Wavemaker Debunks Myths at Inaugural Ramadan Event

As Muslims across the world commence their holy month of fasting, one of Wavemaker’s employee communities, Roots, hosted a panel session to mark the occasion. The event aimed to enlighten the workforce, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, about Ramadan beyond the superficial knowledge of fasting that many people have.

The event attracted a sizable audience of 250 people both in-person and virtually from across other WPP agencies in the UK, US, Germany, Italy and Malaysia. The panel discussion was organised by Wavemaker Roots members and moderated by Stuart Bowden, global chief strategy officer at Wavemaker with guest speakers Shelina Janmohamed, VP Islamic marketing at Ogilvy UK and Geoff Yussouf, co-founder & CEO at ZenGo.

“At Wavemaker, diversity and inclusion sit at the core of our people strategy, we value every Wavemaker, respect their identities and are willing to take actionable steps to accommodate their unique needs,” said Camilla Bruggen, global head diversity, equity and inclusion at Wavemaker.

Camilla added, "As an organisation of diverse talents, we have put in place a number of initiatives to support individuals of different faiths. One of such is our multi-faith prayer room specially dedicated to people of different religions to pray and meditate when they need to. This session, however, was an eye-opener to the kind of practices we could adopt on a more personal level to be more inclusive and supportive of fasting colleagues.”

While commenting on the importance of Ramadan to the Muslim community, our panellists debunked the popular narrative that fasting is meant to be endured. They emphasised that it is indeed a celebratory period when Muslims spend time with family and feel connected to the wider community. It is a time of mindfulness giving a chance to reflect on one’s own relationship with faith and accomplish what was described as a ‘soul detox’.

Among many other practical actions like adjusting working patterns, the audience was encouraged to show genuine curiosity towards Muslim colleagues during Ramadan, and throughout the rest of the year, to learn more about their culture and lifestyle. So, how can this be done?

Our key takeaways included: 

• Ask your Muslim colleagues what provisions would be helpful to them during Ramadan.
• Be free in your interactions with them, ask questions but don’t feel you need to walk on eggshells around fasting colleagues.
• Be sensitive towards Muslims who aren’t fasting as some may not be observing their fast due to some personal reasons, related to health challenges, or even for women on their periods.
• Be open-minded, get informed, and respect their choices - something that we should all strive to show all colleagues.

"Show genuine curiosity and courtesy – ask questions with good intentions and promote discussions with your Muslim colleagues to avoid assumptions. The more people that have awareness and respect of their colleagues' practices, the more inclusive a workplace will become,” said Geoff Yussouf, CEO ZenGo.

When discussing the implication of Ramadan for brands, Shelina Janmohamed states that there are an estimated four million Muslims in the UK with a considerable amount of commercial power that brands need to tap into. While Shelina acknowledges that so much progress has been made over the last decades by brands to engage Muslims during Ramadan, she highlights the need for brands to consistently connect with the community throughout the year.

“It’s no longer just enough to acknowledge it, there has to be the same level of sophistication and creativity that’s put into any other celebration or festival throughout the year. This relies on deep insights which is the next stage our workplaces must move into,” said Shelina Janmohamed, VP of Islamic marketing, Ogilvy UK.

It was a special afternoon at Sea Containers having helped organise an enriching session on Ramadan and inclusivity in the workplace and seeing a high number of attendees from different faiths and backgrounds was fantastic. I consider WPP an inspiration within the industry for providing a platform to have discussions around culture and ethnicity as we work towards an environment that is representative of our community and caters to all our employees’ needs. Through this discussion, I hope as an organisation we’ve taken another step towards this goal, and that all our attendees left the event with a better understanding of Ramadan and its impact on staff and businesses.” said Omar Qureshi, operations manager Wavemaker Roots.

Ramadan Mubarak!