Social and environmental responsibility in market research

We are committed to creating a supportive, empathetic environment, where our partners feel able to discuss pregnancy loss and are able to take time off where needed, as well as supporting them back into work when ready.

We are proud to be signatories of the Miscarriage Association's Pregnancy Loss Pledge and vow to support our partners through what can be an incredibly distressing and traumatic time. In signing this pledge we commit to ensuring our organisation meets the pregnant loss standard, which aligns fully with our people-first ethos. This has also been written into our new partners’ handbook, underlining our commitment to maintaining this standard now and in the future. 

Net Zero Pledge

Our environmental policy makes provision for educating staff and promoting the responsible use of resources and the minimisation of waste and energy use; practical examples include keeping printing to an absolute minimum; minimising travel by using online and telephone methodologies and meetings (as well as using public transport where travel is unavoidable); assessing the suppliers that we work with to ensure that they adopt sustainable and ethical practices.

We have developed and are now implementing a Carbon Reduction Plan as per PPN06/21 (Government procurement policy). You can view it here

We are signatories to the Market Research Society Net-Zero pledge, which demonstrates our commitment to reducing the emissions generated by our industry to true Net-Zero by 2026. Initial actions we are taking to help play our role tackling the climate emergency include the following:

• Climate champions: We have set up a dedicated team to work on our strategy and act as environmental champions in the business.
• Educate and engage: We are rolling out a programme to educate staff on our company’s Net-Zero journey and also on the broader context: the climate crisis, its causes and solutions.
• We are now measuring and reporting on our emissions and implementing plans which will lay out (and monitor) ways that we can reduce and remove emissions.
• We are planning measures for offsetting unavoidable transport-related and other emissions.

Society and social value

It's of huge importance to us that we give back to the community – both locally and nationally. In order to do this, we are involved in numerous community projects, market research charities and charities which are unrelated to the market research industry. You can read more about some of the causes we are most involved in here

Volunteering

All employee partners at DJS Research are given the opportunity to volunteer at a charity of their choice every year for a day - and get paid for doing so! We have 100+ staff which adds up to a lot of volunteering! You can see some of the volunteering activities our staff have been involved with here

Social value

The social benefits of research are numerous – the act of consulting stakeholders and residents on their thoughts and understanding satisfaction with their experiences through a bona fide market research agency shows a committment to listening and acting in their interests.

At DJS Research we don't want to simply be data providers; we look to work with our clients as partners to generate the best possible outcomes. 

We believe that the future success of our business is dependent on respecting the interests of all our stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community in which we operate. We are active in seeking out potential ways in which we can contribute to improving various aspects of the local, regional and national environment in which we trade.

Given the services we provide, we feel that ethical and responsible operating standards are especially important to our company. Our broad objective is to make a positive contribution to the local and wider economy wherever possible and wherever viable.

Social value related commitments

We often make specific social value related commitments to clients such as:

• Meaningful work placements: We have committed to hiring local (to our client) residents to support on projects in a paid position on a fixed contract, using an open and fair recruitment process. We have successfully done this on recent projects for a number of local Councils, which has led to longer-term employment for the staff we have taken on.
• Training opportunities: We have trained volunteers and local residents in different aspects of market research for a number of NHS clients.

Supporting the local and regional community

We actively support the local and regional community in a number of ways including:

• Employing 100+ staff from Greater Manchester and the wider UK.
• Paying the Real Living Wage to all our staff and contractors.
• Sponsorship of a number of local sports teams and sponsorship of local heritage and cultural events (i.e. Whaley Water Weekend).
• Support of local Community Groups through financial donations and time investment such as for ‘Friends of Strines Station’ Group and The Strines Recreation Ground.
• Ensuring recruitment materials are prominent within local shops and many employees are based locally to our offices.
• Dealing with local suppliers wherever possible.
• We are a leading member of Marketing Stockport – the organisation promoting business in the Stockport area.

Supporting Education

We are committed to supporting local education institutions at all levels through a number of means, including:

• Offering paid internships and work experience on an on-going basis
• Attending school ‘mock-interviews’ to prepare students for the working world
• Presenting to students at schools, colleges and universities to present the benefits of a career in market research
• Mentoring students with business ideas through Manchester University schemes
• Involvement in widening participation in Higher Education initiatives

Further details including our gender pay gap analysis, diversity monitoring data and carbon reduction plan can be found here