Scottish Widows: Arts@Work
Monday 1st December 2008
LMN worked in partnership with Scottish Widows as the main provider of the musical strand during their innovative Arts@Work programme.
Scottish Widows conceived Arts@Work as a unique approach to improving the wellbeing of staff, bringing benefits to the business through improved employee retention, advocacy, motivation and engagement. The programme delivered a wide range of arts experiences from live music in the workplace, to hands-on creative opportunities, family events and team-building workshops.
Performances by LMN musicians took place at Scottish Widows' two Edinburgh sites on a monthly basis throughout the year. They also contributed to special occasions such as the ArtyParty and corporate events.
This highly successful partnership was further strengthened by Scottish Widows hosting an event to celebrate Live Music Now Scotland's 25th anniversary in August 2009.
In one year alone, 3,190 people participated in the programme, of whom 80% were staff members and the remainder their families. A core of around 15% of participants was made up of people who engaged with more than 3 activities over the year.
Scottish Widows reported a steady upward trend in the employee satisfaction score, from 64 to 71. The evaluation report concluded that "employees who engaged with the programme experienced short and long term benefits (life and personal development) which also had a positive impact on business performace".
Sylvia Dow, who as the Programme Manager for Arts@Work was the UK's first dedicated Arts Project manager within a business, said LMN "certainly livens up people's days and they return to their desks refreshed and motivated".
Arts@Work was a perfect demonstration that Yehudi Menuhin's founding vision for LMN is just as relevant today: "to bring live music back into the everyday lives of people of all ages… in those places where most of us spend our time, where we work, study, suffer or celebrate".
Scottish Widows' Arts@Work programme, featuring Live Music Now Scotland as a case study, won the Arts & Business Scotland People Development Award, sponsored by Peoplematters (Europe) and was shortlised for the Prudential Arts & Business UK People Development Award.
