HR Globe

TIMES NEWS NETWORK , AUGUST 17, 2006 01:06:06 AM

NEW DELHI: Money, it's a gas / Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream/ Think I'll buy me a football team

Well, to twist that Pink Floyd wisdom a little bit, Money Inc has gone ahead and floated for itself a rock band. Closet rockers in the corporate world are coming together and the HR mavens are spotting yet another opportunity for employee retention. Enter a new clutch of in-house rock bands — Pink of Hutchison, Algorythms of Infosys, Bandchoz of JWT, and Motorola India's MAD, among others. These bands are increasingly making their presence felt within and without their respective companies.

Globally too, bands like The Raving Daves (PeopleSoft), Negative Feedback (eBay) and Spurious Freedom (Texas Instruments) have made their mark in the dog-day world of rock-n-roll. Back home, more are joining the rocker's league — Genpact, Convergys, Flextronics and EXL offering more examples. And some have taken it to the next level by participating in concerts like the Seagram Corporate Carnival and Touchbass. Some even nurture dreams of rocking at the Fortune Battle of Corporate Bands, the touchstone for amateur bands. However, HR mavens are more thrilled about what this kind of bonding can bring to the workplace.

Analysts say the trend helps in bringing a sense of harmony in employees' professional lives and motivates them. "It's one of the positive HR initiatives that companies are taking up. Such efforts provide an outlet for pent-up creative energies of employees. More importantly, it's also a strong retention tool for companies," says Soumen Basu, executive chairman, Manpower India.

Conceptualised as just another idea to extend the list of fun things to do in the company, JWT's Bandchoz dreams to participate in international corporate band challenges. "The idea of having a band was to have fun at work, but the guys have taken the job seriously, putting heart and soul into creating music," says Rohit Ohri, senior VP & area director-Delhi, JWT. A year old, this band with a distinct name, (deliberately done so as to be identified as a Delhi band), has participated in the Seagram Corporate Carnival held in the city and performs at in-house gigs.

Motorola, too, allows its employees to live their passion. The group called MAD (Music, Art & Dance) has a 12-member team that performs at in-house gigs and puts up shows to liven up the office atmosphere. Says Motorola's HR chief, Raghuram Reddum: "Life goes beyond work, and music is an important medium to showcase your creativity. It's an initiative that allows you to extend your college years and gives you due recognition while you are still following some other vocation."

# posted by Shashikant Shetty @ 6:00 PM