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Posted: 07/12/09Chair of the ABP
Dear ABP Member,
You will be aware of the sudden and untimely death on 7 November of our Chair, Francis Butler. Francis’ contribution will be sorely missed and a full obituary will appear in our next newsletter. Though Francis had intended to remain on the Board, where we looked forward to him continuing the work on our strategy and our move towards a more robust future, he had made it clear at this year’s elections that he did not intend to stand again as Chair.
We were therefore already in the process of electing a successor when Francis died. Since September we had been exploring possibilities with Steve Whiddett, who became a board member at this year’s elections. At a meeting on the 30th November, in accordance with the Articles of Association, the Board has now elected Steve as the new Chair of the ABP. Steve will be able to provide continuity, building effectively on Francis’ work, and brings a rich wealth of experience and energy to the challenges of chairing the Board and leading the Association.
A short biography of Steve appears below. He takes on the Chair at a crucial stage in the development of the Association. The Board recently held its annual Strategy Day and emerged invigorated and with ambitious ideas for our development. We hope to be sharing these ideas with you over the coming months and in particular at the Conference in May, when Steve will be offering members a newly articulated Purpose and Vision for the ABP.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Steve to his new role and wishing him every success.
Carol Cole
Vice-Chair
Steve Whiddett: Chair of the Board of the ABP
Steve started his working life on a market stall in South London’s East Street market before starting an apprenticeship and working as a telecommunications engineer. In the mid 1970s he was involved in youth and social work, leaving to lead a full-time project providing remedial education and work skills training to teenagers who had been excluded from mainstream education.
In 1983 Steve accepted a place at Brunel University to study psychology. The course included three six month work placements; one of which was at Saville and Holdsworth Ltd. Steve joined SHL full-time after graduating and went on to head up SHL’s job analysis team, leading the development of their Work Profiling System. In 1991 he joined Pearn Kandola where he studied part time for his master’s degree in Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck College and lectured part-time in ‘Ethics in Consulting’ at Birkbeck from 1996 to 1998. Steve joined Pearn Kandola’s management team and was made a Partner in 1996.
While at Pearn Kandola, Steve co-authored three CIPD publications: ‘Tools for assessment and development centres’, ‘The Competencies Handbook’ (updated in 2003 as ‘A practical guide to competencies: how to enhance individual and organisational performance’) and ‘The Motivation Handbook’. He is also co-author of the CIPD publication ‘The Competencies Toolkit’.
In 2002 Steve left Pearn Kandola to start WHE (UK) Ltd., a consultancy practice which integrates experience with research and takes a holistic view of individual, group and organisational performance. It aims to ensure that interventions achieve long lasting systemic changes that address the causes and not just the symptoms of performance challenges.
Steve is a regular contributor to journals and conferences on the use of psychology to enhance individual and organisational performance.
Steve’s other interests include: real ale, walking and mountain biking (in real mountains), music, films, wood carving, guitar, renovating his house, conversation, wine and cooking. Steve is a qualified martial arts coach and teaches Tai Chi Chuan and Hsing I Chuan (two of the Chinese internal martial arts). The rest of the Board hopes these latter two skills will not need to be called upon whilst he is chairing our meetings!