Hanover Research reviews

3.6

66% would recommend to a friend

(320 total reviews)
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Wes Givens

54% approve of CEO

44% positive business outlook

Hanover Research has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 320 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Hanover Research employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

320 reviews
2.0
May 20, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It is a paycheck at the end of the (bi) week.

Cons

95% independent work (could be a + if you like that) and you can go all day without speaking with anyone even though they are sitting right next to you. I consider myself an independent person, but it's a little too much for even me. While I understand it's research, this quiet environment still baffles me. It's hard to know your coworkers, people leave without saying bye...and you realize this the next day when their desk is clear. Work is hit or miss and can be frustrating. Shifting from topic to topic each week gets old, especially since subjects are rather obscure areas (majority B2B, little B2C). If you are considering applying, consider what type of work environment you like. I'm writing this because if you have an offer and are unsure, you are unsure for a reason and move on.

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Hanover Research Response
13y
Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you found the work at Hanover to be more isolating and less predictable than you had anticipated. Autonomy and variety are characteristics of the job that most of our staff find very appealing. The recruiting team makes a concerted effort to emphasize the independent nature of the work at various points throughout the interviewing process, and we go to great lengths to assess suitability for the role. Moreover, we organize (and encourage the organization of) numerous staff activities ranging from lunch clubs to intramural soccer teams to give research staff a chance to come together. We do not, however, mandate participation in any of these activities, so I cannot know if you took advantage. Finally, as part of our growing professional-development agenda, we have been investing more and more time in manager training - although it will always be the case that direct upward management is the best way to get the guidance you feel you need.
2.0
Jun 27, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My peers were lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.

Cons

Research at Hanover consists of googling random key words to produce 20+ pages reports in 3 to 4 days. The expectation is that in 3-4 days you not only conduct extensive research on fairly complex topics but also that you create tables, visuals, and magic. You must work at least 10-12 hours a day with no breaks to achieve that level of perfection. You are incentivized to work long hours because project evaluations will address any insignificant mistake you make because of those tight timelines. Further, the expectation is that after 3-4 intense days of researching and heavy writing, you also find the intellectual energy in you to come up with appropriate and clever recommendations to the client when you actually have no clue what the client actually needs (you don't possess this knowledge because you rarely get to engage with clients) Mid management is unaware of what it means to actually manage people. Content Directors are either 20 something that got promoted simply because of their tenure at the company or external hires that are completely ignorant of any serious research methodology. They all excel at drafting emails where they completely change the scope of work, an art that confirms how terrible they are at providing guidance to the researchers. But it is not even the directors’ fault for being that awful because they are overworked too. While Directors get to evaluate researchers on every single project, researchers never get the chance to evaluate Directors on their work. Some Directors have no clue how to conduct research and don't realize how impossible it is to turn flawless reports in 3 days. Don’t bother complaining to HR. They are busy fixing the coffee machine. Upper management is a bunch of white frat boys that have no clue what leadership means. The CEO's not-so-secret dream is to pay researchers less to work more and more hours so that he can afford a new leather chair.

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Hanover Research Response
5y
Thank you for your feedback. We are proud of having been named to the Top 50 Market Research firms by GreenBook for several years in a row and for having industry-leading client renewal rates. Our engagement surveys indicate that over 90% of employees are happy with their direct managers. Having said that, we are dedicated to continuing to make Hanover a great place to work and would like to understand more about your experience and how we can improve. Please email us at peoplesupport@hanoverresearch.com with any additional information.
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