It's the science that makes it work.

Occupational psychology provides scientific support for important decisions about people. We maximise business performance by helping employers to select, develop and motivate their talent.

Organisational Development blends the science of psychology with the art of communication. This is the special capability that changes things: psychologists and communication specialists working together to drive sustainable change in organisations, from culture transformation to post-merger integration programmes.

When you develop effective leadership behaviour, you unlock the potential of the entire workforce: Leadership Development is the key to an inclusive, high-performance culture based on fair play and meritocracy.

How friendly is your website? We use heuristics and Verbal Protocol Analysis to measure online usability. It could transform the way you look at your website.

All About Psychometrics

Objective approaches to ability testing, personality measurement and motivational fit provide a secure basis for important decisions about people.

Classic research studies¹ show that conventional, less structured job interviews leave far too much to chance. The correlation between success in an interview and subsequent performance in a role is somewhere between 15% and 30%. By contrast, a robust assessment centre scores closer to 65%. ²

Occupational psychology combines science with common sense to provide solid support for important decisions about people.

It helps employers to get the most out of their teams, but it also helps individuals to get the most out of themselves, too. It's a virtuous circle: organisations that help employees to fulfil their potential find it much easier to attract and retain the talent they need to succeed.

This is why we built our own occupational psychology practice at work: many of the most difficult HR issues will yield to the rigour of objective analysis. Our consultant psychologists can help boost performance throughout the employment cycle, from job definition and competency design to succession planning and executive coaching. When you understand what makes people tick, you will also know what makes an organisation successful.

1. Hunter & Hunter 1984; Smith et al 1981, 2001.[r1]
2. Some subsequent research has revised this figure downwards: many more companies are using assessment centres today, but the evidence suggests they are often shoddy in design and delivery. The original research stressed the word 'robust'. If an assessment centre is not based on the application of valid principles, it will suffer the same kind of errors as traditional interviews.

Assessment

We create and deliver full-cycle assessment processes including business simulations, assessment exercises and structured interviews.

The psychology of attraction & selection 'Finding the people you need'

• Job Definition
• Selection Process Design
• Competency Design
• Psychometric Assessment
• Assessment Design
• Assessment Delivery
• Leadership Profiling
• Assessor Training

Competency Design

The building block of objective assessment and development: standardising the behavioural framework ensures a level playing field for hiring and promotion decisions.

Competencies are those behaviours which are considered to be essential for success in a particular role. If we can define and assess competencies objectively, we can also help people to improve their expertise and performance over time, systematically and progressively. What's more, by standardising the behavioural framework, we ensure a level playing field for career development. If everyone is assessed in the same way and we are transparent about the measures we use, it is much easier to build open and inclusive meritocracies.

Development

From succession planning and management development to one-to-one executive coaching, we help unlock the potential of the entire workforce.

The psychology of performance & development 'Keeping the people you need'

• Individual Development
• Appraisal Design
• Team Development
• Development Toolkits
• 1:1 Coaching
• Succession Planning
• Culture Mapping

Our approach to development is fundamentally methodical and objective: we use the scientific disciplines of occupational psychology to measure what high performance looks like – and then we create learning and development programmes to make it happen. A significant strength of the approach is the synergy of benefits: organisations that help people to fulfil their potential and grow both personally and professionally will find it much easier to recruit and retain the talent they need.

By aligning the objectives of the organisation with the ambitions of the individual, it's possible to create a virtuous circle of continuous improvement. We regularly tackle human development projects as a combined effort between the occupational psychologists and communications experts of the work consulting team. People going through development programmes need to understand what's in it for them. The experience can be challenging as well as rewarding: it's important to engage the enthusiasm and commitment of the people who sign up for a development programme. Often too, the leadership development programme can be a central plank in a wider culture change programme.

Job Analysis

Objective role analysis guides your recruitment activity and helps you make optimum use of available talent.

Job analysis identifies and determines the detailed requirements of a specific role. While job analysis data may be collected from employees through interviews or questionnaires, the product of the analysis is a description or specification of the job, not a description of the person. Rigorous job analysis can help to focus both recruitment and development activities, and it can also create closer alignment between the strategic objectives of the organisation and the approach to talent management.

Organisational Development

Culture change, engagement and succession planning – we use psychology and communication to drive positive change.

There are now many competing methodologies and approaches relating to OD. Organisational Development has traditionally involved a three-pronged process of Planning, Action and Measurement, which is largely intuitive: you decide what you are going to do, you do it and then you measure the results. Some organisations use the McKinsey 7S model of strategic management, which lists the interdependent elements of Strategy, Structure, Systems (hard elements) and Shared Values, Skills, Style and Staff (soft elements). Such checklists help ensure that you don't omit any important factors, but they are no substitute for clarity of thinking and communication.

An OD Strategy does not need to be a weighty or complicated document; indeed, it will work better if it is easily understood and acted upon by everyone in the organisation. Its prime value is to provide a coherent road-map and directions to the organisation you want to become - and the future you want to create. Often, the OD Strategy can provide the umbrella platform for a culture change programme that engages staff with the strategy of the organisation. This means that colleagues can understand each single change as a logical part of the coherent big picture; this is vastly superior to the 'initiative fatigue' that occurs when employees feel themselves the target of a series of disconnected and unsettling changes.

Our consulting team brings together chartered psychologists and communication specialists into a single capability that is uniquely powerful; by understanding and influencing human behaviour, we can define and deliver sustainable advances in both culture and performance.

Performance Appraisal

Conventional and 360º appraisal frameworks help people to understand and manage their own development.

Objective, scientific performance appraisal should be a win-win initiative for employers and employed, but it has to be an empowering experience for individuals that provides the tools, confidence and encouragement to manage their own development. Too many appraisals are managed as a kind of mild disciplinary procedure, something which your manager does to you in order to get more out of you.

Successful appraisal frameworks promote collaboration between the organisation and the individual: rather than a rare event, they are a continuing partnership, with no surprises and plenty of opportunities to identify and fulfil personal potential. At the heart of the successful appraisal and development process is a set of criteria that ground the personal improvement process in the context of the real world.

The best appraisals draw on a sound competency framework: if we are to help people fulfil their potential and improve their performance, it helps to have a consistent picture of what success looks like for a particular role.

We create appraisal frameworks as a standalone business improvement or employee engagement process, but we also use them a lot in leadership development and culture change initiatives. When they are understood as a platform for improved communication and clarity at work, people are much more eager to be involved and the results can be very impressive indeed.

Succession Planning

Skills audit and performance management programmes can tell you where your next generation of leaders is coming from – and where you should be focusing your development effort.

Sometimes, there is a clear gap in the chain of succession within an organisation. A freeze on graduate recruitment during a recession will produce an obvious and predictable shortage of middle managers within a decade. Sometimes the talent gap is demographic with the retirement of an entire management generation or a drop in the popularity of a particular industry. Often however, there is a more subtle and invidious sense that the current management population is 'just not quite up to it'. This pessimism about the future may be vague and unsubstantiated, but it can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy; if up-an-coming talents are not given the chance to prove themselves against larger challenges or bigger jobs, they never will be up to it.

It may well be that you have some people who do not have the skills or potential to move up within the organisation, but you will never know for sure unless you define the success factors of the target roles, and then identify the development needs of people who might fill them. You may well find people who have reached the top of their development curve, but you will almost certainly find more who have substantial untapped potential. The fact is, if you spend time reflecting on what high performance looks like, you will start to identify more high performers. Development centres are powerful because they effectively increase the net amount of talent available to you, without hiring extra people.

Web Usability Testing

Making the most of your online presence with heuristics and Verbal Protocol Analysis (VPA).

The usability of your website really matters. If you provide an enjoyable, rewarding experience, then people are more likely to stay on your website, find out more about you, and engage with your services. If you frustrate them or confuse them, you will lose them in the time it takes them to click 'back'.

We use combinations of Heuristic Evaluation and Verbal Protocol Analysis to analyse how people react with your website. Heuristic Evaluation scores a site against independent, research-based criteria, while Verbal Protocol Analysis measures usability by getting research subjects to comment on their experience in real time as they complete a series of tasks on the site. As well as applying psychological insights to usability issues, we also have web designers and developers who can translate those insights into site improvements and enhancements that deliver immediate benefits.

A modest investment in web usability studies can provide a huge return to employers; whether it's improving the candidate experience though the careers site, optimising online application and selection processes or engaging with existing employees through the intranet, we can help you maximise the value of your online presence.

Training your Team

We share skills in everything from 360º appraisal and interviewing skills to job analysis and competency design.

People used to assume that interviewing was something you picked up instinctively, just by doing it. Even today, very few employers train their managers in objective assessment, interviewing, team briefing or feedback. It's long been known that the consequences of poor assessment processes can be dire: people who hire individuals because 'they liked the cut of their jib' are storing up problems for themselves and the organisation. But this is often allowed to continue because the consequences of poor assessment processes only emerge down the line; the blame is associated with the now-obvious shortcomings of the individual, rather than the dodgy interview which first brought them into the business.

Our psychologists spend as much time sharing their knowledge and expertise with client teams as they do in personal delivery. Whether it's a fast-stream graduate assessment process or a leadership development programme, the aim is to give the employer the tools to engage effectively with talented people.