Stop the Brain Drain

Why a work psychologist?
Simple really, and there’s no magic to it. Psychologists have organised and thorough ways of looking at people and the things they do. So, for example, a sports psychologist will get to know about people and how they respond in competitive events, and will develop effective ways of working with teams and individuals. A work psychologist, similarly, deals with people and their work - and organisations and their people.

What do I do?
Here are a few things:
1. Job analysis – specifying exactly what is expected of someone in a job. You wouldn’t believe how much anxiety and waste is caused when there is misunderstanding about you or your colleagues have to do.

2. Help people in a business know each other better. Businesses work best when people are realistic about each other, so I help people become more aware of their own and other people’s motivation, abilities, ways of working and the things that sometimes make them ineffective or stressed

3. Design and lead meetings and workshops – it’s called facilitating. It might be a so-called awayday to help a team work better together, or a tricky meeting that no one really wants to chair. If it’s difficult, don’t put it off, get a facilitator

4. Help family businesses address the problems that can result from mixing family and work. The problems of rivalries or taking over from mum and dad, and so on cause too many businesses to collapse when they need not

Some of my recent clients: a large engineering consultancy, a family retail business, a small charity, the NHS, a snack food company.

Me
I have been researching and providing advice for 30 years, since studying under a terrific team led by Prof Tom Singleton at Aston University. I have been in business on my own account since 1988. I am based in Bath, but I will work anywhere: Bath, London, Istanbul, Calabria. I’m happy to work in all these interesting places again.