As Australasian university staff return from their summer breaks, a higher education analyst says it is in the sector¡¯s interest to perpetuate the Christmas vibe.

Strategic adviser Ant Bagshaw says vice-chancellors¡¯ reform agendas could be implemented more effectively if they ran ¡°joyful¡± places. ¡°Universities survive because people want to work in them and students want to study at them,¡± he argues in a new book, . ¡°Performance indicators¡­focus too much on short-term returns and too little on the long-term benefits that come from universities being places where people can do their best work.

¡°There is a need to rebalance the emphasis. We cannot wait for a joyful HE system to be bestowed upon us.¡±

Dr Bagshaw¡¯s career has included stints at the London School of Economics, UCL and the UK¡¯s Quality Assurance Agency. He now leads LEK Consulting¡¯s education practice in Australia and New Zealand.

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He says that staff well-being is the ¡°essential underpinning for positive outcomes¡±, but administrators tend to pursue ¡°innovations¡± that ¡°take longer to implement and¡­may never happen at all¡±. While some might consider the joy concept ¡°too wishy-washy¡±, Dr Bagshaw counts France¡¯s Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain¡¯s David Cameron among the global leaders who have experimented with well-being-based prosperity measures.

He says joy means more than satisfaction or happiness. ¡°Joy is a state deep in one¡¯s body where the endorphins flow, and in the mind where the neurons fire. This is not what one expects of management speak.¡±

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He says his proposal should not be considered a ¡°soft¡± option. ¡°Joy must contribute to the mission. As the institution gains a reputation as a joyful place, great staff and students are attracted and stay and¡­great outcomes [occur] as a result.¡±

The book offers a three-part approach to cultivating institutional joyfulness: articulate the concept in strategy documents, consult widely to inspire staff buy-in, and ¨C pivotally ¨C ¡°remove barriers to joy¡±.

This last step can be achieved by celebrating success, encouraging ¡°empathetic feedback¡±, tackling bullies, fully supporting staff in times of crisis, and improving the pay and conditions of the lowest earners.

¡°We need to make joy tangible to avoid it being a vacuous platitude,¡± the book says. ¡°It must be consistent and heartfelt [and] extended to everyone. Given the challenges facing institutions and the wider world, this has to be worth a try.¡±

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Dr Bagshaw said he worried that ambitions for an ¡°overly efficient sector¡± had eroded the joy of working in universities. The book is?his attempt to ¡°find a new angle rather than just rehashing old conversations¡±.

¡°It tends to provoke an interesting response when you ask people about where they find joy in their work,¡± he told?Times Higher Education. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to have been asked that before.

¡°I don¡¯t think that anyone is going to go into the office one day and declare ¡®we need more joy around here¡¯. But¡­my bet is that the university which cracks this more humane approach will be better at attracting and retaining talent.

¡°The big issue is that access to joy is unevenly distributed. If you¡¯ve been in the sector a long time, have a healthy super[annuation] balance and an open-ended contract, access to joy is much easier than if you¡¯re in a low-wage role or experiencing a precarious contract-by-contract existence.¡±

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com