Forrester reviews

2.8

35% would recommend to a friend

(1,731 total reviews)
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George F. Colony

24% approve of CEO

22% positive business outlook

Forrester has an employee rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars, based on 1,731 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Forrester employee rating is 20% below average for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Jun 16, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is a great cultural foundation and working environment here. Other people have written about the location and amenities, which truly are nice. Most people here are young, energetic, and collaborative. Executives are approachable and willing to work with all employees if they reach out. The benefits are on par with what other organizations offer. The addition of the option for local employees to work from home 1 day a week was a nice addition. Work-life balance is great here for sales people. The Forrester brand is respected by clients and future employers and the research truly is objective.

Cons

If you are in sales, I hope you like waiting for your money. As another reviewer pointed out, you only get 50% of your commission payout until you hit 85% of your annual plan. Since the majority of the company's sales are in Q4, chances are you won't see 50% of the money you earned from January of 2015(or the first half of the year) until January of 2016!!! That's the reality of the current situation. Of course, this is assuming that you get to 85% of your seemingly unrealistic quota. If you are on the account management side, you are burdened with a 100% expected renewal rate(when the actual renewal rate is much lower) and a growth number of 30%+. What's that you say? One of Forrester's many research vision changes has eliminated coverage for a client you renewed at the beginning of the year or a new client that you just received from new business? Guess what, you're still responsible for renewing them and growing the relationship even though we are no longer writing about their technology or have an analyst that can deliver advisory around their market or help them market their product. Seems fair right? Please add quota relief for these situations. We're also reducing your territory size by 30%(giving you a smaller pool to sell to) and increasing your quota from last year by 11%. The three legged stool(quota, comp, territory) is now a one legged stool. You might as well flip the stool upside down and sit on that because that's how you're going to feel at the end of the year. On the career development side? There isn't much of that happening here with the current sales training organization. While these folks are truly nice and intelligent people, most of them have never carried a bag or trained people. These are not the senior people that should be in place to help improve your sales organization. You need to invest more in training and hiring experienced people to do the training. Having an online database of stale product training examples is not investing in your employees, it's checking the box. There should be optional monthly/quarterly classes offered by experienced sales professionals who are also experienced in training people. This will ultimately lead to better performance from sales reps and increased revenue.

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Forrester Response
11y
I'm sorry your personal experience in the Sales organization has not been as rewarding. A record number of reps and managers are making plan and going to President's Club. But we can always do better. If you feel comfortable, please come speak to me. As you point out, Forrester is a place where executives are readily available and willing to work with employees if they reach out. Mike Morhardt Chief Sales Officer
2.0
Apr 1, 2025

Good coworkers; appalling exec leadership

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My direct and indirect coworkers are all terrific -- smart, capable, hard-working. Because of my team's management, work/life balance is good, and our team is very productive as a result. The work itself is fine. Remote work -- I was lucky enough to be hired during the heydays of Anywhere Work, and I absolutely thrive on remote work. Being stuck in an office all day kills my productivity alongside my soul. And no, a pickleball court wouldn't help.

Cons

The executive team just keeps making one asinine decision after another and insisting that we're just about to turn the corner back into good times. We aren't. We are very nearly at the point of unsalvageability. If you can land a client-facing role here, it can be a good networking opportunity. I would only take a non-client facing role here as a stopgap or stepping stone to something else. Not only is there no room for growth, everyone is stressed at the end of every month and quarter wonder if there are going to be yet another round of layoffs. We are supposed to get piddly raises in April, but I expect those to be yanked. (If you are a top performer you only get 0.25% more than if you just met expectations. Won't be busting this year, that's for sure.) Oh, and the icing on the cake? They dumped absolutely everything remotely related to DEI the moment the EO came out. Didn't even try to pretend they cared. Which explains the blinding whiteness of the company, doesn't it? (They do have lots of (white) women in leadership roles, so I'll give them credit there.)

2.0
Feb 5, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people are kind and fun to work with. Smart people that truly try to get along.

Cons

Executives are making all the money and making poor decisions on the future of the company. Trying to copy other research firms, rather than making their own mark.

Viewing 127 - 129 of 1,731 Reviews

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