20 GHP / Mental Health Awards 2022 Established in 2017, PsychologyWorks is a boutique business psychology consultancy which works with ambitious organisations who are looking to forge their own path towards better business results. This is done by making sure they have the right people, in the right roles, at the right time, with the right support. Working alongside talent managers, OD experts, and recruitment specialists, Psychology Works partners with motivated organisations to gain improved business results – through the assessment and development of their leaders. As a business psychology consultancy, Psychology Works specialises in designing bespoke, immersive, and engaging assessment, development, and learning experiences. This is done through combining the latest research in the field with people management and real lived experiences of what it takes to make a business a success – with a soupçon of fun on the side. This achieves deep, penetrating insights into the client’s potential and/or current leaders; increased engagement from the client’s people by creating realistic, engaging, and memorable experiences; better leaders; higher performing teams; enhanced employer brand and reputation; and ultimately, better business results. 20 years ago, Psychology Works Founder and Chief Business Psychologist, Maria Gardner began her career working in the field of stress, performance, and mental toughness, and she has now come full circle, with many years in the field of assessment and leadership development. As a result, Maria has made an observation regarding the journey that organisations go on when it comes to understanding and dealing with stress, wellbeing, and performance: it tends to be fairly predictable, and she refers to it as the Corporate Wellbeing Journey. Maria has helped businesses on both ends of the spectrum, from the wilfully ignorant/macho culture of “wellbeing is for wimps” through to those winning awards for their dedication to the area. She has also learnt that there are certain problems and frustrations that come along at predictable times. More importantly, there are ways of overcoming these for those organisations that know the journey ahead of them. According to Maria, the five stages of the Corporate Wellbeing Journey are: 1. ‘Not my problem.’ – A complete lack of awareness or interest regarding the wellbeing and mental health of employees. 2. ‘Fix up. Look sharp. Ready to go.’ – Recognition that something needs doing, but there is a lack of clarity as to what this should look like – It’s what Maria calls the “sticking plasters and panic stations” stage, where they are trying to cover up the cracks caused by the need for a fundamental cultural or structural change. 3. ‘In want of strategy: Joining up the dots.’ – Realising that wellbeing really is a ‘thing’, with a genuine commitment towards the wellbeing of employees. However, despite the commitment and investment in place, they just don’t seem to be seeing the true change or benefits they expect – Although they have put a range of resources in place, there could be a failure in joining them up, or too much emphasis at the individual level rather than the organisational level, which is likely limiting the impact of the company’s good work. 4. ‘‘Mind the gap’ upskilling needed.’ A proper strategy is in place and the positive impact on employee wellbeing is being seen: employee numbers look good, sickness absence is down, and employee engagement and performance is up – But there may be a growing realisation that the leaders in the business don’t have the skills or capability to support wellbeing commitments. To resolve this, the business needs to invest in upskilling its management. 5. ‘Smashing it! Keep going…’ – This stage is ‘Destination Wellbeing’, and the priority is to keep evolving and refining the great work the organisation has been doing. Although, an unexpected challenge could emerge here – In striving to do too much for its employees when it comes to supporting wellbeing, some companies can unintentionally tighten the reigns on their staff, making them feel disempowered and accidentally taking on the role of the ‘parent’. The challenge is to rebalance the relationship so that it is a partnership with equal responsibility being taken between the employer and its staff. Knowing these predictable stages across the Corporate Wellbeing Journey can guide organisations towards identifying their key pitfalls and priorities so they can work on improving their wellbeing strategy. Ultimately, a lack of employee wellbeing hurts the company as well as the individual – it can cost the business money, while good employee wellbeing can make the business money. Overall, Maria’s advice works. Many companies, including sage, MOI Global, and HappyHQ have been helped by her – and they have seen excellent results. Joe Edwards, Director of Global Campaign Development at sage comments, “I’ve worked with Maria from Psychology Works on a couple of projects in the past – big global marketing projects using psychometrics to benchmark peoples’ aptitude to their role. Maria was insightful, intelligent, and really helped us create tools that drove inquiries and provided value for our target audiences. I could not recommend her more.” Company: Psychology Works Email: [email protected] Website: www.psychologyworks.eu Best Business Psychology Consultancy - UK
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