The last month has seen a few hundred employees of two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto Ltd being given an entirely new canvas to work on.

The reference is to a series of painting workshops conducted at BAL’s facility at Akurdi by Australian artist Christopher Hogan, whose unspoken mission here was to help harness individual creative expression into workplace synergy.

The objective of the 13-half day workshops, in which 220 employees drawn from across levels of hierarchy participated, was to help employees de-stress, build team spirit and enhance motivation, says Amrut Rath, Vice-President, Human Resource, BAL.

“Many of them confessed that they were holding a paint brush in their hands for the first time,” he quips, adding that the resultant creativity often surprised even the creator.

Buried talents

BAL has nearly 8,000 employees spread across three plants at Chakan, Waluj and Pant Nagar, and the corporate headquarters at Akurdi. Rath says that the company plans to extend the scope of such an engagement at its other locations as well.

While Hogan’s workshop may well have unearthed some buried artistic talents, the other immediate outcome is that a large enclosed space at Akurdi has now been designated as the “Art Hall”.

Employees looking for an inspiration-rush can walk in during work hours and wield the brush. The lucky ones might get a brain wave. The minimum take away will be getting to shed the ennui of a routine day at the work place.

>alka.k@thehindu.co.in

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