Paul Ray from Enterprise Services has recently begun providing free guitar lessons for his colleagues during lunchtimes. Prior to joining Medibank, Paul worked as a musician playing locally and internationally. As his colleagues discovered his musical talents, they would often request lessons from him. With Medibank’s focus on wellbeing and development, Paul saw an opportunity to create a program that could enhance this focus in a fun and collaborative way.
Paul’s guitar lessons combine music education and development with social interaction and a break from day-to-day work, bringing employees together in a relaxed setting. The lessons are aimed at the beginner to intermediate level and over the last month have covered some basics such as learning single notes, chords, a pentatonic blues scale, improvisation, speed and strength exercises, and have incorporated some of these learnings into fun riffs.
As transporting a guitar to and from work can be an issue for some, the Medibank Wellbeing and Community team have recognised the guitar lesson program, supporting it with funding to purchase a range of acoustic guitars to have on-hand, supporting greater access for more participants. As word spreads, there are employees from outside the Enterprise Services group who have shown interest in the lessons. The enthusiasm of the group is exciting and it is great to see and everyone enjoying the lessons.
