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Research

Through our research we aim to provide a unique lens into people's motivations worldwide, so that everyone can thrive in the future of work.
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How F4S Research can improve your team performance and collaboration

Through our research, we aim to provide a unique lens into people's motivations worldwide. Our research supports the creation of tailored programs so that everyone can thrive in the future of work, where cognitive diversity is embraced and celebrated.

Our evidence-based approach helps you to build a healthy, high-performing culture. You can gain an understanding of team members’ talents, enhance team performance, and provide coaching programs to develop the soft skills needed to improve workplace collaboration and happiness. 

Through F4S research, you can gain a bird’s eye view of your organization and team cohesion using the F4S Culture Map. You can also track employees’ progress and engagement over time with our Benchmarking and People Analytics features.

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Why should you participate in our evidence-based research?

Being part of the F4S community will give you exclusive first access to global research findings and immediate access to our evidence-based motivational work assessment. Based on more than 20 years of research, the assessment provides a never-before-seen lens into 48 motivations, specifically in the context of work, determining the attitudes and preferences of you, your team, and your wider organization in the workplace. Contributing to this research enables you to move toward a future filled with understanding, appreciation, and inclusivity.

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Who is utilizing an evidence-based approach in the workplace?

All industries can benefit from our evidence-based approach to inform decisions and actions in the workplace – from not-for-profits and start-ups, to billion-dollar conglomerates. Examples of companies that leverage F4S to make strategic decisions include:

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High-growth companies: Fast-growing companies need to hire rapidly. F4S helps high-growth organizations such as Canva to cut through the noise and hire the right people quickly.

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Universities: Nobody has a greater appreciation for scientific evidence than academics! That's why universities such as UTS use F4S to help their students design their career paths and reach their full potential.

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Enterprises: Large corporations such as L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics company use evidence-based practices to grow and maintain their high-performing culture as they scale – which involves bringing on the best.

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Accelerators and VCs: Investing can be risky, especially for early-stage start-ups. VC firms such as Cocoon Capital use F4S to support their decision-making process, by benchmarking a founder's potential against other successful entrepreneurs.

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Our proprietary research studies

Through our research, F4S is contributing novel findings to support individuals, organizations, and leaders to create teams and work cultures that embrace and celebrate cognitive diversity. Our current studies include:

Live research studies

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Our data ethics: you have control of your data

Wondering how F4S approaches privacy and data protection? When you participate in any F4S research study, your data is de-identified and used anonymously in aggregate research. Rest assured, your identity will never be associated with your research participation. You may choose to participate in any number of studies that you feel called to. We've made it possible for you to opt-in or opt-out in your profile settings at any time – so you're always in control of your data.

Our values

Responsible data principles

Your data belongs to you, and you always control what you share

Your data is de-identified and used anonymously in aggregate research

We believe in conducting research that has positive social impacts

We do not sell your data

We research areas that promote cognitive diversity, inclusivity, well-being, self-awareness, and more

We fund our own research or work in research partnerships with other ethical research organizations.

Research advisory board

The esteemed experts who sit on the F4S research panel include:

Michelle Duval

Michelle pioneered new forms of learning and the field of professional coaching in Australia in 1997, becoming a leading voice forging developmental and transformational coaching worldwide.
She has coached entrepreneurs, thought leaders, CEOs, and creative artists such as writers, producers, and actors. She has coached thousands of individuals locally and internationally.

Matija Squire

Matija is the research and community lead at F4S. After graduating with a dual bachelor's in Arts and Business, Matija has worked across various industries and provided advisory to universities, businesses, and governments on education policy, entrepreneurship, cross-cultural programs, and bilateral trade.
As someone who is neurodivergent, she is passionate about using science-based research to identify and quantify human patterns that can empower and transform people, teams, and culture.

Daniel Frenda

Daniel is a senior engineer at F4S, responsible for data modeling and analysis. He is also a full-stack developer with a scientific background, having previously studied Advanced Physics and Computing at UNSW. Daniel's role involves rapidly evolving F4S data, research, resources, app features, dashboards, modeling tools, and more. He's a strong believer in using unbiased empirical evidence to draw insightful conclusions.

Dr. Carl Harshman

Carl L. Harshman founded the Institute for Work Attitude & Motivation which is dedicated to education, research, and the application of innovative tools for helping organizations, teams, and individuals improve performance through an understanding of motivation and attitude.
Dr. Harshman's undergraduate and doctoral degrees were conferred by The Ohio State University. He earned his Master’s degree at Wright State University. In 1972 he joined Saint Louis University to create the Office of Institutional Research. Carl is an award-winning speaker and has presented at regional, national, and international meetings including the Association for Quality and Participation, Ecology of Work, Work in America Institute, the Industrial Relations Research Association, and the International Association for Business Ethics.

Patrick Merlevede

Patrick Merlevede founded JobEQ in 2004, which has partners who are active in more than 30 countries. He is the author of several publications including 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence (2001) and Mastering Mentoring & Coaching with Emotional Intelligence (2004). He graduated with a Masters in artificial intelligence and cognitive science in 1992 and specializes in making models of excellence.

Dr. Jeri Childers

Dr. Childers was the Director of Education at iAccelerate, at UOW and the Founding Director of the UTS Techcelerator, at the University of Technology Sydney, Faculty of Engineering & IT, which enables early-stage tech founders to prototype and validate their commercial deep tech solutions. Dr. Childers also founded the UTS Female Founder Mentoring Program and the Advancing Women in Tech leadership development series.
Today, Dr. Childers is also a Fellow with the UTS, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, School of Leadership and Professional Practice, where she conducts research on innovation and enterprising mindsets for designing careers and venture development. Her focus is on mindset, culture, product/service design, and structures that enable innovation, diversity, and inclusion.

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