HDR Reviews

Pros

very professional people to work with.

Cons

Being a consulting firm very much dpendent on day to day economy

Advice to Senior Management

Trust and support senior and loyal employer

Pros

Well-connected group of employees across the country
Opportunities for work-sharing with other offices, travel and networking
Supportive of work/life balance (was never asked to work over 40hrs/week)
Great benefits (esp. health insurance)
Cool projects (if you're in a larger office)

Cons

Avoid working at a smaller office as a recent graduate; you will not have the resources necessary to learn and advance
Projects are given to larger offices, with smaller offices given "scraps" to work on
Some offices have limited senior staff, which makes it difficult for entry-levels to learn

Advice to Senior Management

Great opportunities for employees to connect with staff across the country

Pros

The company feels solid, has been around for quite some time. Consistent work flow at this time, even though in a recession. I feel like there is security at this company. Stock options available since it is privately owned and stock has not gone down!

Cons

Although very busy with work and having plenty of money in the bank, I have not seen any project bonuses. Also, benefits are decent, but not stellar. Your basic run of the mill health insurance coverage.

Pros

Interesting/forward thinking projects.
Some very bright coworkers you can learn a lot from.

Cons

Unless you live for your job you will not be considered for promotions.
PMs often underbid so they land contracts, then expect employees to donate hours to finish the project without going over budget.
Pay raises are barely noticeable, and you have to hound managers to find out what it is.
There is no recognition for jobs well done or going above/beyond what should be done. The quarterly awards that are supposed to be for this reason, go to the same people, who live for their jobs.
They will ask you to use your personal gear for projects, then not reimburse you if any damage comes to it. While they keep the money in the budget that was supposed to go to buying or renting such gear.
If you aren't in the inner circle, you won't advance.
There is absolutely no respect for employees. Common courtesy is completely lacking.
At monthly NY office meetings you'll hear how great everything is, that all depts are making profit. Everyone but you will forget that when you see your new pay rate.

Advice to Senior Management

Chop the top. A standard business model is to have few high paid people at the top, and many support staff under them. HDR is loaded with too many upper management people and not enough support staff.
Show your employees common courtesy. Have the decency to meet face to face with people to discuss their annual pay rate. If you can't give employees a raise, or a decent raise, tell them why and let them know you'll take care of them well in the future if they show dedication now. To make people wonder from November-January what their pay rate will be is unfair and unethical.

Pros

In this down economy, HDR is one of the few companies that is hiring and maintaining employees. This is due to the fact that many of the upper management and marketers have connections with various government departments and agencies who themselves are the only ones generating large projects on a reliable basis.

Cons

Those who do the actual work and have strong abilities, talent, and work ethic will be ignored and not rewarded.

Those who are willing to play politics with upper management and try to be "one of the boys" will be given bonuses and awards.

Morale is extremely low.

Management is completely clueless. They only come into the office a few times a month, yet the lower level employees are expected to respect their supervisors despite glaring double standards.

Advice to Senior Management

Management is absolutely abysmal. I don't know how to salvage this ship. It is a bureaucratic quagmire dependent on upper management able to obtain large contracts for public contracts. If and when the public sector cuts back on spending, HDR will be in a fundamentally weak position.

Pros

HDR is a completely employee owned company and therefore has a unique culture that has formed as a result of employee pride. The way things are conducted between peers and between offices are so easy going that everyone wants to succeed as a whole just as much as individually. I loved the working atmosphere, even when work was light.

Cons

My office had limited work at times and therefore there were periods when I feel like I had to venture out and source work from different functional groups to try and keep busy.

Advice to Senior Management

Give every employee who is interested in any aspect of the business model utilized at HDR to have the opportunity to pursue and develop their skills in those areas regardless of seniority and existing job duties.

Pros

Good environment to work in, director is very kind.

Cons

Underpaid, not enough training or updates....

Advice to Senior Management

Equal pay for equal work!

Pros

Management is open. The group is young. Huge opportunities for young staff. Great leadership who all have open door policies. Good raises for performance. This is a place for you if you want to be involved in Power Delivery work with people who care about delivering the best quality engineering product and serving great clients across the country. The work atmosphere is energetic, young, challenging, and full of potential. The Power group is doing extremely well and will most likely have over 400 people in a few years.

Cons

Slackers don't get raises in this company.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep supporting the Power Delivery group. We won't disappoint.

Pros

Endless opportunities, competitive pay, good benefits

Cons

No team work, motivation, or recognition on on projects.
To much emphasis on utilization.
No clear definition of one’s responsible

Advice to Senior Management

Need a managment team who can actually work together, and aren't just interested in their own gain

Pros

A very green and progressive company, they live what they preach when it comes to issues affecting the quality of our environment.

Cons

As with many companies, you must form the appropriate political alliances in order to be considered for promotion. It's not necessarily based on one's character and the capacity to deliver. Unfortunately a good deal of talent has been passed over.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to focus on what brought you success and earned your clients to begin with and apply that philosophy internally.