The healing power of song and community is as old as time. In moments of sadness and celebration, groups gather to join their voices which act and respond as one. SAP just unveiled a very special project called “Together Again,” an original song and music video performed by a diverse panoply of SAP employees.
For most of the world, 2020 has been defined by words like COVID-19. Coronavirus. Global Pandemic. Quarantine. Lockdown.
Offices and businesses have closed or suspended operations; friends and family have stayed apart; and masks have become ubiquitous. Teams and communities are being challenged in profound ways, and staying united is no longer a given.
Leaders from every industry, geography, and sector are struggling with how best to address the physical divide and social distancing. The goal of achieving true emotional connectivity and building a bridge to move forward in a digital sphere requires imagination and really big ideas. For Adaire Fox-Martin, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Success, inspiration struck while watching the news from Ireland.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, I saw a report about choirs from different religious groups singing a traditional hymn. It was so uplifting and provided me a strong measure of solace. You could feel the unity and I wanted to create a similar spirit of togetherness for the SAP family,” said Fox-Martin.
“Together Again” is a project that gave SAP employees an avenue to bring their extraordinary talents together and give life to an original song and music video. One of the goals of the project is to reflect a representation of the work culture at SAP – one of support, camaraderie, and respect for the very different backgrounds that the company’s global reach brings together. While the song and video show the global SAP family, they are also representative of everyone living through this global experience. We are all, unfortunately, intimately familiar with the hard work required to stay emotionally connected with family and friends, scattered in a universe of parts.
“More than anything else, this project is about coming together when times are hard; about supporting each other and building on shared inspiration,” Fox-Martin added. “The final result — the song and the video — are a window into how great life can be when you surround yourself with wonderful people. I find myself humming the tune while thinking pridefully about the entire team.”
Today, SAP is proud to share “Together Again” with our employees, customers, partners and communities. Our most sincere hope for this project is that it will serve as a reminder that every member of the team is an integral part of the fabric of SAP. We are not alone in these challenging times. And more importantly, together, we will get through this and emerge stronger than ever.
Julie Barrier is global vice president of Purpose and Brand Experience Marketing at SAP.