From the Chief Executive, August 2019

I recently presented the second phase of our ambitious transformation programme to the Board of Trustees, and they have now approved funding which will take us through the next three years.

Our trustees are your representatives as the senior level of the BPS, and I'm delighted that they have agreed with our view that significant investment is required to allow us to improve our offering to members.

To become a more confident, braver and more modern organisation, we need the systems and the infrastructure to match. We've identified a series of areas where we need to take swift, decisive action to better meet your needs and we're already working hard to improve our services for you.

Updating the systems which underpin our work will take longer, but I know that this is an area which has held us back and frustrated members. By the end of this phase of the programme, you will be members of a more responsive and effective Society which has the tools to deliver for you.

We are looking at several important areas where we can make this happen. Our Senate is already allowing members to influence our policy decisions, and we will be looking at our research work and how we can increase the impact of evidence-based psychology.

A network of online communities is being developed which will allow you to communicate with each other across our existing networks and on the basis of shared interests.

I also want us to be much more aware of the changing landscape of our discipline. We will always be the home for psychologists in the UK, but it's vital that we also react to changes in the psychological workforce and offer a space for the range of new roles that are starting to be developed.

As part of the transformation programme we will be reviewing our membership grades, and aligning them far more with the reality of a member's career path.

All of this work will offer you the ability to get exactly what you want from the BPS, and ultimately allow us to become a career companion for all of our members, from those studying psychology all the way through to chartership.

The purpose of our transformation is to provide more for you, and be more supportive of the fine work which our members are doing. The BPS should be the home of psychology, and we will do all that we can throughout this process to make sure that it is.

This is an exciting time for us, but it's important that all members feel informed and involved throughout the transformation process.

If you have any questions or suggestions along the way, please get in touch.

Sarb Bajwa is Chief Executive of the British Psychological Society. Contact him at [email protected]