10 years of Impact From breaking out of bubbles to focusing on action, 10 new voices share their hopes for the future of insight and their calls to action for the industry over the next decade THE FUTU LaShanda Seaman, qualitative research manager, Opinium Carolina Starkhammar, principal, Incite Joanne Oguntimehin, project director, Humankind Research Tarek Chaudhury, independent qualitative researcher Matthew Hellon, research manager, Basis Research The challenge for our sector will be to continue advancing to meet the expectations of the upcoming generation so that we remain a relevant and viable career path. Over the next decade, I implore the industry to invest in young researchers through traditional and nontraditional methods, allow them to have a seat at the table, and be open to the change they bring. Lets allow market research to become a sought-after career path because of the way we treat our people, the diversity of our organisations, and the impact of our work. I hope the market research industry will work towards becoming more accessible and use its increasing diversity more purposefully. In a profession centred on understanding different people, our industry is surprisingly homogeneous. A diverse workforce can help identify and address the real issues in our community. My call to action is to recruit beyond traditional methods and invite people with unique backgrounds, experiences and ideas to the decision-making table. This isnt a box-ticking exercise these are real people who can add real value to your business. My hope is that market research will continue to strive for diversity of people and thought, and really champion the value that exists in different backgrounds and lived experiences. I also hope it will be put on the map as an interesting career path that more people run towards. My call to action over the next decade is to ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to accommodate the diversity it seeks and, as always, for action to follow words. Its imperative we demonstrate the value of research. We often take for granted that everyone in a business understands the value of research, and thats been a factor in the commonplace silo-ing of insight functions. For agency-side and freelance colleagues, its too risky to rely on a small number of relationships at a client business for your pipeline there is a need to spread awareness of the value of insight across the whole organisation. To echo a recent Research Live article by Rick Kelly, of Fuel Cycle, we need to remember that most departments are novices in market research. We need to show them the power of understanding their customers and audiences. My hope is that market research can go beyond delivering insights and contribute in a more meaningful way to the development of products and services that have a real impact in the world. Research should be central throughout the design process, not just a starting point. Therefore, my call to action is for the market research industry to work more closely with designers, innovators and entrepreneurs, to ensure that peoples needs are not just accurately collected and understood, but also acted upon. I hope market research will continue to strive for diversity Research should be central throughout the design process, not just a starting point 20 Impact ISSUE 40 2022_pp16-21_10 years of Impact.indd 20 13/12/2022 11:27