At WPG our people are our most important asset. Our founders, Professor Fiona Patterson and Dr Máire Kerrin, have hand-picked a team of highly-skilled Organisational Psychology practitioners with wide-ranging expertise in all sectors – both nationally and internationally. We pride ourselves on our unique blend of strong organisational experience and academic proficiency which enables us to translate the latest research into practical, innovative solutions.
But we continue to evolve in response to both the development of the company and the requirements of our clients. So, it’s vital that we also continue to invest in our people. And we are delighted to bring news of three new appointments and a few well-deserved promotions.
New Starters
It’s a warm welcome to three fantastic new consultants who have joined the company in the last few months:
Sophie Laidler – Consultant
Sophie has expertise in a variety of occupational psychology related fields, with specific focus on employee engagement and talent development & assessment. She holds an Msc in Organisational Psychology from Macquarie University.
Sophie moved to London from Sydney, Australia in 2016 and loves traveling around Europe. She has Geordie heritage, so can often be found cheering Newcastle on at football matches (Toon Toon!).
Jessica Pickard – Consultant
Jess has a background in designing and delivering assessment processes, primarily in policing and graduate recruitment. She graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2015, with an MSc in Occupational Psychology and, in addition to selection and assessment, is interested in development, innovation, wellbeing and resilience.
Having grown up on the Yorkshire Coast, when she’s not at work Jess loves to be outside. She enjoys walking, running and skiing – and is always up for a muddy obstacle activity or a new challenge. Jess is also a big lover of food and cooking – just to balance out all the activity!
Jessica Bird – Consultant
Jess has an MSc in Occupational Psychology from Coventry University and came to us from a Leadership and Management Development Consultancy, where her role primarily involved the design and delivery of assessment and development centres and coaching and facilitation of leadership programmes.
Her Organisational Psychology interests include selection, development, training and well-being. And on a personal note, Jess considers her downfall to be pasta and her favourite pastime is carpool karaoke!
Promotions
Well done to Analise La-Band, who has been promoted from Senior Psychologist to Associate Director. Analise has been with WPG for eight years, having started as a Consultant before progressing to Senior and now AD.
As an Associate Director, Analise will lead key areas of WPG’s internal operations to ensure organisational effectiveness. This includes overseeing the learning and development of our consultancy team and coordinating the company’s marketing activity. She will also continue to contribute at a strategic level to a range of projects within our assessment for development and selection portfolio.
Congratulations also to Laura Devlin, who has been promoted from Psychologist to Consultant after joining WPG a year ago. In her new role she will take on additional responsibility in leading some of our consulting projects which will involve working more closely with clients across the lifecycle of the project. When asked about her new role, Laura said: “I am very excited about my new role of Consultant Psychologist and the different opportunities and challenges this will bring. It is wonderful to have the continued support and encouragement from my WPG colleagues as I progress.”
And finally, congratulations to Jo Hasse, who has been promoted from her Business Administration role to Office Manager and Accounts Assistant. Jo’s promotion is in recognition of the crucial role she plays in overseeing the effective operation of our Head Office in Derby. In addition, Jo contributes to some of our high-profile selection projects as well as providing key support to our Associate Director of Finance.
Speaking about the new hires and promotions, WPG’s founding Director, Máire Kerrin, said: “It’s a warm welcome to Sophie, Jess B and Jess P in joining our talented team. Congratulations to Analise, Laura and Jo on their promotions. They have all proved to be key members of the WPG team and we’re delighted to be able to recognise their contributions.”
There’s more about the WPG team here.
