Should University Staff be Forced to have Fun?

The overriding reaction to internally organised staff social and 'well-being' activities in most large organisations appears to be suspicion or indifference. Human resources and marketing people seem to spend much of their time encouraging people to go to such activities, not always with great success.

Leeds Metropolitan University have a unique approach to this - they hold an annual Staff Development Festival at the end of the August each year in which staff *must* attend. The festival lasts up to two weeks and is full of interesting, fun, creative & informative courses, workshops & presentations.

The sessions vary widely from staff book launches to learning how to massage, to practicing on the local Police Skid Pan to listening to a Robbie Williams tribute act in a nearby Rugby stadium. For a list of last year's activities see:
http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/festival/08/events_calendar_08.htm

From being treated with suspicion when it first started, the festival is now completely embraced by staff, with fierce competition to be the first to subscribe for the best sessions. Importantly there is no differentiation between academic, management or support staff in access to sessions - you could be learning Tai Chi next to the V.C.!

The results for staff well-being appear to be very positive especially in increased communication & networking across the University. After all, if you've both waved your lighters in the air in a stadium to Robbie's 'Angels' it must be a unifying as well as an uplifting experience!