Cassie Werber* says workplace choirs aim to foster a cohesive workforce and thereby promote staff happiness, loyalty and productivity.
Every Wednesday at lunchtime, Judy Rose takes a break from her job as COO at Triodos Bank in Bristol, England, to spend an hour harmonising with colleagues.
Rose leads a workplace choir that’s brought together colleagues 2017.
They gather in a light-filled room that’s also opposite the large windows of the canteen, from which amused co-workers watch the singers belt out Down To The River To Pray.
Practising a musical instrument at work and singing in workplace choirs have become so popular in UK offices that they’ve sparked television shows, local choir leagues, and national competitions.
These have in turn stoked passions for singing that previously had no outlet, bringing together workplace singing groups that have then continued to practice, gig, and fundraise.
An increasing focus on “wellbeing” at work, meanwhile, has led some of the UK’s biggest employers to fund music lessons and choirs.
The goals of those who want to bring more music to the workplace are lofty: to foster a cohesive workforce and thereby promote staff happiness, loyalty, and productivity.
There have been efforts to document the benefits of singing at work.
Claudia Röhlen was studying gender and diversity at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Germany when she became fascinated by the power of ensemble singing.
For her thesis, she conducted detailed interviews with two conductors and two participants of workplace choirs based in Berlin and London.
Röhlen’s interviewees described a sense of interconnectedness as a result of their participation in workplace choirs, an effect that brought them both relaxation and euphoria.
They also experienced joy, confidence, and gratitude, Röhlen says, feeding into an overall experience of “self-transcendence” — a sense of going beyond their own ego and identifying a greater good.
Working songs
British choirmaster David Ogden says workplace choirs today continue a long history of workers using songs to commune during the day, from plantation slaves, to fishermen, to coalminers.
Choirs historically “were designed to build community, and that’s what it does,” Ogden said.
“You’ve got young and old people, people from different sectors” singing together, and there’s also the sense of collective effort that, in some jobs, is lacking.
And, finally there’s recognition.
The applause and public praise associated with performance can be totally alien: “People may never have done anything in their lives they’ve received a clap for … [especially] as an adult.”
That recognition is powerful, Ogden says.
The proliferation of singing groups comes at a moment when employees and managers — particularly in the West — are becoming concerned with how healthy and happy our workplaces truly are.
This reflects the convergence of two forces.
The first is a deep interrogation by workers into how we seek and derive meaning from our jobs, with the ultimate aim of avoiding burnout and combatting a potentially damaging compulsion to work that drains colour and light from our wider lives.
The other is an increasing acknowledgement by employers that the health and happiness of a workforce are intimately bound up with workplace culture.
The confluence of these two forces has spawned wellbeing initiatives, from gym memberships to time off for volunteering.
Many of the UK’s choir projects are self-organised and take place outside work hours.
But a number are a perk, subsidised by the employer and on company time.
A productivity addiction
Eleanor Rose Rusbridge, founder of Sing At Work, a company that focuses on offering workplace choir-leading and song-based teambuilding days, argues that in a culture addicted to work, there has never been a better time for the releasing, levelling potential of song.
Rusbridge knows about addiction.
For two years, she led a choir for the New Hanbury Project, a faith-based London charity that supports people struggling with addiction and homelessness.
She argues that there are parallels between that experience and the “addiction to productivity” she sees in modern workplaces.
Both, she suggests, can be combated with the communality of choral singing, which is distinct from many other social workplace activities — like post-work drinks — in that it doesn’t rely purely on chatting (or alcohol).
Choir is available equally to introverts and extroverts, she says.
“Companies are really beginning to understand why their staff’s wellbeing is important and why they have a responsibility to think about that,” Rusbridge says.
“At its absolute basic level, singing is a very, very life-affirming thing.”
* Cassie Werber is a reporter for Quartz in London. She tweets at @cassiewerber.
This article first appeared at qz.com
