2021: Note 34 -- Sharing and Caring Across The Pond

I know, I know -- a lot of my appreciation posts are about diversity & inclusion. But there are so many people who continually give of themselves to support their colleauges, I simply have to thank them!

One person in particular is a colleague from the UK. She reached out to me to suggest that one of the weekly Safe Space Sharing Sessions that we host in North America be a joint session with the UK. Her point was that there are a lot of things that are experienced by employees in the US and Canada that have some similarity -- but also some differences from -- what people experience in the UK. Talking about this could help both teams understand and support one another better.

She was right. Normally, the weekly safe space was only for the North America team. By bringing in the UK team as well, many new points were shared. Stories of discrimination and unfairness people experienced, what they see in the media, and how people at work talk about these topics were eye opening. Sometimes we get so caught up in what's happening at home, that we don't think about what might be going on somewhere else.

I'm so glad we did this, and I expect we will do it again from time to time, to share and to make sure people know that they are supported by colleagues beyond their home country.