The 2024 awards categories were as follows:
IQCS Project Management Excellence
This award celebrates an individual or team who have demonstrated project management excellence in the implementation, organisation, management and delivery of a particularly challenging project. We are looking for a case study of a recent project which showcases superior project management skills in the delivery of a challenging project.
What the Judges are looking for:
- Going the extra mile to complete a challenging project
- Implementation of rigorous quality processes to ensure robust data collected
- Delivering excellence to your internal/external client
- Demonstrating strong project management and people management skills
- Flexibility and creativity in handling changing operational and delivery requirements
The Winners are:
Highly commended: Ipsos UK
Winner: Perspective Research Services
Perspective’s submission the “Your Bus Journey” project met all the criteria that the judges were looking for in this Project Management Excellence Award. The project involved 200+ interviewers conducting in person 5000 shifts from Dec to Feb across the UK in all weather conditions and at all times of the day and night.
Tremendous organisation skills, flexible planning and logistics went into ensuring this extremely challenging project was delivered on time and produced high quality deliverables for their client .At all times the project was underpinned by rigorous quality control procedures and excellent people management skills to ensure their field force was valued and supported.
As the client said, they went above and beyond expectations – Well done Perspective
IQCS Interviewer Excellence
This award celebrates an individual or team in data collection operations who have demonstrated that they go the extra mile in consistently delivering interviewing excellence.
What the judges are looking for:
- Dedication to quality
- Consistently high standard of interviewing
- Robust data-collection
- Going the extra mile to complete a challenging project or projects
- Delivering excellence to your internal/external client
The Winners are:
Highly commended: Perspective Research Services
Winner: TfGM
The TRGM team have received excellent feedback and praise for the high quality data , large volume surveys and quick turnaround projects that they undertake despite having to navigate logistical issues out in the field on an almost daily basis
This team is described as dedicated and professional who continually go out of their way to provide excellent customer support with members of the public . During the recent unrest in Bolton a team of interviewers assisted members of the public and put themselves in the frontline to ensure they found them alternative methods of getting home safely including staying with one vulnerable adult until he could board a train safely – always going the extra mile.
This submission is endorsed by excellent client testimonials – Congratulations
IQCS Data Collection Excellence – F2F
This award celebrates the best in Face to Face Data Collection. We are looking for a case study of a recent project which you were particularly proud of, which demonstrates how your organisation achieved fieldwork excellence in completing a particularly challenging project.
What the judges are looking for:
- Robust data-collection
- High quality interviewing
- Going the extra mile to complete a challenging project
- Delivering excellence to your internal/external client
- Demonstration the importance of great quality assurance processes underpinning the data-collection process
The Winners are: IPSOS
With the Early Lives Feasibility Study, an infant development study Ipsos has clearly demonstrated how they used their excellent face to face data collection skills to complete a challenging and rather unusual project.
Following a rigorous 3-day training programme interviewers collected brain and cognitive measures from 93 infants aged 6-12 months using ECG ‘s, a task normally carried out by Healthcare professionals.
Their client testimonials endorsed their entry praising their exceptional interviewing team who worked on this complex and innovative project bringing together 2 very different research traditions – lab-based neuroscience research and large-scale field survey methods.
The results produced extremely important learning for these Academics which they are sure will have significant impact in the future -Congratulations
IQCS Data Collection Excellence – Telephone
This award celebrates the best in Telephone Data Collection. We are looking for a case study of a recent project which you were particularly proud of, which demonstrates how your organisation achieved fieldwork excellence in completing a particularly challenging project.
What the judges are looking for:
- Robust data-collection
- High quality interviewing
- Going the extra mile to complete a challenging project
- Delivering excellence to your internal/external client
- Demonstration the importance of great quality assurance processes underpinning the data-collection process
The Winners are:
Highly commended: Integral Research Ltd
Winner: Ronin International
Ronin has conducted this vital Refugee Resettlement survey since 2016 for the US Government and has risen to the challenge each year.
The sheer size and complexity of this important study , 1500 x 60-minute interviews across a diverse range of refugees is staggering. The interviewing teams have handled the interviewing with sensitivity and compassion as they are talking to some of the most vulnerable and persecuted individuals one could possibly imagine.
Ronin went the extra mile by recruiting native speaking interviewers in some additional 6 new sparsely spoken languages via approaching churches, local communities and restaurants- in fact one language has only have 250,000 speakers worldwide.
They had bespoke training programmes and a robust QC plan in place across all the languages which also supported their interviewers as they listened to such harrowing stories. Their client praised and acknowledged that without Ronin’s dedication to quality they would never have accomplished such a successful project.
They are worthy winners of this Award- Congratulations
IQCS Quality Ambassador
The award is going to an individual or team who consistently champion and promote quality standards for data-collection within their organisation.
What the judges are looking for:
- Details of how the particular individual or team have been pro-active quality ambassadors for their organisation
- Evidence of how they promote and encourage high quality standards across their business
- Details of how the overall quality of data-collection processes or deliverables has been positively affected by the efforts of the quality ambassador/s
- Feedback from users of the data-collection on the positive impact the quality ambassador/s has played in ensuring quality underpins all aspects of the data-collection process
The Winners are: BMG Research
This year’s award goes to Jennifer Saunders, BMG Research’s Quality Manager.
With her team she is involved from the start to the finish of both face to face and telephone projects checking data is delivered in accordance with the highest IQCS, MRS and ISO Quality standards. Her meticulous attention to detail, thoroughness, dedication and commitment to quality ensures BMG delivers consistently excellent data to their clients .
She constantly cultivates continuous improvement within her team and is proactive and forward thinking in IT with recent recommendations on the use of AI in QC processes
Jennifer is obviously invaluable to BMG Quality Operations and deserves this year’s award – Congratulations
Best IQCS Interviewing Training and Development
The award will go to the organisation demonstrating wholehearted commitment to interviewer-centric training and development with IQCS quality standards and the MRS Code of Conduct underpinning the whole process.
What the judges are looking for:
- Great feedback from Interviewer attendees on both the content and administration of the training (could be examples of post-training feedback forms).
- Promotion of the core IQCS values throughout the training
- Inclusion of relevant information on the MRS Code of Conduct and the GDPR
- Innovation and creativity in delivering the training – could be multi-media, PowerPoint, or through inter-activity
- Development of existing skills through targeted follow on training in response to monitoring feedback or the unique requirements of a specific type of work (e.g. probing skills, handling B2B Gatekeepers, qual interviewing)
- Strong focus on improving interviewer competence, confidence, engagement and morale, investing in the continual improvement of skills to ensure quality and aid interviewer retention
The Winners are:
Highly commended: B2B International
Winner: Smart Connect Research
This entry is an excellent example of how Smart Connect is deeply committed to the training and development of their interviewers .Their approach is firmly anchored in IQCS Standards and the MRS Code of Conduct and the impact and benefit to their interviewers is clear. They have a robust training program and recently introduced innovative and creative interactive software alongside traditional training presentations to actively engage their interviewers and aid retention.
By fostering collaboration, continuous learning, and adherence to quality standards, they are building a skilled, compliant, and agile recruitment team who produce exceptional data for their clients.
Their submission was backed up by excellent feedback from interviewers who have undergone the training- Congratulations
The next awards ceremony will take place in November 2025, where we will once again celebrate the exceptional companies and individuals who demonstrate excellence in their categories, showcasing their commitment to quality and innovation.
As we celebrate the success of the 2024 awards, we eagerly anticipate the next event. We encourage member companies to keep a keen eye out for potential projects or teams deserving of recognition for their outstanding work. Your contributions shape the future of excellence in the market research industry, and we look forward to highlighting these achievements at our AGM and award ceremony in November 2025.
Category winners receive the prestigious award itself, an Awards Winners Logo for use on their website and marketing materials, and the opportunity to showcase their services with a featured page on the IQCS website. This recognition highlights their outstanding achievements in the field of research operations.
Congratulations to all the winners and highly commended companies for their hard work, dedication, and success in delivering exceptional quality standards!
