Corporate chants
Probably, many of us still remember the anthem of the USSR. Every schoolboy, mechanic, engineer and deputy knew the words of the anthem of the once great country by heart. The anthem was always played by the choir at any time of the day, despite the weather conditions. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it seemed to me that this song (and the hymn is still a song) really brought together all sorts of people who in reality had not so much in common.
By the way, the national anthem was, of course, not only in the USSR. Approximately the same situation can be observed in the USA, where the national anthem has not changed so far, unlike us, and it is still performed solely by standing and choir. But that is not all. It was in the United States that the first anthems of corporations and companies (corporate anthems) appeared, which even today are used to “raise the morale” of employees.
I always wondered: how did the corporate anthems come about? It turned out that everything is simple: once working in one factory or in one company throughout life was normal practice, and worked with entire families and generations. In those years, the first anthems of companies appeared, and it was assumed that they could strengthen the moral and team spirit of employees. One of the earliest and most well-known corporate hymns is an IBM anthem called “Ever Onward IBM!”. This hymn appeared in 1931!
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True, in the 30s of the last century, the attitude to corporate anthems was slightly different: imagine how the choir of employees before each planning meeting and during corporate holidays diligently plays the company's anthem. It was impossible to work in the company and not know the words of the corporate anthem or to fake his chorus. By the way, IBM has even released entire collections of its corporate songs. Musical scores and song lyrics were attached to the collections so that you can practice playing the corporate anthem with your family.
But then, as is often the case, the very idea of ​​corporate anthems was distorted a little. However, the point here is not even in the idea, but rather in that the employees have changed. Many companies try in vain to diversify the monotonous routine with a few primitive songs, but more often it does not help. In addition, in many companies, the corporate anthem is not the free creativity of company employees who share a common idea or goal. By the way, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that some Russian startups are already doing this way. Keep it up! Let it be even the simplest song with a guitar, but if it unites employees, it means that it has a right to exist. But the hymns that are created by efforts or with the filing of top management are not always ideal. What is the result? Most often, such anthems are ridiculed by employees behind the backs of their superiors, although management is still serious about its creation.
Here are a few examples of large Western companies that have their own anthems, which are perceived as a joke rather than something serious. The list of such companies included Symantec (the company even launched a separate website dedicated to corporate songs, download the anthem here ), the company Salesforce (funny video ), Fujitsu (I must say, not the most enjoyable anthem ), the anthem of the auditing company KPMG , which in time has done a lot of noise on the Internet ( listen ).
This begs a quite logical question: are corporate anthems necessary as such? And they need the company, then for what?
Perhaps the time of corporate anthems and choral office singing has sunk into oblivion. Raise the morale of employees who have to spend an hour and a half on the subway just to get to work is unlikely to turn out. If the company really wants to try to return the old traditions, then the employees themselves should come up with a hymn if they really want it. But to impose on employees a corporate anthem written by a local songwriter is not worth it. Get the opposite effect.
Nevertheless, today there are much more convenient forms of using musical works in business. For example, advertising jingles , all possible chops and music for advertising and promotional activities. It is this kind of music content that can be used today by the company, though not so much to strengthen the team spirit, but rather to promote it. As an option - the use of jingles in podcasts, viral marketing and so on.
By the way, the national anthem was, of course, not only in the USSR. Approximately the same situation can be observed in the USA, where the national anthem has not changed so far, unlike us, and it is still performed solely by standing and choir. But that is not all. It was in the United States that the first anthems of corporations and companies (corporate anthems) appeared, which even today are used to “raise the morale” of employees.
I always wondered: how did the corporate anthems come about? It turned out that everything is simple: once working in one factory or in one company throughout life was normal practice, and worked with entire families and generations. In those years, the first anthems of companies appeared, and it was assumed that they could strengthen the moral and team spirit of employees. One of the earliest and most well-known corporate hymns is an IBM anthem called “Ever Onward IBM!”. This hymn appeared in 1931!
')
True, in the 30s of the last century, the attitude to corporate anthems was slightly different: imagine how the choir of employees before each planning meeting and during corporate holidays diligently plays the company's anthem. It was impossible to work in the company and not know the words of the corporate anthem or to fake his chorus. By the way, IBM has even released entire collections of its corporate songs. Musical scores and song lyrics were attached to the collections so that you can practice playing the corporate anthem with your family.
But then, as is often the case, the very idea of ​​corporate anthems was distorted a little. However, the point here is not even in the idea, but rather in that the employees have changed. Many companies try in vain to diversify the monotonous routine with a few primitive songs, but more often it does not help. In addition, in many companies, the corporate anthem is not the free creativity of company employees who share a common idea or goal. By the way, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that some Russian startups are already doing this way. Keep it up! Let it be even the simplest song with a guitar, but if it unites employees, it means that it has a right to exist. But the hymns that are created by efforts or with the filing of top management are not always ideal. What is the result? Most often, such anthems are ridiculed by employees behind the backs of their superiors, although management is still serious about its creation.
Here are a few examples of large Western companies that have their own anthems, which are perceived as a joke rather than something serious. The list of such companies included Symantec (the company even launched a separate website dedicated to corporate songs, download the anthem here ), the company Salesforce (funny video ), Fujitsu (I must say, not the most enjoyable anthem ), the anthem of the auditing company KPMG , which in time has done a lot of noise on the Internet ( listen ).
This begs a quite logical question: are corporate anthems necessary as such? And they need the company, then for what?
Perhaps the time of corporate anthems and choral office singing has sunk into oblivion. Raise the morale of employees who have to spend an hour and a half on the subway just to get to work is unlikely to turn out. If the company really wants to try to return the old traditions, then the employees themselves should come up with a hymn if they really want it. But to impose on employees a corporate anthem written by a local songwriter is not worth it. Get the opposite effect.
Nevertheless, today there are much more convenient forms of using musical works in business. For example, advertising jingles , all possible chops and music for advertising and promotional activities. It is this kind of music content that can be used today by the company, though not so much to strengthen the team spirit, but rather to promote it. As an option - the use of jingles in podcasts, viral marketing and so on.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/40760/
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