Come December, as a Canadian living in the United States, I typically get asked numerous times: \u201cWhat\u2019s the deal with Boxing Day?\u201d In the spirit of giving, let me share the history and some suggestions on how to bring the charitable mindset of old forward to contemporary professional life.<\/p>\n
Boxing Day, celebrated primarily in Commonwealth countries on December 26, began in Britain. It started with the best of intentions, then, perhaps unsurprisingly, it morphed over the centuries into a day for commercialism and sporting events.<\/p>\n
But, before we get to how it\u2019s celebrated today in the likes of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain, let\u2019s go back to the Victorian era.<\/p>\n
There are several explanations for the name \u201cBoxing Day.\u201d One is that it refers to the poor in a community opening alms boxes placed in front of the churches the day after Christmas. Or that it refers to the boxes put out in churches to collect coins to support the community\u2019s less fortunate. Another is that it refers to the practice of the well-to-do presenting boxes of leftovers to the servants and tradespeople who helped them host major Christmas shindigs the day before.<\/p>\n
In one of the earliest recorded references<\/a> to boxed gifts, English Parliamentarian Samuel Pepys wrote in his 1663 diary that he sent a messenger to his shoemaker to deliver \u201csomething to the boys\u2019 box against Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, Boxing Day was generally a day of rest for the employees who had to serve the upper crust on Christmas. Think Downtown Abbey\u2019s upstairs giving the downstairs staff a vacation day as a special treat.<\/p>\n Through the ages, the traditions changed. Today, service people might also be given tips. Yet, the bonuses often come before Christmas Day. The same is true of any giving done to the less privileged in a community (for example, the giving of gifts from an Angel Tree at a local gym or school).<\/p>\n December 26 is also St. Stephen\u2019s Day<\/a>. If you\u2019ve heard the song about \u201cGood King Wenceslas\u201d you\u2019ve heard of Stephen. The first line is: \u201cGood King Wenceslas looked out\/on the feast of\u202fStephen.\u201d\u202fIn the song, written in the midst of Queen Victoria\u2019s reign in 1853, the King goes on to bring peasants food and fuel for their fires.<\/p>\n Well, St. Stephen is the patron saint of horses. This led to the day being commemorated more recently in countries such as England or Wales with horse races and other sporting events. While fox hunting was once common, the hunts were banned in England and Wales in 2005. Yet you might still find people playing rugby.<\/p>\n In my home and native land of Canada, people play a different kind of contact sport \u2014 Boxing Day shopping. It\u2019s the equivalent of Black Friday (back when the sales were just on the one day and people lined up hours early to get the great deals).<\/p>\n In the United States, which does not celebrate Boxing Day, you\u2019ll at least see people watching sports \u2014 generally football (the American kind). On the other side of the world, sports fans in Australia look forward to cricket being played in the Boxing Day Test.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in England today it is also common to see people participating in a Boxing Day Dip. They dress up in costumes and plunge into the sea, often to raise funds for charity.<\/p>\n Depending on where in the week Christmas lands, many businesses will give their employees December 26 off, which is certainly a way to mark Boxing Day.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s talk more about the spirit behind the original day. That of appreciating others\u2019 efforts and doing something to help the less fortunate. It\u2019s something you can encourage among employees year round. Here are a few key ways to do so:<\/p>\n Supporting employee giving and offering your teams an opportunity to contribute to causes they care about can benefit your organization in several ways. For one, you\u2019re supporting employee engagement as you connect work with purpose and acts of kindness<\/a>. Participating together in volunteer efforts can also increase employee morale<\/a> and their sense of belonging<\/a>. All this can help boost the company culture and foster a spirit of camaraderie and collaboration.<\/p>\n Learn more about how your employees feel about your organizational culture or survey them about how they would want to participate in philanthropical efforts. Sogolytics can help<\/a>.Boxing Day evolves<\/h2>\n
Encouraging the spirit of giving at work<\/h2>\n
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