Is a healthy and productive work environment possible?
The cultural milieu is characterized by its multi-talented personnel but also by its many economic and time restraints. From season to season, from project to project, from grant request to sponsorship request, the leaders of arts companies face multiple challenges, and their activities seem to be reduced to finding money, preparing for board meetings, getting the next production on the way, and showtime! While until further notice there are still only 24 hours in a day and all too many cultural workers are putting in long stretches of overtime, the notion of human resource management seems absent from the daily priorities and tasks set by company directors. Is it surprising to find high rates of turnover and burnout, or that employees are leaving this sector for jobs in more humane work environments, jobs that also pay better? This workshop is meant to be a moment of reflection on our way of doing things. Are we making the right choices? Must we, and can we go on like this any longer? What price are we paying? Do solutions exist?