With the research industry undergoing seismic change and embedding AI throughout its processes, many of the discussions at this year’s &more Virtual Conference focused on how early-career professionals can finesse their research craft and what organisations and the sector can do to support their development.

Research in the ‘real world’

There has been a shift away from in-person fieldwork in recent years, starting with the pandemic and exacerbated by client pressures for faster, cheaper research.

Speaking during a presentation, Millie Holliday, insight executive at Strat7 ResearchBods, discussed the value of face-to-face research – particularly for those in the early stages of their research career.

Holliday said: “As someone who started my career post-pandemic, I feel lucky to have had some experience in getting out there into the real world, when many junior researchers haven’t had the opportunity to develop these face-to-face skills.

“We’ve been trained on digital tools as that’s where the demand has been – but if we don’t give young researchers the chance to learn these skills, we risk losing them and the craft of face-to-face research altogether. If we nurture these skills now, we will not only strengthen young researchers but also the industry as a whole.”

Sharing examples of the nuance offered by observing participants in person, including a session with gluten-free participants which yielded surprise insights during a break in the discussion, Holliday said: “What we had planned to be a little break in the session turned into a little goldmine of insight.

“The unplanned imperfect moments – the things you can never script – are often the ones that stick with you and your clients.” 

Valuing people and intergenerational learning

In a panel session, authors of a forthcoming MRS Delphi Group report on the ‘gen Z’ research workforce – Colin Strong, head of behavioural science at Ipsos and chair of the Delphi Group; Christina Tarbotton, research director at Boxclever and part of the &more leadership team; and Josephine Hansom, chair of the MRS ED&I Council – discussed some findings of the research (with researchers of all experience levels), set to be published on 5^th November.

One of the report’s findings was that the top factor for retention of early-career researchers – according to driver analysis – was feeling valued and that their contributions are taken seriously.

Tarbotton said: “How do we keep young researchers in the industry? At the core of what they want is feeling valued – 47% of our young researchers felt they had been underestimated or stereotyped while working in the industry.”

Tarbotton also said junior researchers want to help and innovate within their organisations – they are more tech-savvy and open to new methodologies. She added: “A real dampener on that is reluctance or pushback internally to giving them that opportunity. It leads to a feeling of rejection or being undervalued.”

The research also found that contrary to some perceptions, junior researchers were more likely to say they mostly or completely wanted to be in the office, than senior researchers.

Hansom said: “There’s a mismatch. We’re saying it’s the juniors who don’t want to come in, but looking at the data, it’s the juniors who are more eager to come in. I think they’re coming in for learning opportunities.

“The project data shows we have a confidence gap… and the question is, can Zoom or Teams deliver or close that gap? If juniors are coming to the office to learn by osmosis, are the seniors going to be there?”

Also on the panel, Strong said: “Understanding how to create effective intergenerational workplaces is one of the key challenges for our industry.

“One of the good things about the workplace is it’s one of the few places where intergenerational mixing is going on. With that there comes challenges, maybe some tensions, for example, tech adaptability. We’ve got an opportunity for generational choreography – to make the best of the knowledge and expertise to ensure it’s flowing in both ways.”

Strong said ‘intergenerational apprenticeships’ or ‘mutual mentorship’ could help different generations to speak openly. He said: “It’s not a matter of youth versus experience. Fluency and wisdom create this feedback loop which the industry clearly needs.

“We almost entered this with an assumption that we might find jarring differences, but in fact we found more similarities.”

Finessing feedback

In another presentation at the conference, Firefish researchers discussed how they have implemented a new approach to feedback internally.

Rebekah Smith, research manager, Firefish, said: “One of the ironies is that research is something that we do all the time and it’s all about asking questions but when it comes to asking questions about ourselves it can feel really weird and we’re not always very good at it.”

“This industry also has a tendency to be very busy. We are time poor and client focused. Feedback conversations can fall by the wayside.”

However, Smith added: “We all know that those uncomfortable moments are where we build resilience and where in the long term, we can grow.”

The agency has introduced ‘working with me’ discussions when projects kick off, when people can share how they like to work.

“We then have mid-project check-ins and encourage people to give feedback as and when which takes the sting out of it,” said Smith.

To influence behavioural change more widely in the company, the researchers got key advocates on board within the business and encouraged them to lead on this. They also used the term ‘insight’ rather than ‘feedback’. Smith said: “We do it with clients every single day and yet when it comes to insight about ourselves, we’re calling it feedback but it could just be seen as being curious, coming from a constructive place of asking questions. Calling it insight instead of feedback makes it much less scary and weird and more part of the day job which we all love.”

Michelangelo Palmisano, senior research executive at Firefish, said it was important for trust to first be in place so that people feel they can share honestly. He added: “Leaders go first – modelling vulnerability is key to asking for it from others.”

He added: “Use small and frequent feedback – a 30-second comment right after a meeting is more powerful than a 30-minute review that’s been planned far in advance. Use these moments of insight to celebrate growth and as opportunities to work towards that common goal.”

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