3. Interviewing/Recruiting from a Telephone Centre

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Contents:

  • General Principals of the Scheme
  • Head Office Administration
  • Supervisors
  • Project Management and Administration
  • Recruitment and Training
  • Appraisals
  • Validation

    • General Principles of the Scheme

    The minimum standards apply to all types of work a company undertakes.

    Companies must be working to these standards for at least 3 months prior to assessment or inspection.

    From the time the standards are adopted all recruitment, training, validation, appraisals and project management must be in accordance with these minimum standards. Standards do not need to be applied retrospectively.

    The onus is on the company to ensure that all individuals are adequately and appropriately trained for all the tasks they are asked to conduct.

    It is incumbent upon the company to ensure that standards are constantly maintained, irrespective of any changes in personnel.

    Head Office Administration

    If a company wishes to sub-contract any UK fieldwork, wherever possible this must be purchased from suppliers complying with these standards. Any non-compliance with this requirement must be documented.(See section 4.1)

    The Minimum Standards list the information that must be held about each interviewer/recruiter.(See sections 4.2.1 - 4.2.3)

    Relevant sections of the current Market Research Society Code of Conduct must be issued to all interviewers/recruiters.(See section 4.4)

    Interviewers/recruiters must be aware of the MRS Freefone facility.(See section 4.5)

    A 'thank you' or 'reassurance' leaflet or letter must be given or sent to all respondents who are subsequently interviewed face to face or who attend a group discussion. This can be sent/given before or after the interview / group takes place, and may be incorporated in an invitation to take part or attend. (See section 4.6)

    At the beginning of each call, interviewers/recruiters must tell the respondent their name, the name of the company they are calling from/on behalf of and the reason for the call. (See section 4.6)

    Interviewers/recruiters must be issued with an instruction manual, covering the types of work they are to conduct.(See section 4.8)

    Supervisors

    Prior to a supervisor being appointed, they must be interviewed by a member of the company's staff (unless they are already known to appropriate personnel within the company).(See section 4.9.1)

    Supervisors must be adequately and appropriately trained/experienced for all the tasks they will undertake.(See section 4.9.2)

    Supervisors must be issued with an instruction manual, covering the types of work and tasks they are to undertake.(See section 4.8)

    Supervisors must be appraised at least once in each calendar year.(See section 4.9.3)

    The Minimum Standards list the information that must be held about each supervisor.(See section 4.9.4)

    Project Management & Administration

    Interviewers/recruiters and their supervisors must be appropriately and adequately briefed on every project on which they work.(See section 4.10)

    Interviewers/recruiters must sign or type a declaration to say that the work that they are undertaking has/will be undertaken within the MRS Code of Conduct. Various options for implementing this are outlined. (See section 4.11)

    The Minimum Standards list the information and documentation that must be held on each project.(See sections 4.12.2 & 4.13.1)

    A supervisor or member of head office staff must be present throughout each interviewing period. (See section 4.15)

    Group and Depth Recruitment:

    Recruitment & Training

    The fundamental principle is to ensure that interviewers/recruiters are adequately and appropriately trained, and that this is fully documented. The Minimum Standards outline the minimum requirements in this area.

    Before an interviewer or recruiter is appointed, they must be interviewed by a member of the company's staff (unless they are already known to appropriate personnel within the company).(See section 4.16.1)

    When appointing individuals whose first language is not English, the company must ensure their English vocabulary is sufficient for the training and briefing they are to be given (if English is the language to be used).(See section 4.16.2)

    The Minimum Standards outline the minimum contents of interviewer and recruiter training. This varies according to the individual's previous experience.(See section 4.17.1)

    The minimum training duration also varies according to the individual's previous experience and to the type of work they are going to conduct. For individuals being trained as interviewers:

    • those who have received previous interviewer training/experience from another company complying with the Minimum Standards, must receive a minimum of three hours of training
    • those who do not have that previous experience, must receive full training; this must be a minimum of six hours
    There is no minimum training duration specified for individuals taken on purely to conduct group or depth recruitment. The time spent must be adequate to cover the relevant training content.(See section 4.17.4)

    For an individual to qualify for anything less than full training (because of their previous experience), this must be confirmed with one of the companies with whom they gained that experience.(See section 4.17.1)

    In addition to the training outlined above, interviewers/recruiters must be monitored/supervised as close to the start of their first assignment as possible. This must be of sufficient duration to ensure that the individual is adequately trained.(See section 4.17.5)

    If interviewers/recruiters are to be used subsequently on a type of work for which they are not yet adequately trained and experienced, further training must be given.(See section 4.17.6)

    Interviewers/recruiters must sign to confirm the date/s they were trained and the length of training they received.(See section 4.17.7)

    If a company sub-contracts training to an external training supplier, it is the company's responsibility to ensure that the supplier is appropriately and adequately skilled. The interviewer/recruiter training being given and documents used must be kept on file.(See section 4.17.8)

    If a company chooses to share its training with another company, the Minimum Standards outline a number of requirements.(See section 4.17.2)

    Appraisals

    Interviewers'/recruiters' performance must be monitored and discussed through regular appraisals.(See section 4.18.1)

    Appraisals must be carried out by individuals who are adequately trained and experienced to fulfil this role.(See section 4.18.1)

    Appraisal reports must be produced and these must be signed and dated by both the person conducting the appraisal and the person being appraised. (See section 4.18.1)

    If a company monitors by remote listening-in, the reports produced can be used for appraisal purposes.(See section 4.18.8)

    If a company does not use remote listening in, the Minimum Standards outline the information that must be included in the appraisal report. (See section 4.18.9)

    Each interviewer must be appraised at least once every six months, and each recruiter at least once in each calendar year.(See sections 4.18.8 & 4.18.9)

    If an individual conducts less than 5 assignments in a calendar year they must be appraised at least once in a calendar year or the next occasion thereafter that they work.(See section 4.18.10)

    Validation

    All validation must be undertaken by people adequately and appropriately trained and experienced to undertake this role.(See section 4.19.1)

    Each interviewer/recruiter's work must be validated on a regular basis. The company must have a systematic and representative method for selecting and rotating which individual's work is validated when.(See section 4.19.1)

    Validation must start within two weeks of the end of fieldwork and be completed within six weeks of the date interviews were conducted (eight weeks in the case of group discussions).(See section 4.19.1)

    Companies must document the number of validation checks attempted and achieved, and keep a summary by results by interviewer/recruiter.(See section 4.19.1)

    If serious problems or discrepancies are found during validation, the company must aim to validate all of that individual's work before their work is used. Significant problems or discrepancies must be reported back to the interviewer/recruiter and their supervisor.(See section 4.19.3)

    Validation can be conducted by monitoring (using remote listening-in equipment), by listening to taped interviews and/or by recontacting respondents post-interview.(See section 4.19.8)

    The Minimum Standards list a number of questions the validation must seek to verify as a minimum, as and when appropriate.(See sections 4.19.8 & 4.19.10)

    Telephone centres who validate by remote listening in must validate a minimum of 5% of each survey in this way. In all other cases, a minimum of 10% of each survey must be validated. (See sections 4.19.10 & 4.19.11)

    When monitoring / validating work being conducted in languages other than English, this must be undertaken by a supervisor with sufficient understanding of the language concerned, or by an appropriately skilled and briefed senior interviewer/recruiter.(See section 4.19.9)

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