| Creative writing for accountants? |
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I have to admit to having all my prejudices challenged when I saw a creative writing course advertised which is only open to employees of a firm of accountants... Yes, Ernst & Young are running a monthly course on creative writing for its employees. And it's in its second year! When you look at the careers part of their home page it says: "At Ernst & Young, we are passionate about helping our people to achieve their potential. When our people achieve their best, so do our clients." And they are absolutely right - and how refreshing to see that and what's more, evidence of what they are doing to demonstrate that they mean what they say. What's even better is that the idea came from one of their employees: "The idea for the course came from a PA in the firm, Lavinia Osborne-Njoda, who wanted to share the joy and self-discovery of writing with her co-workers." Creative writing undoubtedly contributes to E&Y employees' effectiveness in their work - in direct (e.g. report writing) and indirect ways (enabling them to tap into skills which they might want to develop in the widest sense). So they clearly recognise that their employees have aspirations which are not necessarily closely connected with their work and also that they are 'whole' people with lives outside work. That sounds like the sort of organisation to work for. Congratulations to the enlightened leadership at Ernst & Young. And Ernst & Young aren't the only ones - Chambers and Partners, legal publishers, are offering creative writing to their employees too. Perhaps other City employers should follow suit... |
