With both December 31, 2025 and January 1, 2026 being working days, the brand turned a peak retail day into a team engagement exercise, bringing its 120 employees together to prepare around 1,000 of Bihar’s traditional littis through collective effort
Patna: Ratnalaya Jewellers closed the year with a hands-on team engagement initiative that brought employees together over a shared cultural and culinary experience —preparing and enjoying Bihar’s traditional litti chokha. The activity, held on December 31, 2025, was designed as an internal bonding exercise involving staff members across the brand’s three branches.
With its stores operational even on January 1, 2026, the brand chose to turn a busy retail period into an opportunity for employee engagement rather than a routine workday. Employees collectively prepared nearly 1,000 littis, with participation from around 120 team members. The activity extended beyond structured roles, encouraging everyone – from store staff to support teams – to take part in cooking, coordination and collaboration.
Speaking about the initiative, Saket Keshri, Director, Ratnalaya Jewellers, said, “In retail, teams work long hours every day, often beyond their job descriptions. If you want people to take care of your business, you first have to take care of them. Such activities help build an emotional connect with the brand, which goes far beyond pay hikes or designations.”
Litti chokha, a staple of Bihari cuisine, was deliberately chosen for its cultural relevance and familiarity. The preparation process became the centre of the activity, creating an environment where employees could interact beyond their daily responsibilities. The food was shared within the team and with neighbouring stores and staff in the vicinity, turning the initiative into a community-style gathering rather than a formal celebration.
Unlike conventional employee reward formats such as gifts or outings, the focus here was on participation and shared experience. Team members spent the day cooking together, exchanging ideas, lending a hand where needed and eventually sitting down to eat together. For many, the activity replaced their usual year-end plans, including dinner at home.
Keshri added that employee engagement at Ratnalaya Jewellers is not limited to one-off activities but is supported by structured policies such as competitive pay, incentives, growth opportunities and defined leave benefits. According to him, creating a positive work culture is increasingly critical at a time when retaining skilled retail manpower remains a challenge across the industry.
Keshri said that the litti chokha activity served as a reminder that simple, culturally rooted initiatives can play a meaningful role in strengthening team bonds, especially during demanding retail periods, by making work more engaging and inclusive rather than purely transactional.
The jewellery brand operates three stores across Bihar, with one store each at Hathwa Market and Kankarbagh, and a recently opened one at Danapur.
Written by Aparna Bhowmick
Retail Jeweller India Exclusive
