International businesses must plan for regional holidays

Now that the 2010 holiday season has passed in the United States, companies will be back to business as usual for the next year, and business people need not worry about entire offices taking vacation at the same time, right?

Wrong! International businesses need to plan for regional holidays that may affect the availability of clients and staff. Failure to do so may cause myriad scheduling conflicts and project bottlenecks when an unanticipated holiday arrives.

The consequences of failing to plan for regional holidays were recently illustrated on NBC's sitcom "Outsourced," which derives a significant portion of its humor from cultural differences and misunderstandings. In one episode, Todd Dempsey, U.S. manager of a call center in India, is surprised to find that he is the only manager in the area who has not planned to give his staff time off for Diwali, the country's biggest holiday of the year. This lack of consideration presents Todd with the awkward dilemma of either angering employees by making them work through a holiday as big as Christmas or taking flak from U.S. management because he has not planned appropriately.

While working with clients who do a significant amount of translation into Japanese, my company could have faced similar dilemmas if we had not properly planned for Golden Week in Japan. Large numbers of the best English-to-Japanese translators – who mostly live in Japan – are generally unavailable during this spring week that includes four Japanese national holidays. For this reason, it has been important to notify our clients about Golden Week beforehand so important Japanese translation projects and deadlines can be planned accordingly.

Awareness of international holidays can also help you strengthen relationships with international colleagues. While living in Chile during the Fourth of July, with no visible signs of the U.S. holiday, it was easy to forget that my family and friends were celebrating thousands of miles away. However, I was very touched when one Chilean thoughtfully wished me a happy Independence Day. Chile's Independence Day is Sept. 18.

Most people realize that independence celebration dates will vary depending on each country's political history, but some people might be surprised to note that other holidays are also not as international as we may believe. Many think Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day; however, May 5 is only the date of a battle celebrated in a small area of Mexico, and citizens throughout Mexico celebrate Independence Day on Sept. 16. Similarly, Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada, but it is on the second Monday in October, not the fourth Thursday in November.