16 | FOREVER Keele
ALUMNI ON THE THEME OF WELLBEING
Making a living out of stating the obvious
Neil Thompson completed his PhD in 1990 and his DLitt in 2010 , both at Keele .
My PhD from Keele was a stepping stone into the academic world , but before too long I had moved on to develop my own business as a writer , educator and adviser . My background in social work led me into a focus on leadership and workplace well-being . I had realised that the problems I dealt with in families and communities ( stress , conflict , communication problems and so on ) were alive and well in organisations and doing a huge amount of harm .
As I look back over my career , I have the satisfaction of knowing that my work has made a lot of difference . But , at times , I have felt like a fraud . That ’ s because so much of my training and consultancy has revolved around stating the obvious :
• People have feelings that matter to them
• Treat people badly and you create problems
• Treat people well and you build trust , motivation and positive results
• Getting people to work with each other , not against each other , makes a huge difference .
No rocket science there ! But so often these have been the key messages I have had to put forward – not because the managers I worked with were stupid or inexperienced . It was mainly a combination of getting so busy and so focused on the details that they lost sight of the big picture and forgetting they were human too – they were neglecting their own needs . ‘ It ’ s all about people ’ became the strapline I used to publicise my business .
Of course , losing sight of these key messages had created all sorts of problems that needed skilled handling , but the basic issues remained the same .
These days , a major part of my work involves managing an employee wellness platform that promotes healthier and happier workers and workplaces that can benefit employers and employees . It ’ s very sophisticated stuff , but it all boils down to that core idea : it ’ s all about people !
Neil Thompson is an independent writer , educator and adviser , the Vice President of Vigoroom UK ( vigoroom . co . uk ) and a visiting professor at the Open University . His latest book is Anti-Racism for Beginners . His website is at : NeilThompson . info