Market research case study:
The Big Conversation: Staff engagement survey
Forestry Commission
Featured in this case study: Environment & sustainability, Employee engagement research
The challenge
DJS Research has managed two waves of ‘The Big Conversation’ staff engagement survey on behalf of the Forestry Commission (in 2022 and 2024) and have recently been re-commissioned to conduct a further two waves starting in 2026. The 2022 survey was the first to be conducted since 2019, before the global pandemic.
In light of the significant changes to ways of working that took place during this intervening period, it was felt to be an opportune time to redesign the survey programme to reflect current practices.
Forestry Commission are made up of three distinct business areas (Forestry England, Forest Services and Forest Research, together with the central hub), and each area has its own individual leadership team and values. One of the biggest challenges was to design a relevant question set that could be applied seamlessly to deliver the insight required from all areas of the tripartite organisation.
The approach
DJS Research's employee engagement research specialists worked in close consultation with the Commission team in the redevelopment of the survey questions, triangulating the need to offer some tracking over time, but with a key focus on tailoring the content to monitor the performance and outcomes of the Commission’s People Strategy.
DJS Research facilitated two focus groups with staff to get a better understanding of the context of the Commission, and to help further shape and guide the question set. Interviews were also held with internal stakeholders from health and safety and EDI to build in metrics that would help answer their own internal objectives.
To ensure the online questionnaire catered to the specific needs of each business area, we developed a common set of appropriate terms and applied filters within the online survey to provide area-related terminology where required. Business area names were ‘piped’ into the survey where questions specifically asked about the area’s leadership. Likewise, definitions of values and the structure of the leadership team were tailored to suit each business area.
To drive awareness of the new survey, and maximise participation and engagement, our creative team worked with the Commission to develop their pre-survey communications. This included the creation of a brand-new identity for the survey – The Big Conversation. Assets included printed posters across business areas and digital banners.
The results
Survey results were analysed at both business and team level and outputs were tailored to meet the requirements of all business areas. This careful and effective dissemination of research outputs was essential to support action planning, and drive change and improvement within all areas of the business.
Our team provided more than 70 detailed PowerPoint reports at business and team level, offering localised insights on where improvements were needed and how they could be made. We also provided an interactive reporting tool (dashboard), so managers could explore the data from their business area in more detail and create ad hoc reports, charts and tables.
In addition to detailed reporting, our employee engagement team, ran a series of four action planning workshops: one at a Commission level and one for each business area. These sessions were designed to help the teams identify their combined and individual priorities for action and to start the process of building their strategic plans for the next 12 months.
