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    Forrester Reviews

    Updated April 16, 2018
    639 reviews

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    4.2
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    Forrester Chairman, President, and CEO George F. Colony
    George F. Colony
    456 Ratings

    639 Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • They care about work-life balance (in 89 reviews)

    • Work with smart people who enjoy being here; people who care about doing great work (in 89 reviews)

    Cons

    • The work can get consuming -- it's important to actively manage your work-life balance (in 27 reviews)

    • Not enough support from senior management (in 24 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. Helpful (2)

      "Best decision I ever made"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Manager, Customer Success
      Current Employee - Manager, Customer Success
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Great place to work. Things are always evolving so never a dull moment. The people here are passionate about what they do. Supportive with career development and want employees to strive for excellence.

      Cons

      Sometimes slow moving with ideas but they are becoming more flexible and agile. We tend to fall into analysis paralysis so keeping the momentum of driving our own change is pivotal to our future success.

    2. Helpful (2)

      "Death by Micro-Management & Culture shift"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Account Director in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Account Director in Cambridge, MA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      There are a lot of good, smart people at Forrester on the research side. Can't say much about other leadership teams.

      Cons

      Micro management, abrupt changes to product and sales terrority , 90% turnover ratio on the mid-market new business sales team over the past 3 years. Organization is going through a cultural shift and employees aren't happy. Hard to grow internally unless favored by leadership. Extremely low low compared to industry b2b sales.

      Advice to Management

      Focus on moving back to what made the company great, less on metrics and micro management. Stop paying the C-Suite million dollar salaries and allocate to the analyst research teams and sales resources so you don't have such high turnover ratios.

      3. Join the Forrester team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. Helpful (2)

      "Great Company; Great Culture; Great teachable and learning environment"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Program Manager in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Program Manager in Cambridge, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester (More than a year)

      Pros

      Great Culture
      Good Benefits
      Flexible Hours
      Friendly and hardworking people
      Many new learning opportunities arise while working there

      Cons

      If you do not work in sales or are an analyst, do not expect to make a lot of money.

      Advice to Management

      Learn that there are others working at your company who work just as hard as sales and analysts

    4. Helpful (2)

      "Learning all the time"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Associate Director in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Associate Director in Cambridge, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      I've found the Leadership Boards to be a fantastic place to get a crash-course MBA, the exposure to some of the most successful professionals in their fields (our clients) is an incredible learning opportunity. I've found my colleagues supportive and always motivated to do what's right for the client. Pros include the ability to shape your own path, an accessible leadership team, a real interest in developing high-potential performers, and a genuine desire to succeed. Forrester has been a great place to grow and be challenged, and rewards hard and thoughtful work with opportunity. Colleagues genuinely want to help one another succeed, even when misaligned goals can occasionally get in the way.

      Cons

      Forrester is a company in transition to its next phase of growth. This is great for people who like being part of a transformation; uncomfortable for people who prefer predictability. It's also a lean business model, with a lot of tough choices to be made about where resources get invested, so it's sometimes disappointing that we can't invest more in the kind of internal and external digital tools that would improve the experience for everyone.

      Advice to Management

      Keep up the focus on building a culture of winning, it's what we all want. Be bold in slaying sacred cows and disrupting the traditional product set. Continue to give employees the space and resources to help Forrester move faster.

      Forrester Response

      Mar 14, 2018 – SVP, Leadership Boards

      Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. Our enthusiastic work using Design Thinking Methodology is tipping those cows and pushing us to move with speed on our digital transformation. I am... More

    5. Helpful (1)

      "Great Place To Work And Grow"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Analyst in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Analyst in Cambridge, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Smart people, challenging, positive work environment, no drama, friendly co-workers, lots of company events.

      Cons

      Open cube environment (no offices) but quiet, unique business so most people feel lost when they first start, not great on-boarding training at the department level and no ongoing training (after you start, you're pretty much on your own).

    6. Helpful (1)

      "Career oriented workplace"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at Forrester full-time

      Pros

      Forrester is a great place to work, mid-management is help accountable. The company cares about their employees' careers. They care about work-life balance. Overall a great place to work.

      Cons

      None, top of mind.

      Advice to Management

      Lead by example

    7. Helpful (6)

      "A truly unique company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Vice President in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Vice President in Cambridge, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      I've worked for several companies throughout my career., but none quite like Forrester. It's truly a unique and fulfilling place to work if you enjoy a fast-paced, high-performance environment where you get to work with super-intelligent people from all over the globe. Open-mindedness, intellectual curiosity, and adaptability are must-haves for success here. Any professional who possesses those traits will have every opportunity to thrive here.

      Cons

      Can at times become a bit of an echo chamber. We're losing some of the edge that has been so ingrained in years past, where challenging one's ideas was welcome and expected. Don't lose sight of that. It's part of what gives Forrester its character.

      Advice to Management

      Take calculated risks - acquire someone, bring net new products and services to market, target new audiences, and accelerate the innovation efforts. There's no shortage of ideas, we just need to act on them. Our future growth depends on it.

    8. Helpful (7)

      "Toxic Work Environment"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Cambridge, MA
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Cambridge, MA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Forrester full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Free, potable water and Herman Miller desk chairs.

      Cons

      There are lots of cons to working at Forrester and Leadership Boards is at the top of the list. When you start at Forrester there is a lot you will ignore and push to the side. You’ll think, “there are arrogant people in every office, right?” No, not like in Leadership Boards. People that have been there way too long have a sense of entitlement that is ENCOURAGED and REWARDED by upper management. There is a complete lack of general respect for other human beings in Leadership Boards. I was embarrassed to work on Leadership Boards. Several people from different departments told me how difficult it was to work with Leadership Boards and tried to avoid contact with the product at all costs.

      There is zero support from senior management and the recent cultural shift to career building is a farce. Unless you start in Research, there are no career growth opportunities for you. No one will care about your resume or your work experience before you got to Forrester. Compensation is extremely low, almost insulting, but many people (including me) take positions at Forrester because it is a great resume builder. My best day at Forrester was the day I left and gave an honest exit interview. I hope what I said is taken seriously, but I’m not holding my breath.

      Advice to Management

      The product is getting tired. Innovation is lacking. Forrester seems to always be late to the game (i.e. yelp-like app 10 years after yelp hits it big; podcast 10 years after podcasts become popular). Make big changes in Leadership...don't promote within either. Hire new, exciting, innovative, YOUNG minds to bring some fresh air to tired, old, stagnant products.

      Forrester Response

      Mar 14, 2018 – SVP, Leadership Boards

      Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear that your time at Forrester was disappointing. I review all exit interview feedback within Leadership Boards and can say that your... More

    9. Helpful (4)

      "Avoid at all costs!,"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Marketing Manager in Cambridge, MA
      Former Employee - Marketing Manager in Cambridge, MA
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at Forrester full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Not the,worst place to work, some free food, paid time off, and nice location.

      Cons

      Horrible HR, and a management team that is leaving. Outdated product and attitude.

      Advice to Management

      Get your act together and stop blaming othets.

    10. Helpful (2)

      "Fantastic company culture and a premier brand"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Consulting in Cambridge, MA
      Current Employee - Consulting in Cambridge, MA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at Forrester full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Work alongside super-smart, intellectually curious, collaborative, dedicated, interesting colleagues and make an impact on clients' real-world business and technology challenges and strategies.

      Huge opportunity for learning and growth (personal and professional) no matter where you are in your career. Lots of opportunity to move to different roles internally and build new skills.

      There is such a rich treasure trove of research, experience and insight -- and colleagues eager to explain what it means and why it matters. It's impossible to get bored here.

      Relationships are valued here, but it's not political. Trust, respect and constructive debate are all important tenets of the amazing and deliberately cultivated company culture.

      Bottom line: This is the best company I have worked for in my career.

      Cons

      The work can get consuming -- it's important to actively manage your work-life balance.

      Many of the tools we use or need to do the work (project management, practice management, time tracking, expense reporting, video conferencing,..) are clunky, incompatible, outdated or non-existent.

      The Research and Sales teams get top billing, and the Cambridge (MA) HQ is the center of the Forrester universe. If you work on other teams or in other offices, you may feel outside of the spotlight.

      Advice to Management

      Continue to work to break down silos between teams and offices to make One Forrester a reality.

      Integrate strategy consulting into the business and marketing message more holistically. It's the glue that can strengthen and expand our client relationships.

      Work to increase cultural diversity.

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