The Challenge of Change is a portfolio of business psychology services designed to bring about positive change in individuals, teams and culture. The Challenge of Change uniquely draws directly from research findings to develop effective methods of improving individual and team performance.

Establishment of the Stress Research Unit

Having specialised for many years in personality and health research, Dr Roger became interested in what it was that seemed to protect some people from stress while others were more vulnerable, and answering this question led to the establishment of the internationally-renowned Stress Research Unit at the University of York in England.

Contradictory Results – Paradigm Shift

The research focused on differences in emotional style, especially whether or not people expressed the emotion they felt and whether or not they went on thinking about the emotion after the event had passed. The studies have shown that ruminating about emotional upset afterwards not only revives all of the emotional feelings, but also triggers the physiological response to the distress that occurred at the time. This leads to increases in ‘fight or flight’ hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which when prolonged places an unnecessary demand on the cardiovascular and immune systems. These results contradicted traditional beliefs about stress and resilience, and have been recognised as a significant paradigm shift.

Evidence-based

In the early 1980s Derek began to work with the North Yorkshire Police Force to develop a practical training programme based on this work, resulting in the core training for The Challenge of Change. Having a research programme running in parallel meant that the effectiveness of the training could be rigorously tested and evidence from carefully controlled studies have shown significant changes in health, performance and sickness-absence that have been sustained over 18-month follow-ups. Around this time Derek established The Work Skills Centre, a consultancy to market and deliver The Challenge of Change.              Click here for access to the N Yorkshire Police Case Study

Integrated System

Market demand for additional psychology based services has led Derek to develop a complete business psychology portfolio which adds significant value to the core training programme. The expanded portfolio incorporates his unique and extensively validated climate survey, stress audits, semi-structured interviews and peer-rated competency assessments, and the integrated system has been shown to empower individuals to better performance by focusing not only on their individual wellbeing but also their interpersonal and team skills. Along with the core training, The Challenge of Change can be applied to group work with specific teams as well as focused mentoring for individual managers or team members. Detailed follow-up testing assesses the effectiveness of the interventions.                       Click here - For Access to the Meridian Energy Case Study

Proven Success Story

Says Garth Dibley, Markets & Production Director for Meridian Energy, “We found real value in not just running The CoC Resilience Training in isolation but in running the whole programme – from an initial on-site assessment; broad diagnostic assessment including overall climate survey to a follow-up assessment, based on an analysis of the change. We had evidence of significant shifts and improvements in working that lifted the whole team.”

Established Programme

The Challenge of Change quickly became established in the UK where it has been implemented in a wide range of public and private sector companies. For instance The Work Skills Centre is now a Preferred Provider of training to the BBC throughout the UK and forms part of core training in the NHS in Yorkshire. The implementation of The Challenge of Change in organisations throughout New Zealand is gathering momentum as companies and organisations recognise the significant benefits associated with applying insightful psychology in this unique way.

« Back