Hanover Research Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research full-time

Pros – As a small firm striving to grow quickly, the staff and diverse mix of business professionals are critical to achieving revenue goals and revolutionizing the company’s content offering. Impressive collection resumes both on the sales, as well as the research side of the business. Selective hiring process seeks intelligent, highly-motivated, driven professionals, which creates an ambitious and financially rewarding working experience. A great place to hone and develop complex sales skills while getting a front seat view into the marketing and research functions of some of the world’s largest companies and the challenges they face in our current economic climate. Management is receptive to new ideas and always willing to consider new ways to improve internal efficiencies. Fast-paced sales environment with attainable, but still ambitious revenue goals. Very much a self-starter atmosphere, which bodes well for “go-getters” looking to make great money while still taking on mid-level management responsibilities. Overall, a rewarding work environment, both professionally and financially.

Cons – The world can change in an instant, which is often the case at Hanover. Just when a new sales approach or tactic seems to be working, the company strategy could shift in a new direction, requiring a swift adjustment in focus. If you like a steady and consistent work pattern, this is probably not the job for you. Sometimes new ideas aren’t always successful, leading to instances of “time lost” in trying something new that doesn’t always pan out. Lean staff requires employees to often wear multiple hats, which is inherently difficult for individuals who are married to structure and do not react well to sudden change.

Advice to Senior Management – More visibility to employees when it comes to 5-year strategic plan and 10-year company outlook. Need to build out a more effective sales/training function that focuses on the onboarding process of new employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Hanover Research full-time for less than a year

Pros – A lot of flexibility
Good experience
Ability to hone research skills, if you're willing to learn
Ability to work alone and be responsible for your own work

Cons – Upper management
No recognition from upper management
Quota system and churning project after project out makes it seem like an assembly-line job

Advice to Senior Management – There's definitely a focus on Development, in every sense, even though the researchers are the ones doing the actual work once the members' are in the door. Keeping the sales relationship is essential, but without the work researchers do, best of luck, development. It's also common knowledge that salaries in development were higher. Hope it's not the case still, but wouldn't bet on any changes.

Upper management does not care about researchers. When I was there, we were just a pool of people who wrote reports all day - we don't have names, and even if we did, it probably wouldn't even matter. Updates from upper management focused almost only on Development.

My advice: Ever wonder why turnover is so high in research? Some recognition would be nice. Also, give promotions where and when due. That is part of the reason I left when I did.

To address one of the comments left earlier, the researchers look young - I was surprised to learn how old they really were and just how many advanced degrees were held among them all. So, they're not all 20 year olds, which is reassuring.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Hanover Research full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – If you've never worked in an office, had an internship, or didn't get much of an education, you'd fit right in. It's a fun environment with young people, but that's also a major con.

Cons – Because of the lack of management, so much relies on people under 30 who have no management skills and don't know how to effectively execute work or communicate. The best learning environment for a young professional is to have a mix of staff, with older, more experienced staff leading the way.

They're so desperate for new staff because of turnover that they shell out tons of $$$ on recruiting forms.

Advice to Senior Management – Do your job - manage. Get a decent CEO and active Board of Directors.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Hanover Research

Pros – -good bonus potential
-fun coworkers, everyone under 30
-happy hours/company get-togethers
-very laid back work environment

Cons – -senior management is unprofessional, doesn't really care about employees
-employee retention rate is very poor
-no intellectual stimulation/challenge
-not a "real" job
-twists the truth during interviews about day to day responsibilities

Advice to Senior Management – -listen to employee feedback and describe job accurately to potential candidates

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research

Pros – I am a fairly new employee at Hanover, so I don't have any perspective on how it is to work here long-term. I am very satisfied with my experience so far. I like learning in-depth on topics which are of interest to me (I'm very interested in education) and learning about a new topic every week or so. People are nice. I feel supported.

Cons – It can be hard to write lengthy papers in a short amount of time. I sometimes worry that I'm not doing as good of a job as I could be, or as good as others are doing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research

Pros – Lots of opportunities to learn about a wide range of topics and develop research skills
Friendly, intelligent coworkers
Fast-growing, high potential company that will have increasingly diverse opportunities for advancement in the future
Good benefits and work-life balance

Cons – Lack of collaborative work creates quiet, isolating work atmosphere
Expectations and feedback are not often provided, leaving newer researchers in the dark
Variety of research topics and methods makes specialization difficult

Advice to Senior Management – I'd recommend that management try to gather more input from staff in the decision process as much as possible. Expectations and feedback can be communicated more often and more clearly, particularly for newer staff.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research

Pros – Professional growth
Team cohesion
Excellent rewards for hard work
Ability for internal advancement
Hard-working, yet relaxed culture
Amazing research capabilities
Opportunity to be apart of a rapidly growing, young company
Encouragement of employee input/ideas
Great benefits

Cons – Segregation between research and development staff
Lack of transparency between upper management and associate-level employees
No concrete, established advancement track (although there are many opportunities)

Advice to Senior Management – I would suggest to promote more professional interaction between research and development employees. This would help both sides to have a better understanding of the excellent work Hanover has to offer, which will ultimately help Development sell and Research continue outputting great projects. Also, it would be a good idea to establish more of a downward communication itinerary between executives and associate level employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research

Pros – Rapid promotion and comp growth
Development of multiple skill sets
Lack of micromanagement
Great group of people to work with/many are friends outside of work

Cons – Jack of all trades, master of none
Growth can lead to chaos
Lack of bureaucracy also means lack of structure/plenty of ambiguity

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate, communicate, communicate
Allow researchers to specialize by industry, or research type, or both
Free up Content Directors for mentoring/prof development

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research full-time

Pros – Hanover is a fantastic company to be employed by. Completely dedicated to fast growth, there is always something going on - very conducive to personal growth inside the company. New positions are created all the time, yielding a great opportunity for internal promotion. The atmosphere is upbeat, energetic and fun, yet simultaneously laser focused on results and success. For young people looking to kick start a career, all while developing valuable business experience, this is an ideal place to work.

Cons – Their K Street Office overlooks the food trucks parked around Farragut Park, and sometimes that makes it extremely hard to concentrate around lunch time.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue to be proactive about improving. While significant strides have been made, complacency is no one's friend.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Hanover Research full-time for more than a year

Pros – -Forward-thinking. Young, but experienced and passionate professionals that are not hesitant to try new tactics to ensure the company prospers
-Limited bureaucracy
-Ability to be an integral part of multiple new initiatives
-Heavily rewarded for hard-work and ambitious attitude
- Vital knowledge in the spectrum of research methodologies across all industries. Really see the full cycle of supporting prospective clients.
-Unique mentoring from Development Directors that want to see you succeed

Cons – Because Hanover is growing at such a fast rate it is hard to put a definitive professional development plan in place. While entry-level employees receive a modest training early in positions, next-level positions lack a structured plan to strive for and achieve a registered skill set.

Advice to Senior Management – Possibly implement some sort of matrix that employees can track themselves along to see where they lie currently in their development and what is required for promotion. Not just noting performance metrics but also indicators of communication, mentorship, community outreach, etc.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend