicable and inspiring. Hermina makes sure that the ABC of motivation sticks and gives concrete tools that you yourself (as a manager, HR manager, mother or father) can get to work with. HP Belgium Martine Van Camp, HR Country Lead Testimonials Sessions Pictures you can use to promote your event Get a quote Request a Quote Keynote of my preference submit Pictures Quot Anchor 3

Anchor 1 Home: Welcome WE HAVE THE LEADING SPEAKERS OF TODAY, TALKING ABOUT THE URGENT TOPICS THAT ENGAGE US ALL. Future & trends Sales, marketing & customer experience HR, company culture and leadership Climate, energy & sustainability Business and strategy Resilience and wellbeing Technology, transformation & innovation Our speakers, experts and thought leaders focus on key topics that matter the most in society and business today: ​ Contact us, we'll help you find the perfect speaker Keynotes in the picture How to make a difference? Plastic pollution is a worldwide epidemic. By now we are aware of this but how does real change come about? Change Hacking Embrace change and challenges in the workplace The AI-Human Co-Creation Workflow Understanding AI and augmenting the Human for non-technical professional teams Artificial Intelligence Drivers for Success A Learning Mindset in the Age of Innovation Unleash potential with a learning mindset supported by emerging innovations The Future Formula In search of the rules of tomorrow. Discover more Latest News 3 tips for dealing with meeting madness 4 0 1 like. Post not marked as liked 1 New Foundations for a Future-Proof Organisation: 4 elements to survive in a changing world 36 0 2 likes. Post not marked as liked 2 Celebrating Ramadan at Work 38 0 2 likes. Post not marked as liked 2 Contact Get in Touch Submit Florence Pérès Managing Partner & keynote speaker florence@speakersbase.com Anja Cappelle Managing Partner & keynote speaker anja@speakersbase.com Please, drop us an email or fill out this form. We will contact you ASAP. Talk to you soon! If you would like to join our team of speakers and moderators, we kindly ask you to fill out this form . WHY? Companies and people need guidance in this rapidly changing world

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Ann De Bisschop Speaker, Consultant The first Wellbeing Director in Belgium :-), Author of 3 books, Keynote speaker & Wellbeing consultant Dutch, French, English HR, company culture & leadership; Resilience & wellbeing Read more Orianne Aymard Speaker Dr. Orianne Aymard, a brain hemorrhage survivor, defied odds by climbing Everest and Lhotse, embodying resilience and determination in her keynotes Spanish, French, English Resilience & wellbeing Read more Tamara Makoni Speaker, Trainer, Workshops, Consultant Inclusion & culture expert who helps leaders use diversity to catalyse innovation and growth English HR, company culture & leadership; Business and strategy, Technology, transformation & innovation Read more Stefaan van Hooydonk Speaker, Trainer, Workshops, Coach I am the 'curiosity guy'. I make leaders curious about the power of curiosity at work and all its wonderful benefits. Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership Read more Lieven Van Linden Speaker, Consultant, Coach, Workshops A long-distance-running-entrepreneur and biohacker, helping people to optimize their health and performance Dutch, English Resilience & wellbeing; HR, company culture & leadership Read more Johan Albrecht Speaker, Trainer When economic analysis meets sustainability and societal challenges Dutch, English The Post-Corona Future; Climate, energy & sustainability Read more Martine Reyners Speaker, Workshops, Coach Internationally acclaimed soprano and passionate liberator of the profound energy of the human voice Dutch, German, English, French Resilience & wellbeing, Teambuilding Read more Jens Heitland Speaker, Host, Coach, Consultant Former global Head of Innovation at IKEA Centres. Leading expert in corporate innovation and known for combining innovation and leadership to drive human innovation in organizations. German, English HR, company culture & leadership; Technology, transformation & innovation Read more Marnick Vandebroek Speaker, Trainer, Moderator, Workshops, Consultant Helping you build trust in the workplace by turning your messages into engaging stories. #standuptostandout Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership Read more Fiona Passantino Speaker, Trainer, Coach, Host, Workshops Speaker, author, podcaster, thought leader. Expert on the Human-AI connection: engagement, communication, culture and AI integration. English, Dutch HR, company culture & leadership; Technology, transformation & innovation Read more Frans van de Ven Speaker, Moderator, Coach Passionate personal leadership promoter, empowering executive - team - coach, trusted talent strategy adviser Dutch, English, French HR, company culture & leadership; Resilience & wellbeing Read more Merijn Tinga Speaker His surfboard is a weapon. His target: politicians and company ceo's. The goal: real change! Dutch, English Climate, energy & sustainability Read more Geertrui Mieke De Ketelaere Speaker, Moderator, Host, Trainer Mieke is an extraverted nerd, the engineer who balances profit, people and planet within all digitalisation efforts. German, Dutch, English, French Business and strategy Read more Cedric Dumont Speaker Adventurer, Performance Psychologist, Speaker and Author. French, Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership Read more Renout van Hove Speaker, Trainer, Workshops, Moderator, Coach, Consultant Multipotentialite, co-Author of #Obsessed - Founder of Growthagent.eu, finds himself comfortable at the intersection of Advertising, Data ecosystems, Privacy and Technology English, french, Dutch Sales, marketing & customer experience; Business and strategy Read more Isabel De Clercq Speaker, Workshops, Host, Moderator, Consultant Author and speaker passionate about the pursuit of good and sustainable work practices French, English, Dutch Resilience & wellbeing; HR, company culture & leadership Read more Rik Vera Speaker, Consultant, Workshops International keynote speaker, coach, author and advisor on the impact of all things digital on society and business. Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership; The Post-Corona Future; Business and strategy Read more Richard van Hooijdonk Speaker Renowned trendwatcher and futurist and the man with several chip implants in his body. Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership; The Post-Corona Future; Technology, transformation & innovation Read more Jo Caudron Speaker, Workshops, Host, Moderator, Consultant Digital pioneer with a passion for transformation and strategy. Author, advisor and speaker. Dutch, English The Post-Corona Future Read more Inge van Belle Speaker, Trainer, Consultant Restless entrepreneur with corporate background in communication & sales. Dubai based Employee Engagement aficionada. Dutch, French, English Sales, marketing & customer experience; HR, company culture & leadership Read more Hermina Van Coillie Speaker, Workshops, Trainer, Coach, Consultant Hermina Van Coillie, Dr. in psychology, is a motivation expert, keynote speaker, lecturer in several HRM postgraduate courses, author, senior consultant and business manager at Flourish English, Dutch HR, company culture & leadership; Resilience & wellbeing Read more Johan Terryn Speaker, Moderator, Coach, Workshops, Host Media content creator & Soulpreneur, Speaker & Author on matters of the soul, creativity and positive thinking English, Dutch Resilience & wellbeing Read more Katja Schipperheijn Speaker, Workshops, Consultant Author, learning strategist and keynote speaker with a passion for continuous improvement through human-centred innovations that support learning Dutch, English Technology, transformation & innovation Read more Anja Cappelle Trainer, Speaker, Workshops, Coach, Consultant Digital pioneer with a passion for leadership, sales and intrapreneurship Dutch, English HR, company culture & leadership; Technology, transformation & innovation Read more load more speakers

Blogpost by Isabel De Clercq. Last week I came across the following visual on LinkedIn. Visual material always makes the grade on social media. So do decision trees. But I’m going to be honest with you: Decision trees deeply annoy me. They simplify things! The elegantly styled tree is telling us one thing: we are all idiots; just follow the arrows and hocus pocus problem solved. What the drawing of the tree isn’t telling us is the quality of the soil feeding it. That soil often oozes pestilential elements. I see three of them: Toxic element number 1: we confuse being together with value-creating collaboration. Bringing people together does not always guarantee true, productive collaboration. Do the following situations sound familiar? Decisions need to be made in the meeting. The person entitled to take decisions is absent. The meeting is used to push a great deal of information to a large number of people. Participants have put themselves on mute and are happily tapping away on their mobile phones. The meeting was meant to be a brainstorm. It is immediately hijacked by the more extravert and those higher in rank. Well, there is no decision tree that can compete with that. Toxic element number 2: macho-behaviour. Careful, also manifested in people with breasts. Some organisations worship a culture of secrecy: meeting marathons where power is exhibited, preferably around a physical table. To be allowed to attend these meetings = to get information first hand = to be important. Well, there is no decision tree that can compete with that. Toxic element number 3: chaos. What if work processes are not clearly defined in your organisation? What if it is not clear who is allowed to make decisions? What if there is doubt about when to throw a task over the wall for someone else? What if there has been no clear agreement about who can determine when something is good enough? Or, what if the information that people need isn’t clearly structured? Well, there is no decision tree that can compete with that. Being constantly available for one another. Always having to ask other colleagues questions to be able to do your job. In my opinion, this does not portray a sense of togetherness or of a strong culture. It is rather a symptom of badly organised work – of carelessly structured information and knowledge – a small heap insipidly held together by 4 walls. Decision trees are handkerchiefs for the bleeding. They just shush the symptoms. In my workshops and keynote speeches I invite participants to dig deeper. To grab the roots of evil with two firm hands. I then put them to work, together with the team, on the basis of strong statements and assignments. Some examples: Meetings are intrusive moments. They veer us away from the real work. That real work: what is that exactly? Make a list individually and with the team. Which meetings in the past weeks were scheduled because our work processes are not defined clearly enough? What should be done to clarify those work processes? Which meetings were scheduled because the information colleagues needed was nowhere to be found? Do you want to grab the evil in meetings by the roots? Don’t hang around in decision trees. Dare to look down at what lies in the ground. And I will gladly guide you along the way.

The world is changing, rapidly and fundamentally. Several economic, ecological, technological and demographic trends are reinforcing each other and have a ginormous impact on our society and on the business world. Technological evolutions are at the heart of those changes. The different innovation waves are following each other in ever quickening succession and force companies to adapt more rapidly than ever. This article describes four characteristics which companies should adopt in order to survive. Time is pressing. A company unable to continuously question and reinvent itself, will not manage to defend its competitive position. This is a trend which is already clearly visible. The average lifespan of an organization has decreased drastically. In the 20s a company would exist for an average of 60 years; these days this average reaches a mere 3-5 years. Today, 25% of the companies seen as market leaders in 2020 lost that position, in most cases to new competitors which did not yet exist 15 years ago. The examples of companies which do excel at reinventing themselves are well-known. Netflix was started up in 1997 as a postal order company renting out videos; these days it is a global player in audio-visual content streaming. Uber also proves that it does not shy away from looking at the future: the company is realizing that self-driving cars are a major threat, which is why they are adapting their strategy by already ordering no less than 500 self-driving Tesla cars for pilot projects. New business models Although digital technologies play an important part in changing business models, companies should not forget that technology is only one of the aspects of change. You can fully test robotics and virtual reality, but the mere embracing of today’s technologies does not prepare you for the waves that will follow. Innovation should not be limited to innovation labs and R&D departments. Rather than thinking about digital transformation, companies should focus on how to transform their entire organization in order to be ready for the future. The main challenge is that companies cannot go through that transformation if they continue to function as before. The bureaucratic business model with a clear hierarchy and sharply defined roles and function profiles forms a barrier for that transformation. Bureaucracy is a concept of the late 19th century which no longer does the trick in a world of continuous change. A different way of working and thinking is required, which needs to penetrate throughout the entire organization. For many companies this will not be an easy task. A recent study in the US has shown that a mere 13% of all collaborators are sufficiently passionate about their work to help build change, a disappointingly low result. The road to 'change' We can define four crucial characteristics for changing the tide and surfing on those waves of change: togetherness, empowerment, collaboration and habit. Togetherness and 'purpose' are very closely related. Companies need to have a clear goal and must be able to prove their relevance, both to clients and collaborators. These days we notice a true Copernican revolution in the brands world. Copernicus was sentenced to death because of his conviction that the world is not at the center of the universe. A continuously increasing number of brand producers are also coming to that conclusion. Consumers care less and less for brands. A recent study by brand specialist Havas reveals that if 93% of the brands ceased to exist tomorrow, the consumer would not care all that much. Furthermore, one of our own studies has shown that consumers only really care about 5 brands, each of those contributing something functional, emotional and societal to them. Relevance pays off A company’s societal contribution is becoming increasingly important. David Jones, former Havas CEO, describes it as follows: "We need to move from marketing to consumers to mattering to people". Unilever is very well aware of this fact. The company has set itself the target to make each of the group’s brands ‘relevant’ within 3 years. The first brand having gone through the transformation is Omo, the detergent. On a functional level, the starting point was a qualitative product. Children’s dirty play clothes need to be clean after a wash. In order to address customers on the emotional level, Omo has started up a program to share parenting tips & tricks with young parents. As for the societal level, new playgrounds were installed in several suburban areas in the UK, giving children access to a better social development. No eye-catching sponsoring, only a small mention that the playground is a part of Omo’s and Unilever’s 'Dirt is Good' program. You may wonder whether this is really a company’s role in life. But it is. Studies show that so-called 'meaningful brands' obtain 33% more profit than their competitors, on average. So doing ‘good’ does indeed pay off. Companies should also prove this relevance to their collaborators. Many changes are taking place in what makes employees happy in their job. The new generation which is now entering the workforce attaches more importance to the difference they can make themselves and the difference a company makes in the world than to how much they are making and what status a job will give them. Besides, this trend is also increasingly entering the world of older generations. Transparent strategy Empowerment is a second important characteristic. There are different ways to empower collaborators. First, by clearly communicating about the strategy and second, by also sharing insights which support the strategy. This will help collaborators to better realize the strategy. And third, by giving the collaborators more autonomy. It is important for companies to properly understand the reason behind certain decisions. At the moment this too often is not the case. Insights into a strategy should go viral, so to speak, in the entire organization, so that everyone can start believing in them and act upon them. A second important element in that respect is collective intelligence. Decisions made by the entire organization are bound to have more impact than decisions pushed forwards by management. The implication that is created is much greater; furthermore managers are informed of so-called blind spots in their decision process. Autonomy is a closely connected aspect. Give collaborators a say in how to fill in the company’s strategy. Hotel chain Ritz-Carlton learned the lesson well: every collaborator who is in direct contact with hotel guests gets a €2,000 budget to turn a complaint into a positive experience, into something which could be an opportunity for improvement. Never underestimate the importance of involving collaborators in the strategy and of giving them more autonomy, because, in the future, human capacities will become an important differentiator. In 2035, 50% of the jobs as we know them today will have disappeared. The majority will have been taken on by robots and artificial intelligence. That is what we need to prepare for now, because when the time comes, we will totally need those typically human capacities to make the difference. There already are some examples today. In Eatsa, a vegetarian restaurant in California, robotics are used for taking orders, serving meals and paying for them. This frees up time for the ‘real’ collaborators to look after the customers on a more relevant level. All these technologies will make craftsmanship and emotional intelligence very importance in the customer relationship. Collaborators running the show The new role of knowledge workers will be very similar to 'intrapreneurship'. A great example is Adobe, the software company; they have reinvented themselves repeatedly and are now trying to reach innovation quicker via Adobe Kickbox. The Kickbox contains a $1,000 credit card, an inspiration booklet and a description of the innovation process. Every collaborator is free to use that $1,000 to develop something new. The only condition set by Adobe is that developments which may be relevant for the company are also shared with the company. So far, 400 collaborator projects have been shared. They will probably not all turn into something successful, but Adobe is convinced that the chance of 'the next big thing' being one of them is larger than that of the two projects R&D is working on. What Adobe is doing, is not just a story of trust and giving autonomy, but also giving a chance of failure. ‘Collaboration’ comes third in the 'survival characteristics' list. A company’s capacity of internal and external collaboration determines its chance of success to a major extent. There are three conditions for reaching successful collaborating. The first is that it needs to be 360°, which implies collaborating with consumers, collaborators and other stakeholders. That is how you reach new insights which will not be obtained in any other way. Second, the collaboration needs to happen all the time, anywhere. You rarely hear people say their best insights came to them in the office or during a brainstorm session. The best ideas occur in the shower or the car. And third: 'fail faster & better'. In other words: invest your time wisely. At Google they have banned the word 'prototyping'. Google refers to 'pretotyping' because even making prototypes takes too much time and is too expensive. KLM-Air France is following suit: e-commerce team collaborators are no longer to make PowerPoint presentations. Those who have a new idea develop it, test it, share it with the target groups and if they are still convinced that it has potential, then they make a 2-slide report which can be presented in 20 minutes max to obtain a budget. The new business as usual The last characteristic, 'habit', is related to the 3 others. Focusing on one of the 3 is not sufficient. Nor is working a little bit towards all 3. These have to evolve into new habits. Changing habits - and most certainly bad ones - is not done in one single speech or with one single manifest. Togetherness, empowerment and collaboration need to be embedded thoroughly in the organization. The four characteristics combined form the acronym TECH; no coincidence as technology will play an important part in how we transform our organizations. We can also learn a great deal from the world of technology; not so much from all the crazy Silicon Valley stories but more from those companies’ habits. Our companies face a major challenge but it isn’t impossible to realize a change and to get collaborators willing to build the company’s future. Tom De Ruyck is the author of this blog post. The topics he addresses can also be booked in the form of a keynote speech.

If you work in a large, international organization with a diverse population, chances are a portion of your workforce will be practicing Muslims. This will mean that for an entire month part of your community will refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sundown[i]. Oh my God, you’re not eating?? If you walk around the typical office on any day of the week, you will likely see an abundance of food everywhere. Food and drink is pushed at employees actively and passively, from goodbye coffee-and-cake events for leavers, cupcakes for birthdays, Monday Muffins for the early birds, chocolates in a bowl in the lobby, after work drinks on Fridays and coffee-coffee-coffee. Food is an inescapable part of office life. Your Muslim population is necessarily subjected to all this during their working day, too.  They will be there at Monday Muffins and Taco Tuesdays, wishing their colleagues well for their goodbye parties, politely declining the cinnamon buns, since non-attendance isn’t an option. When they don’t actually eat or drink, they will often having to explain themselves over and over again. Generally, the reaction from the non-Muslim is one of shock followed by pity. “Oh my god, you’re not eating?” To which the Muslim colleague may laugh, shake her head and assure the host that they needn’t worry, that they are just fine, are not about to faint, and are actually enjoying this very special time of the year. What’s Ramadan? Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for practicing Muslims. About 93% of Muslims fast during Ramadan[ii]. That adds up to about 1.6 billion people worldwide[iii]. It’s a time to detach from earthly pleasures, physically and spiritually purify, donate to charities, pray and celebrate with family and friends. Imagine a combination of Christmas by night mixed with Lent by day, on steroids, celebrated every day for 30 days. It’s intense, spiritually cleansing, and full of warmth and food once the sun has gone down. It’s also hard; in Northern Europe those long days mean 19-hour fasts without caffeine or nicotine. Some families wake up at 4am to have a big, very early breakfast to give them the energy they need for the rest of the day. It’s called suhoor. To the typical outsider, this feels like a kind of neat sleepover midnight secret-snack event. The end of Ramadan is celebrated by a three-day holiday called Eid Al-Fitr (or “Eid” for short). This is a time to party, attend services, give gifts and eat during the day. Five ways to make Ramadan cool for everyone 1. Send a greeting The month begins with the greeting of "Ramadan kareem!". If you have control over your company or team social feeds, send out a (digital) card for those who recognize it, and for those who don’t to raise awareness. This message goes out on the first day of Ramadan. Check your calendars since this is different every year. 2. Educate your workforce At the same time, slip in a bit of information to those who are not on the inside. What’s Ramadan? What is it, what does it mean, how is it expressed and why, how long does it last, and, by the way, here’s why not everyone will be wolfing down the slices of pepperoni on Pizza Fridays for this month. Explain why we put away the food temporarily (see point 3), what “to go” options might be available (see point 4) and why it matters. 3. Remove superfluous office food In the spirit of our generosity let’s make a few small changes for a month. We can all do without the excessive amounts of food we have lying around every surface of our offices. As a courtesy, in solidarity, encourage your teams to put their chips and chocolates in a drawer and the baskets of candy bars in a closet just for a little while. And certainly, don’t force food on people who don’t want it. Sort of like a giant Instagram challenge; we’re all the better for it. 4. Easy “to go” bags for events For events that involves food, there’s a great way to have your cake and eat it too (literally). Offer small “to go” bags with a little note, perhaps, that might say something like “Take Me Home, Eat Me after Sunset!”. This way, your faster can politely take a pre-packaged baggie and enjoy it with their families when the time is right. That cinnamon bun will taste great for 4am suhoor. 5. Celebrate the end of Ramadan with snacks Eid is a great opportunity to have a little social event at the office. It can be low-key. You can offer dates and nuts in the pantries for anyone who wants them with a little card that lets people know what just happened and why it matters. There are so many other holidays! Nothing drives engagement at work like being seen. When the dominant culture makes minor adjustments to the normal routine out of respect for the rituals and patterns of the few, the engagement effect ripples into the full community. As we learn about the lives of others, we encourage and even participate. A few small actions make a loud-and-clear statement that your culture is one of curiosity, respect and celebration of rich diversity. Actions speak far louder than the words on the company website. And don’t stop there. Depending on the cultural makeup of your community, you will likely have many other holidays to celebrate; from Chinese New Year, Diwali, Hannukah, Bastille Day and much more. Get to know your workforce – who they are, what they celebrate - and weave in a few of these to spice up the year. Finally, involve your teams. Anyone who wants to the on the Diwali Committee should be invited to plan the event, develop the communications and find the perfect treats. After a while these sub-committees will be inspired to run the events themselves. Viral, organic employer marketing will be a natural result. Fiona Passantino is the author of this article. Contact us if she can be of any help to your organization. [i] Arab News (2016) “A beginner's guide to Ramadan”. Accessed March 19, 2023  https://www.arabnews.com/node/935516/islam-perspective [ii] Ghani (2013) “Most Muslims say they fast during Ramadan” Pew Research Center. Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/09/global-median-of-93-of-muslims-say-they-fast-during-ramadan/ [iii] Puri-Mirza (2020) "Ramadan - statistics & facts" Statista. Accessed March 20, 2023. https://www.statista.com/topics/3796/ramadan-2017/