IIT Madras Study Proposes Artistic Therapies in Corporate firms to Improve Employee Performance

These joyful, experiential therapies help employees to handle better the social, intellectual and emotional challenges arising from changes and challenges in the organization

CHENNAI : An Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) study suggests that fostering an environment that channels the creative and expressive sides of employees could be a successful approach to running a volatile business.

Many large corporate companies such as Boston Consulting Group, Xerox Parc, Siemens, and IBM have already implemented the strength of art-based therapies to achieve their management goals. This research advocates applying expressive arts techniques in the workplace to benefit employees, and consequently refine overall corporate culture.

In this study, the researchers, Prof. V Vijayalakshmi and her doctoral student Ms. Janani M. from the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, point out several methods to support and maximise the workforce agility of employees.

Their work has been published in the Journal of Organizational Change Management. (DOI: 10.1108/JOCM-03-2023-0092)

Elaborating on the key findings of this research, the co-author Prof. V. Vijayalakshmi, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, said, “Arts have a significant history in many cultures and have the potential to shape thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Compared to traditional training methods, experiential and artistic methods induce a positive mood, encourage creativity and innovation, and offer metaphorical and improvisational advantages to expand one’s thought and behaviour in the workplace.”

The highs and lows of markets and businesses can have lasting effects on employee’s well-being and productivity. To sustain their potential and motivation in stressful work environments, companies should empower their employees during times of crises.

Generational changes, technological advancements and a constant need to adapt to the evolving world require workforces to alter ways to maximise employee potential and keep them fulfilled.

The researchers from IIT Madras discuss a concept known as ‘Workforce Agility’, which helps employees deal with organisational challenges with a more constructive approach, rather than being resistant to them. This can help businesses react to the opportunities and dangers that come with operating in competitive business environment.

The individual employee is rarely given priority in conventional efforts to increase workforce agility. To improve workforce agility, individuals’ characteristics have received very little attention up until now. However, preserving work culture is dependent on preserving the creative needs of employees, the researchers suggest.

In this paper, ‘Intermodal arts-based intervention’ (IABI) has been proposed by the authors as a business model to enhance the workforce agility of individual employees. This includes varied art modalities such as Visual arts, Music, Movement and Theatre

This can also help employees express their thoughts and behaviours, enhance their learning capacity, and enable thinking and understanding of complexities such as ethical dilemmas at work. A facilitator trained in arts-based modalities can gently navigate employees from resistance to acceptance.

Speaking on the research, Ms. Janani M., the  author and Doctoral Scholar at the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, whose doctoral thesis is on this, said, “This study can be advantageous for multiple stakeholders as it can help firms move from a traditional training-based system to an experiential fashion. It may generate internal and external dialogues, new relationships, and thought patterns among employees, which can be leveraged toward a cordial, considerate, and collaborative work culture.”

Modern life and rigid structures within companies can demand set goals and targets from employees, which can lead to feelings of boredom or a creative vacuum in the work environment. Over time, this might result in a systematic decrease in an employee’s productivity as they become less focused on completing duties to the bare minimum and more eager to maximise their time for leisure activities unrelated to their jobs.

By dissecting the psyche of an employee, this research highlights the crucial role of innate joy as an enabler for employees to perform better in their jobs. 

Further, Prof. V Vijayalakshmi added, “Engaging with the arts provides a safe psychological space for exploring an alternate reality. Such an exploration can help employees engage in proactive behaviours such as anticipating future changes and challenges and consequent problem-solving. Employees engaging with integrated art forms may undergo multiple felt experiences, such as exploring the self, people, space, and materials.” The authors can be contacted for collaboration of any kind.