What it is really like to work at DJS Research

Away from the research, there are many other things that make DJS Research a great place to work. Our staff are at the heart of all we do, so it’s our absolute goal to make working life here (whether at home or in the office), an all-round great experience.

We’ve spent a lot of time looking at how we can make DJS Research even better; listening to employee feedback and introducing measures to ensure that, as well as offering outstanding career opportunities in market research, we’re offering a nice place to show up to (or log into) every day, with good people, a sound worth ethic, and a lot of fun to be had...

Here’s just some of what we think makes DJS Research a special place to be…

There’s always plenty going on at our growing agency. As well as working alongside some of the industry’s top research talent on dynamic projects for leading brands and institutions, that’s not all we’re about. From company-wide days out, to wellness programs and supporting local charities, our agency seeks to go that bit further. Feedback from our in-house employee engagement survey shows that we’re doing a good job so far – and we’re constantly listening to make DJS Research even better.

We’re employee-owned!

Over the past two decades, DJS Research has experienced incredible growth – not only in terms of turnover, but also in our ideas, our people, and personality – making our agency a pretty special place to be. In a world of takeovers and mergers, transitioning from family-owned to employee ownership has enabled us to protect our company’s unique legacy and stride forward independently with the business placed firmly into the hands of staff who have made DJS Research everything it is today. Being employee-owned will ensure that our staff (company partners) are looked after and listened to even more than they have been before, and remain central to all we do. You can read all about our employee ownership journey and what it means for the company, here.

Employee Engagement & MyDJS

It’s important for us to stay engaged with our team, so we developed MyDJS – our in-house employee engagement survey. It has allowed us to learn more about what our employees want, understand their current perceptions so that we can make changes to improve our offering. Over three-quarters of our staff responded to the inaugural survey to have their say on a range of topics such as communications, reward and recognition, and wellbeing. The survey revealed that DJS is a really good place to work, with an employee engagement index score of 78%. We’re now committed to making DJS Research a great place to work, and to rewarding and retaining our colleagues across the entire business – so watch this space!

Charity & local causes

Supporting charities and good causes is high on our priority list as a company, and we’re always thinking of the next challenge to get involved with. In recent times we’ve taken on Tough Mudder and Rat Race courses; completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and tackled the Gritstone Trail in support of our Charity of the Year. We work closely with our charities to support them in other ways too, such as lending help with creating promotional material and offering advice on marketing. Future ventures are to include another company-wide Get up and Go Challenge and for the bravest of the crew, a teeny spot of skydiving.

DJS volunteering days

We like to support staff in helping causes which are close to their heart. One of the ways we do this is by offering an annual paid Volunteering Day. We’ve had members of our team help out at local and national charities – as well as support the NHS in making scrubs at the height of the Covid-19 crisis. One of our researchers built his volunteering day into a trip to Poland where he supported the European Solidarity Corps. Read Jack’s story here!

Workplace wellbeing

Our people are at the heart of everything we do and so it’s important we look after them! Seeking ways to help our employees relax and unwind (and responding to our MyDJS survey), we introduced in-work yoga sessions and massage, which are available to enjoy all year round.

Wellbeing Wednesday walks: Every Wednesday (or any other day that works!) we encourage our staff to get out in the great outdoors and take a longer lunch break to enjoy a wellness walk or similar activity. It has been a really popular initiative and we're often sent photos from our staff up and down the UK showing us where they are venturing to.

Celebrate!

As a thank you for hard work all year-round our staff are given an additional day off to celebrate their birthday. Time to eat cake!

Bringing the team together

As well as our charity events and challenges and smaller team get-togethers, we have a number of events where the whole company gets together to relax and have a bit of fun. A trip to Blackpool was our first company-wide day trip in 2019, which was a huge success (despite the torrential rain) and gave us the chance to get better acquainted with the wider DJS team. In 2022 (following the pandemic years) we arranged another great day out to Drayton Manor, which was another big hit -- as well as a September garden party to celebrate a year of becoming employee owned.

Bring Your Dog to Work Day

This has been a huge hit with our staff - and also for their prize pooches too! We held our first Bring Your Dog to Work Day in 2019, welcoming six well-behaved (for the most part) canines to work at the office alongside their owners, as well as enjoy a long lunchtime walk in the hills and a pit stop at the local pub. As well as offering a unique day for staff to come together, it gave us another opportunity to raise further funds for our Charity of the Year, which at the time was the Thomas Theyer Foundation. Read more about it here.

A little thank you goes a long way...

We introduced a range of thank you cards and 'DJS star' badges which are available for our employees to send to one another should they want to recognise the work, or support of their colleagues. The cards have been really well received and are just a great way to light up someone's day and help them know their value in the workplace!

Social Value 

In addition to our research, we also strive to benefit the wider community where we can, something which is becoming increasingly important to our local government clients. As part of our Social Value offering we have been recruiting local students from the areas we have been conducting research in to help support us with projects. This offers young people in the community valuable industry insight and experience, which we hope will be beneficial to their future employment opportunities. We’re happy to report that the scheme has been a great success so far, with one of the students returning to work with us on a fixed term-contract. Read more about environmental and social responsibility at DJS Research here.

Internal support and information

We regularly support our employees with information about certain issues and topics. Examples of this include support around mental health and wellbeing as well as other health areas including breast cancer and menopause. During the cost of living crisis we also shared useful information about energy saving. All part of our efforts to care for our company partners and help them with any difficulties they may be experiencing.

Proof is in the pudding, so they say! Some of the positive feedback contributed by staff in our MyDJS employee engagement survey:

“I love working at DJS because of the people and the great dynamic in my team, and I also feel that Danny and Ali genuinely care about creating a good work environment for employees…”

“I feel that I am well respected and I love working in my team. We have a great team spirit and I feel that they all really work hard and are motivated to do a good job for the company.”

“I’ve never worked for such a friendly company.”