What IS Business Psychology?

As I have recently successfully completed my MSc Business Psychology, I was excited to share the news with family members. Then came the question ‘What IS Business Psychology?….. Embarrassingly, I may have stumbled in my attempts at explaining. So I looked to the Association of Business Psychology (www.theabp.org.uk) and this is what I liked best as a way of defining it:

“The study and practice of improving working life. It combines an understanding of the science of human behaviour with experience of the world of work to attain effective and sustainable performance for both individuals and organisations.”

This takes our remit beyond the Learning and Development interventions and places us firmly in understanding the systemic nature of organisations, and the interconnectivity of all that is done or not done. We wish to add value to working life where that value is itself often intangible and certainly tricky to isolate. And yet we know that what we do makes a difference. The learning journey continues….