Resources

Quality Management

High quality stakeholder relationship information is dependent on high quality interviewers. Our data collection professionals conduct well over a quarter million stakeholder interviews each year. Our team’s not only good at what they do, they stand apart because they understand that their role is also critical to your stakeholder relationship management.

Our full-time staff recruiter screens all applicants personally. Then interviewers are selected and trained by full-time training staff. Each interviewer must undergo a rigorous three-day, 15-hour "basic training" class. Professional instructors, working with Forum’s own training manual, teach the basics of:

Professional representation with respondents
Handling respondent concerns and objections
Proper recording
Probing and clearing open-ended questions
Handling sample, both on-line and hard copy

Candidates also learn interview techniques through "role playing" exercises in a series of simulated interviews. In addition, candidates must pass a written exam and an on-phone test before being offered a position as a Forum Research Inc. interviewer.

Before a project begins, interviewers practice with respondents who are not included in the sample. Only when supervisors are satisfied with their performance does the actual interviewing begin.

Training continues on the job. New interviewers are teamed up with experienced interviewers and closely supervised for the first few weeks as they execute basic, uncomplicated questionnaires. As they achieve proficiency on each level, interviewers advance to more difficult and demanding studies. Consistent monitoring of our seasoned interviewers helps us maintain skills and incorporate new techniques - and thus, to continually provide our clients with the best results.

Forum sets high standards for its interviewers for one reason: to deliver the best information to our clients –information that will serve as a solid building block for actionable strategic and tactical stakeholder relationship insight.

And, as would be expected from a leading provider of stakeholder relationship measurement and management solutions, Forum adheres to the rigid standards established by industry bodies such as CASRO, CAMRO, MRA and ESOMAR.