Swipe left on Hanover - Anonymous employee Hanover Research Employee Review

1.0
Nov 23, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I’m not sure where some reviews come off with positive and gushy things to say. I must live on a different planet. If you read anything positive it’s because these individuals have low standards. Hanover 101: products lack quality and consistency. Target clients are middle market companies who join because of Hanover's cost effective value prop. For the little guys, it's all about the Benjamins and Hanover sells itself on price. If you're a type A perfectionist stay away. You won't have the time or resources to do a quality job and it will drive you insane. You may be intrigued by Hanover receiving #16 on the 50 fastest companies in the Washington DC area ranking. This growth is deceiving because when you look behind the curtain you'll find that the ship is sailing without a captain. Every Hanover strategy is short term and fails to consider long term implications. It's always "how do we save this quarter?!?" rather than "let's build a road map with ROI three years from now." Failure of upper management to challenge the CEO's short term theories is largely responsible. I get that you were successful in creating a custom market research firm, but that doesn't mean every subsequent idea is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Cons

For the TLDR version and all you Tinder users: I advise you to swipe left on Hanover. First off, I anticipate a CHRO response to this review. Don’t believe it. Words are words and actual changes to back these comments are about as rare as finding Santa and Rudolph on Christmas Eve. People Most Hanoverians are fresh from school and riding the post college bro-ski high (sales/development/whatever you call them). I can't tell you how many times I heard unprofessional discussions on the floor or heard stories from other people. HR is "trying" to bring in people with outside experience for managerial roles, but it proves challenging to retain them because they aren't brought in at the proper level. You start at the bottom and they give you the spiel of short review cycles to allow you to move up the ladder quickly. Enter: the age and experience complex. Years at Hanover are more important than years before Hanover. Read that again. You’ll have to suffer working with people in higher positions that lack outside experience and are younger than you. Let me clarify, I’m all for smart, qualified people advancing, but these individuals are not Steve Jobs caliber. It’s hard to want to emulate or take direction from someone that only has 2 years of Hanover under his/her belt (for some context a 1 year work anniversary is akin to celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary – it’s rare these days because "society is so disposable" paraphrased per an HR email). As a result, if you need a mentor you’re not going to find it here. Additionally, they’ll gloat about personal managers, but that’s a joke. Instead, they should just be called “managers” because it’s all in the luck of the draw who you get and unfortunately, most managers are poor. Interpersonal skills are prime managerial traits that most Hanover employees lack, or better yet some believe they have which makes them delusional. This sentiment is expressed in other reviews. It’s still true. Exhibit #1092209: Mine took no interest in me and was not concerned for my career development at all. And don't get me started on the whole "managing up" shindig. Any relationship (professional, personal, etc.) is a two way street. When the other party fails to deliver, you can manage up all you want, but it's not going to move the needle. At the end of the day, if you want to feel valued this isn’t the place for you. Maybe it’s my years of experience, but I’ve worked at other places where it’s not so blatantly obvious that we are just a gateway to more dollars. No matter how much you like work, if the people are awful it will impact your work satisfaction levels. As that dude says in the Men’s Wearhouse commercials: “I guarantee it.” Pay If you’re not in sales or account management, pay is static without real performance based bonus potential. In Content, you may receive an increase at review time, but they are also known to just promote you to a new title without a pay bump (I've heard this on multiple accounts). While this looks great on your resume, your bank account will be like the Sahara desert – barren. My advice is to go elsewhere if you have high rent and student loans to pay. I had several years of experience including a graduate degree and my starting salary was difficult to make ends meet even with a roommate. I have a spreadsheet in excel tracking all expenses. If you think that’s a fun exercise every Saturday morning, then this is the place for you! Talking with your manager about a raise is most likely fruitless. If you don’t reward people for good performance reviews, the incentive to do a good job flies out the window. Work If you’re in Content, expect to stare at a computer all day with minimal collaboration. Yeah, you have Content Directors, but they are busy trying to retain clients and you’re pretty much on your own to get the job done. I’m not sure what they tell you in HR (it’s been a while for me), but ask to meet with individuals who have the role you are applying for. I did not do this and regret it.

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Hanover Research Response
11y
Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you have not enjoyed your experience at Hanover Research. Hanover has grown tremendously over the last few years, and we are proud of our recent addition to the 50 Fastest Growing Companies in the DC metro area list. That said, with the privilege of high growth comes the challenges of high growth. To that end, we have been on a path of continuously improving the company’s products and services as well as employee experiences – because we believe that the two are bound together in a reinforcing loop. How do we do this? Hanover hires smart, capable and ambitious individuals from a variety of levels and increasingly deep skill sets, while valuing our tenured employees who have invested in and grown with the company. Our promotions come from great individual performance and not tenure. All promotions come with a salary adjustment to the corresponding pay band. When an employee is not eligible for a promotion for whatever reason but his or her performance has been exceptional, we make a salary adjustment (without a title adjustment). Day in and day out, Hanover employees are given a lot of autonomy and freedom to complete their assigned tasks and projects on deadline. As employees demonstrate that they can handle more sophisticated work or greater responsibilities, they have the opportunity to do so. How do we know if we are on the right track? We go back to basics. Each year, we survey segments of our employees and our clients to understand their needs and craft strategies to address them. We have been so thankful that these efforts have generated a robust set of ideas and feedback for us to use. In the last two years alone, we have invested heavily in building professional development resources in the form of training, coaching, and mentoring programs for our employees. Moreover, we have also invested heavily in increasing the ratio of staff to clients to ensure the very best possible work product and service experience. We thank you again for your feedback and encourage you to work with us to make the company the best that it could possibly be for all employees. Please feel free to come speak to your manager, your manager's manager or anyone on the executive team to address your concerns and help us find solutions.

Explore other reviews about Hanover Research

5.0
Apr 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company's culture is great. Lots of nice and brilliant people to work with.

Cons

Not a lot of opportunities for advancement.

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Hanover Research Response
3w
Thank you for your review. We are happy to hear you enjoyed working at Hanover! Please feel free to reach out to peoplesupport@hanoverresearch.com with any more information or if you have questions about our annual performance review process and career pathways. -The People Team
3.0
Jun 23, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people and the clients

Cons

Leadership is too far from the work to understand how things actually function

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