Introducing Tate & Lyle’s Global Choir, channelling Stevie Wonder during lockdown!
With many colleagues currently working from home and missing out on important face-to-face contact, we’ve been finding ways to help our teams to stay connected outside of work meetings to keep spirits up, and create new bonds of friendship.
After virtual versions of yoga, coffee catch-ups, and quizzes, the latest initiative to support our people is the Tate & Lyle Global Choir, which brings together over 50 colleagues to celebrate in song.
“At our HQ in London, we’ve run a few choir sessions in the past and they’ve always been great fun and a totally different way for colleagues to socialise,” explained Archi Quddus, a member of Tate & Lyle’s investor relations team, who came up with the idea for a company choir. “When lockdown came around, I wanted to get the gang together for a virtual session, but quickly realised that there was nothing stopping us from inviting singers from every corner of our global operation. I developed a plan to create a global choir and video to showcase our collective talents and global reach.”
Using the company’s intranet and Yammer social media channel, Archi recruited singers from around our network, with particular interest from colleagues in UK, Germany and Brazil. After a few rehearsals and social singing sessions, the choir recorded their rendition of Stevie Wonder's hit Sir Duke.
“With 21 nationalities represented, and colleagues from all parts of the business, from production and supply chain, to application science and sales, the choir really celebrates diversity in our workforce,” Archi added. “Colleagues who would never normally have a reason to speak have made new friends and are showing off a new side of themselves at work. The question I’m now being asked again and again is, “what song are we recording next?!”
*Update: Check our the Choir's amazing follow-up track here!
What else have our colleagues been up to recently?
Many of us have been acclimatising to working from home for the first time, so one colleague shared his top tips for getting the most out of the experience.
Our Nutrition team have also shared their own advice for maintaining a healthy and varied diet during lockdown.
A number of Tate & Lyle colleagues from around the world have been innovating with staycation holiday ideas.
Check them out!