‘Soft skills can be the hardest to master’

I hadn't talked to Bill Hester for maybe a quarter of a century since we worked together at nfernelson/ASE, one of the pioneers of UK psychometric testing. In those days occupational psychologists were in great demand, tending to specialise in making recruitment more objective through psychometrics, as well as training people in the competencies of test use. I asked Bill if much had changed.

'Occupational psychology is still a wonderful career choice. It is multi-faceted and creates value that goes way beyond people's careers or organisational performance. This was illuminated for me when a delegate from a leadership programme I ran wrote to me later and said, "This has saved my marriage". Both my daughters are studying psychology and several things struck me when I read their essays and dissertations. The first was how little the subject has changed since I was a student. The same seminal studies form the bedrock of our discipline. They both took the A-Level Psychology course, which is an excellent preparation and covers much of the ground we had to wrestle with in our degree course first year. This gives most of today's students at least a year's head start compared to where we were.'

Bill's own career has made him realise a lot of things. 'I've enjoyed over 20 years with DDI, a global leadership consulting company, concentrating on building a career within it… but that is somewhat unusual. Nowadays many psychologists have portfolio careers. Whilst larger companies in sectors such as automotive, banking and retail used to employ their own teams of occupational psychologists, I see less of that now. Increasingly we operate as external consultants, either employed by or associates of consultancy companies, or self-employed. Many people also combine these ways of working with teaching, research, and writing. Digital technologies and their increased use during the Covid lockdown have further energised this change.'

Academic mindset plus pragmatism

Bill tells me that in his early career, he worked with clients in person. 'Nowadays many tasks can be delivered online and technological improvements mean you can undertake complex diagnostics and "virtual classroom" training events, without needing occupational psychologists physically in the room. This improves scalability, reduces cost, and helps us towards carbon neutrality. So, many psychologists now design these systems and support the organisational change efforts to implement them, rather than delivery per se. To give an example some ten years ago DDI decided to invest in a brand new virtual classroom methodology. The development cost a huge amount and it seemed like a big mistake as only a few companies were buying until 2019. Then we found ourselves overnight market leaders, and since then live virtual leadership training has exploded. The first year of the pandemic was so busy we were scarcely able to take any holiday! Now we are seeing the pendulum swing back to a more hybrid approach, which strikes a balance between virtual instructor-led, digital and in-person training.'

Bill stresses an important transition point as psychologists move from their training into work. 'Obviously, degree courses are academic in nature and rightly teach the need for careful qualification and tentative conclusions. It sometimes feels like we are trained to sit on the fence! But in business, there's a need to almost unlearn some of this, to temper an academic mindset with more pragmatic attitudes. Of course, we must be empirical and think critically, but we also need to understand issues such as how political and economic pressures shape an organisation; how a particular client makes decisions emotionally as well as rationally; what are the unwritten rules of a particular industrial sector. We are trained to say "it depends" but in business, you need to be ready to offer a point of view.'

Bill emphasises the need to interact with people and build trusting, long-term relationships: '…something which, for instance, seems absent in courses such as MBAs. If I were a young occupational psychologist now, I'd take time to gain practical experiences I could draw on in talking to clients. You can really understand the challenges facing your clients by being genuinely interested and using good listening and questioning skills. So much is also in the public domain – it takes just five minutes to find out what  an organisation's CEO is saying, and you can then see how these priorities connect to your work. You can't simply walk in and expect to be accepted as an expert in a specialist subject. You need soft skills and as all good leaders know, soft skills can be the hardest skills to master.'

'We need to reinvent ourselves every ten years for a happy life'

How did Bill develop these views? Was he always fascinated by psychology? 'Well, no. In fact, instead of my first job in psychology, I nearly went on a month's tour of Europe supporting Tammy Wynette, but we'll return to that. I was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, sailed through my O-levels and thought I could do the same in my A-levels. Wrong! First major life lesson, and I only just made university through clearing. Short Open University films on TV coupled with reading Desmond Morris's book Animal Days were huge influences. A psychology lecturer friend of my parents got me hooked on the subject. And my degree from Lancashire Poly taught me something which was life-changing; think critically, basing your views and decisions on empiricism and rationalism. That has never been more important than today. Social media algorithms provide each of us with our own personal echo chamber and lies go around the world twice as fast as truth. Without the application of good critical thinking skills it can sometimes seem that our society is going backwards, with depressingly large numbers of people expressing, and believing all sorts of nonsense.'

Working in his father's engineering company during his time at university had tempered Bill's interest in psychology with a pragmatic view of the problems people faced at work and how they communicated. 'Occupational psychology as a third-year option appealed to me and seemed to offer a gateway into a varied career.'

He describes his MSc at Hull as a wonderful education, 'covering a range of topics including an early introduction to human-machine interaction as well as areas like testing, training, and workplace design. Professor Dave Bartram, who had pioneered the new competency-based approach to test training, was at Hull, so we trialled what was then Level A training there. Partly because of Dave, Hull was known as a centre of testing excellence and I validated some of ASE's tests for my master's thesis, which ultimately led to joining ASE for my first job in 1992.' Which brings us back to Tammy Wynette. 'The day I got that job offer, the country music band I was in got offered the support slot on a Tammy Wynette tour. Huge dilemma for a 20-something musician! I decided to take the ASE job and work my music career around it. I met my musical soulmate, Wendy, in 1996, we married and have written music and gigged regularly ever since. We released our first album earlier this year.' [Kaleidoscope by Chemistry Uncovered is on all streaming platforms].

For the past 20 years, Bill has worked for DDI, a global company specialising in leadership development founded in 1970 in America. 'What I love most is that our priority is to be true to the science; if we do that, clients will succeed and finances will flourish. In 2005 I became Head of Consulting but in 2011 1 decided to change from a management role to one focused 100 per cent on our clients and business development. I took on a global account role, working with a small number of some of DDI's largest global clients. I heard the writer, broadcaster, and former head of the London Business School Charles Handy's wife once said, "you need to reinvent yourself every 10 years for a happy life", and that change of job role allowed me to continue to develop new skills whilst staying with an organisation and colleagues that I have grown to love.'

'I wouldn't change a thing'

Bill points out that, in this role, he's been largely working remotely for nearly a decade and therefore knows a lot about how hybrid working can be most effective. 'I don't spend huge sums of money jetting around the world. With many clients based on other continents, regular touchpoints via Teams has allowed me to get to know people well and build strong relationships. When I do meet clients in person, it usually starts with a hug! At one time I was something of a lone wolf working like this, but now everyone is using the web to keep in touch, as well as deliver.'

Bill has just returned from a three-month break. 'It took me a while to slow down and enjoy myself but we've been working on our second album and, in line with the reinvention quotation, I've learnt to play drums… if you've ever thought you might like it, just do it, you can literally feel your brain growing! So I've enjoyed a great career with one company, taken very different and fulfilling roles within it, and also had time to follow my interest in music. And I'm really enjoying being back at work again. In the future, I might look at doing some teaching or board work to pay back what psychology has given me, but at the moment I wouldn't change a thing.'