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I have been an Occupational Psychologist for over thirty years. My first degree was in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Dublin (Trinity College). I started working life as an academic researcher in London University on the effectiveness of industrial training methods while I studied part-time for a PhD in the Psychology of Art. The need to earn a living determined my subsequent career as an occupational psychologist though I have never lost my love of visual art.
In 1976 I left the academic world to manage the employment research unit of The Runnymede Trust, an independent research and social policy institute based in London focussing on equal opportunity issues in the UK and the rest of Europe. My lifelong interest in diversity, of all kinds, stems from this period.
My first experience as a consultant was gained in 1981 when I joined SHL, then a small relatively new company, and now one of the world’s largest psychometric test publishers. From SHL I learned the importance of quality and customer service and also how to run a business.
In 1984, with my friend and colleague Binna Kandola, I established Pearn Kandola Occupational Psychologists. Based in Oxford and Dublin, its work is global in reach. My time there reinforced for me the importance of being values-driven in a way that enabled a small organisation to take on and often beat consultancies many times its size.
In 1999 I decided to leave Pearn Kandola to achieve a better balance of life with much less travel. Since then I have been working in my own name (main services) dividing my time between Dublin and Malta.
Over the years I have produced a number of books. More recent ones include
- Tools for a Learning organisation (McGraw-Hill)
- Empowering Team Learning (IPD)
- Ending the Blame Culture (Gower), recently published in China in Mandarin and also simplified Chinese
- The Wiley Handbook of Individual Differences and Development in Organisations (Wiley)
I am a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I am also a Fellow of the RSA and a strong supporter of its Manifesto aims.
At a personal level I am a sporadic sailor, an intermittent mountain walker, a compulsive reader of fiction and maritime history, and I dabble in watercolours. Diving and skiing also a get an occasional look in.
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