Operations Network: Oppies Showcase and Advice

Join us for this exclusive MRS Company Partner event for all those that work in the Operations sector

To tie in with the Operations Awards submission period, you are invited to an afternoon networking event with the opportunity to gain tips and advice on how to write an Oppies award entry from the Chair of the judging panel, Penny Steele.

You will also hear from some of the winners of the 2024 MRS Operations Awards, who will be presenting their award winning case studies:

Samanth Morrisroe, IFF Research, Winner of Operations Future Leader
With a background in B2B & Consumer call centres, Samantha joined IFF in 2022 as Telephone Ops Manager, leading a team of1000+ interviewers and salaried team members. Samantha will be sharing her journey at IFF, leading a large remote team to deliver some of the largest telephone surveys in the UK. She’ll dive into how she’s helped drive efficiency in their annual large-scale recruitment drive, onboarding over 500 people in just a few weeks. While crucially, ensuring the team maintains IFF’s human-first culture, improving communication and collaboration. Samantha will also touch on how her involvement with EDI initiatives helped her connect with team members and adapt her leadership style to meet the diverse needs of a large remote team.

Zachary Levin, Giraffe Insights, Winner of Best Online Data Collection – Quantitative
Little Voices was designed to overcome the challenges of engaging children in research. Traditional survey methods can sometimes fall short in this area due to language complexity which often inhibits comprehension for younger participants, which in turn can diminish a survey's effectiveness. To combat this, we developed Little Voices. This platform leverages AI to adapt survey language to suit different age groups, ensuring questions are accessible and engaging. This approach, informed by academic theory and real-world inputs, enhances the reliability and relevance of the data collected. Zach's presentation will cover the key challenges that Little Voices has sought to address, alongside how the tool is powering data collection amongst kids and young people.

Rob Irving, IFF Research, Winner of Best Training and Development
Driving Success Through People-Centric Training and Support at IFF
The 2023/24 year marked a period of unprecedented growth and success for IFF, where they generated record revenues and delivered a 20% increase in profit margins. This success stems from a dedicated Operations team that prioritises high-quality training, continuous learning, robust support systems and delivering continuous improvements on large scale, quick turnaround recruitment. Rob's presentation will outline how these initiatives transformed their workforce and contributed to their remarkable achievements.

Rebecca Cole, Cobalt Sky, Winner of Operational Excellence
In 2014, Cobalt Sky received the first-ever award for Operational Excellence at the inaugural Operations Awards. Since then, they have secured this prestigious accolade six more times, including for the past three consecutive years. Their Managing Director, Rebecca Cole, will share insights on the tools required to achieve operational excellence and strategies for presenting it effectively in an award submission.

It will be a great time to catch up with your peers and gain some inspiration for your Oppies award submission. 

The meeting will be held in the 4th floor training suite at MRS, 15 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0JR. A map is available below.

Registration opens at 2.45pm. Please arrive in time for the meeting to start at 3pm. You are then invited to stay and enjoy drinks and networking afterwards. 

These events are free to Company Partner Employees, but space is limited so book your place today.