12 | Acquisition International, October 2026 Keeping People at the Heart of Employee Engagement Multiple award-winning Protostar Surveys and Development continues to impress with its highly personalised approach to employee engagement and 360-degree feedback. Alongside the excellent reviews it receives from clients, this year we were particularly interested in how Protostar is responding to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence – and why it believes some things are still better left to humans. We take a closer look as Protostar Surveys and Development is awarded the title of Leading Employee Engagement Consultancy of the Year 2026. Company: Protostar Surveys and Development Contact: Michael Coates Email: michael@protostar-uk.com Website: www.protostar-uk.com/employee-surveys LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/protostar-surveys-development Telephone: +44 (0) 191 3855455 While many competitors have embraced AI throughout their services, Protostar has taken a more considered approach. AI streamlines back-office systems, but when it comes to understanding what employees actually think and feel, humans remain firmly at the centre of the process. Quantitative survey data is analysed using tried-and-tested statistical software, while experienced consultants read and interpret employees’ free-text comments. Managing Director Michael Coates explains: “AI has its uses, and maybe one day it will be able to understand the full facets of human emotion, perception and behaviours that influence how engaged employees feel – but not yet.” We were impressed by the reasoning behind this approach. An employee writing, “It was great to hear about mass redundancies just before Christmas,” clearly means something very different from the literal words. Equally, an experienced consultant can distinguish between routine concerns about pay and comments carrying the emotion and anger associated with a genuinely serious problem. Protostar believes processes so intrinsically concerned with human feelings and behaviours should be supported by humans. However, that doesn’t mean creating more work for already busy HR teams. Its fully managed employee engagement survey service is designed to minimise the client’s workload. Protostar can undertake the analysis, communications and administration that would ordinarily fall to HR, including producing individual slide decks for senior managers covering results within their areas. Human expertise then comes back to the fore when deciding what happens next. Protostar’s consultants facilitate action planning and, while also drawing upon their experience across many organisations, advise managers on approaches that have proved successful in practice. Excellent client reviews continue to reinforce the value of this highly personal service. At a time when AI is increasingly presented as the solution to everything, we were particularly impressed by Protostar’s determination to use technology where it helps, while retaining human judgement where it matters most.
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