We were blown away by how positively our recent Diversity Week was received by the full team at GSLS HQ. So we wanted to take the time to acknowledge the efforts and enthusiasm, and reflect on what a positive experience it was for everyone.
Why Diversity Week?
Our team at GSLS is so rich with team members of 26 different nationalities. We are always keen to find ways to celebrate this, and we value opportunities to bring people together to share information about each of their backgrounds.
For this first time to do Diversity Week, we elected to showcase the nationalities where we have a significant number of team members, so we started with Filipino, Indian and Polish for this first week. We are very aware that this is just the beginning because the reaction has been so very positive.
A strong start
We started off with Filipino Day, and our Filipino colleagues set the standard high! We had some Filipino specialities brought on-site, and the GSLS team members outdid themselves with the beautiful creations they brought to enhance the experience.
There was unbelievably fabulous food for everyone to enjoy, and we also got to learn so much from each other about aspects of the Filipino culture including clothing, music, art and much more. It was a wonderful day – truly a celebration of our Filipino team, and wonderful to experience the pride in the traditions held so dear.
We got to taste amazing Filipino dishes, which can only be recommended, including Lumpia, Sisig, Adobo, Leche Flan, Pancit & Chop Suey (many of us had heard of it, but hadn’t realised it was a Filipino speciality).
Where to from there?
This paved the way for Indian Day which was held just 2 days later. Not to be outdone, the Indian team members also went above and beyond to showcase the very best of their culture, their AMAZING food, their music, literature, art and more.
A really beautiful part of Diversity Week was how people from all teams across the business engaged with each other about topics not related to work (mostly related to food!!), and so there was much for everyone to learn, hear and get to know.
A finish with a flourish
To finish off the week, we had Polish day. Again the GSLS Polish team did such an incredible job showcasing the very best of what it means to be from their home country of Poland. Yet again we were spoiled with tasty delights including Golbaki, Placki Po Wegiersku, Krokiety, Pierogi, Polish Meatballs and Sernik.
Which country team is next?
It’s safe to say that this has been a really popular idea, so lots of other country teams are clamouring to have their opportunity to showcase their country. The pride each of the teams took in ensuring everyone got to learn, taste and experience something new was truly wonderful. We will be giving plenty of opportunity for people to celebrate their national days, over the coming months.
Thank You
In the meantime it is important to say a huge THANK YOU to the respective team members across the business who collaborated to make it such a huge success. This has been a really lovely way of bringing staff together in a very inclusive and engaging environment. We look forward to different variations of this theme in the months ahead and expanding our diversity programme in the months ahead!
