Robin Lagrou

Is making a difference by…

Guiding organisations in their research from start to finish. By listening, understanding and bringing the organisation’s needs into focus, in order to then be able to translate this into an appropriate methodology, and by combining a pragmatic approach with a results-driven focus.

Wants to make a difference by…

Showing organisations the power and potential of research. The impact that properly performed research can have continues to motivate me, especially when it can make that extra little difference in society.

Has made a difference by…

Optimising the research at De Persgroep Publishing by modifying the methodologies used and introducing new analysis techniques and innovations to the research team. This made it possible for them to reduce the use of external research and more efficiently use their resources, which provided better support for the management.

Most difficult change was…

In my early years as a researcher, for one of my larger projects, I attended the press presentation of the results for Luxembourg. The director had asked me to be there, just in case there were any questions about methodology and to emphasise the soundness of the research.

On the day of the presentation, the auditorium was fairly full of members of the press. The director started the presentation by saying: (in French) “Hello everyone, we conducted a large-scale survey of employees and employers in Luxembourg. I will now hand over the floor to Robin – the one who did the research – and he will present the results to you. Robin, over to you…”

About 30 seconds later, it turned out that I was expected to give the presentation, without preparation, and in French… 😉