Walking on hot coals: another favourite motivational exercise. Photograph: Patrick Darby/Corbis
People sometimes tell me I look like death when I arrive at the office in the mornings, but at least I've never actually been nailed into a coffin by my boss. That could happen if I worked in South Korea where, believe it or not, some employers are using live burials to improve their workers' performance, according to a recent CNN report.
For about £165, representatives of Korea Life Consulting Co will solemnly recite a dirge before ushering you into a casket, nailing it shut and throwing a few handfuls of dirt over the top. Admittedly they do let you out after about 15 minutes, at which point you are supposedly "reborn" with a renewed sense of earthly wellbeing and priorities.
The ritual, known as "well-dying", is sufficiently established for Samsung Electronics to have sent 900 of its factory workers for mock burial (perhaps explaining why my DVD player has been performing so erratically). About 50,000 South Koreans have taken part in the fake funerals since 2004, the majority aged in their 30s and 40s - something for our depressed generation of 44-year-olds to think about, perhaps?
Actually, I think I'd prefer to be buried alive in a nice, peaceful coffin for a quarter of an hour than spend two days locked in a hotel in Bracknell listening to motivational gurus droning on about "adding value" to everything I do. But it does make you wonder what other tactics employers are using to fire up their staff.
So what's the most inspirational, tedious or downright stupid thing your employer has ever done to try to boost your workplace productivity?
