IF YOU want to perk up your staff, give them a perk. It’s a strategy that’s working at the University of Brighton to combat nasty cases of writers’ block – in the creative writing department. But there is a happy ending, because Jess Moriarty, a senior lecturer, got funding for stressed-out lecturers to go on a writing retreat. She tells Times Higher Education (Jan 10) that her own pen problems inspired her. “Even though I teach creative writing, I found the writing side of my job was something I left to the last minute.” Moriarty and a colleague’s idea for the retreat has also won an innovation award from the university.

Caring bosses at the University of Leicester have other ways of lightening the load. A hypnotherapist will be advising staff on how to control stress, anxiety and lack of confidence. Sadly, financial management is not part of the service: staff will have to pay for sessions.

Hypnotherapy might be the only solution for academics at Cardiff University, where 10,000-word dissertations are to be marked in 30 minutes. An anonymous Cardiff academic tells THE: “I’ve done a speed-reading course, but is it really appropriate for this exercise?” This puts Cardiff bottom of the “Be Nice to Your Workers” league.

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