Toby Wall, who passed away recently aged 77, was a hugely influential scholar in the field of Applied Psychology and Work Psychology in particular. He influenced legions of scholars and students through his ground-breaking research into the psychological impacts of job and work design as well as through his teaching, postgraduate supervision and research centre leadership.
Toby gained undergraduate and PhD degrees in Psychology from the University of Nottingham, joining the University of Sheffield as a researcher at the MRC Social and Applied Psychology Unit (SAPU) in 1971. He was awarded a professorship in 1986.
Toby’s early research focused on the measurement of job attitudes, and he retained an intense interest in complex methodological issues over his entire career. Soon after his arrival at SAPU, however, he developed a passion for industry-based longitudinal research projects, something that would come to strongly define his career over the next thirty years. Toby liked nothing better than to be presented with a challenging work-related problem by industry and to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to deliver real evidence-based solutions. He was the master of quasi-experimental field research design, abstaining from easier arms-length methodologies for those that embedded the researcher deep in the realities of industry life, and which sought to have a real positive impact on organisations and those who worked there. Doctoral students and early career researchers benefitted hugely from this approach, often being thrown into the deep end of consultations with senior management teams, unions and workers at the very outset of their research career, learning valuable lessons about the conduct of applied research in field settings and change management along the way.
The focus of much of Toby’s research was on the impact that technological, economic and social change have on the jobs and well-being of people in the workplace. His early field studies of employee participation in management decision-making and autonomous work groups are exemplary models of collaboration between industry and universities in social science research. Later work focused particularly on technological change as it affected work content and workers, describing the impact of various waves of automation and how humans could retain their agency and health in such contexts. He was amongst the first work psychologists to study the impact of technology-induced uncertainty as a key factor affecting work design and behaviour at work. This work continues to have huge relevance today, as organisations and their employees consider how AI can beneficially be incorporated into work settings.
Over a career spanning more than 35 years, Toby published 12 books and more than 150 articles or book chapters. He was elected a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1985 and made a Fellow of the International Association of Applied Psychology in 2006.
Toby was hugely committed to psychology education. He was inaugural course director for the influential MSc in Occupational Psychology at the University of Sheffield, Director for Research for the University Graduate School from 1994-1998, and a member of the HEFCE Panel for Psychology from 1995-1997. Toby supervised many doctoral students and was renowned for his inspirational, compassionate and supportive supervision. Several students have reminisced how Toby would go out of his way to provide positive feedback to them, seeking them out to tell them how their essay or thesis was the best he had read on that topic. His generosity and consideration in providing such feedback was greatly appreciated by students. His students have gone on to occupy many leading roles in academia and business around the world, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.
Toby took over from Peter Warr as Director of the Social and Applied Psychology Unit in 1994. He steered the group skilfully through a difficult and lengthy period of change to become inaugural Director of SAPU’s successor, the Institute of Work Psychology (IWP). He attracted funding from the ESRC for the Centre for Organisation and Innovation which lasted for 10 years.
Toby was known for being an outstanding leader who created a welcoming, collegial and inspiring environment where researchers could learn and thrive. He led with great integrity and a keen sense of humour. Several of those who worked under Toby fondly recall his familiar laughter resounding in the corridors of the building (along with the smoke from his pipe!). As well as the serious business of conducting and disseminating excellent research, there was also fun to be had, and Toby’s approach ensured there was a good balance between the two. He had a profound influence on many careers during his directorship. Through his mentorship, many researchers benefited from his keen critical analysis skills which helped them to see connections and to turn their fledgling ideas into publishable contributions.
Toby stepped down from the directorship of IWP in 2006 and retired in 2007, becoming an Emeritus Professor at Sheffield University Management School. He enjoyed a happy and busy retirement, spending time with his wife Ann, his children Gemma and Ben, and wider family and friends, travelling for leisure and engaging in a variety of activities and interests such as playing bridge, gardening, DIY and reading for pleasure.