Gartner Employee Reviews about "middle management"

Pros

This organization truly cares about the well-being and development of their employees. They created a system that values and supports each individual regardless of the placement in the company. Their sales department is also ahead of the game and doesn't rely on outdated methods like cold calling or phone blitzing, they focus on building valuable relationships based on needs. I learned so much being a part of this organization, I miss it and wish I were still there

Cons

Some members of middle management aren't always ready to manage. Yes, they are well coached on what to say and how to say it, but they could also use guidance with emotional intelligence. Employing a sales & management therapist can be beneficial.

Advice to Management

Thanks for taking care of your people

Pros

Decent brand name for resume. Paid OTE during training

Cons

Claims to be data driven company but lacks tools to be able to do so, and relies on antiquated metrics. Weak middle management who falls in line with leadership mandates. Each employee experience will vary depending on product and geography - performance wildly fluctuates which signals territory assignments aren’t accurate. Lots of employee churn, especially external hires. Lack of flexibility in product configuration and leaving money on the table by being so rigid.

Advice to Management

Evolve as a company and challenge status quo. Too many one size fits all approaches and need to understand when something isn’t working how to adapt, not simply discount as an anomaly. Invest in technology that’s standard for modern sales orgs.

Pros

Great company, pay, and overall culture.

Cons

easy to see politics and favoritism influencing middle management decisions

Pros

- Work at home - Client interactions

Cons

The CEB acquisition has ruined this company. Fear, suspicion and uncertainty have gripped the analyst community. Things used to be different in the past. (1) Research has become a production line activity - Volume trumps quality. 80% of all research notes are trivial drivel ("opinions") devoid of facts. If there are no facts available, management encourages analysts to make them up on the fly because "we are Gartner and Gartner is always right." (2) Relentless and unconditional obsession with obscure metrics, although it's well known that these metrics are unreliable. Middle managers have jettisoned common sense to please top management and save their own jobs. (3) Absolutely horrible middle management. To be fair, there are huge variations, but if you're unlucky you're stuck with someone who learned basic English in college and then compliments native Americans on "your good command of English" (I kid you not). (4) Ongoing layoffs across many teams. It's happening in batches, 20 or so at a time to keep it under the radar and hide it in the financial filings. It's all in the spirit to reduce expenses. Most new hires in Research are in India and the lower-paid CEB location of Arlington, VA.

Advice to Management

Resign.

Pros

Gartner can be a great place to gain some experience, benefits are decent, ability to move into new roles every couple years, up until now the stock has been steady and strong

Cons

The rapid growth (nearly doubling after CEB acquisition) has unraveled what little culture was left. Executive team is so far removed from the “Life at Gartner” experience of the average employee. Culture seems to be going backwards... we talk of diversity and inclusion but it’s never been more painful to be a woman at this company. I can count on 1 hand the number of sr/executive level female leadership. It seems the only function of HR these days to send out emails about not leaving early on Fridays, and not using profanity. Not to mention a COMPLETE lack of flexibility... Gartner was slowly starting to allow more flexible work arrangements and this year did a complete move in the other direction requiring everyone to be tied to an office... and the office is a horrible open floor concept... just long tables with monitors (no dividers, no shelves). The office space feels like a sterile call center (with a couple ping pong tables). Most middle management is promoted into those roles out of necessity rather than skill... there is a shocking lack of skill development for our young workforce.

Advice to Management

Take a step away from your inner circle and look around at the companies with whom you compete with for talent. Gartner’s lack of flexibility, lack of diversity, open floor plans, disappearing perks/benefits, tightening grip of sr sales leader... all of these things are being felt throughout the workforce and is creating an intense cloud of negativity and stress. If you think your attrition rate is bad now, and if you think it’s challenging to constantly onboard new talent, it’s not going to get better.

Pros

A lot of the people are great as individuals. Time off is above average and depending on role you can work from home sometimes... these are the only positives. If you're looking at a sales role and only want it for a few years, maybe this place will work for you. For any other role, stay away.

Cons

Gartner used to be a great company to work for, but has not been for several years. - In Sales, the metrics are unachievable after a few years. They are merciless if your book of business get a cut. That said, the Sales organization does run the company. More detail further down. - In Research, they will work you to death. They are bleeding talented analysts (their entire value proposition) left and right yet nobody seems to care that this massively reduces the value of their offerings. - The service groups have metrics that are effectively at odds with both Sales and Research so everything they try to do is a fight on both sides. And their metrics are unachievable. - On the business ops side of the house they're stuck trying to bend Product designs to meet Sales promises that don't fit, and also to make falling numbers sound good to investors. - HR is a complete disaster and has the impossible task of trying to replace the assets they're losing. Multiple reviews on here also reference them adding fake Glassdoor reviews... believe it. It's absolutely happening. The value of the actual product offerings is being diluted by all of the above and clients are noticing. The Sales organization runs this company. Upper management's myopic focus on double digit growth gives all the power to the Sales department, even when their behavior is bad business and bordering on unethical. There are multiple full business units charged with enabling this behavior, selling clients based on interactions which are not within the actual product structure. The salespeople who do these things are then promoted because the problematic sales result in them meeting their metrics, and the cycle continues. So, if you want a short-term high-paying job in a Sales department which runs a company, by all means apply. They're the only group who are happy, but even that role has its share of stress. In other areas, salaries are below average, healthcare is mediocre, and general morale is below sea level across departments. In years past this company was great, optimistic, had good middle management, and upper management set goals which were reasonable and achievable. An unscalable product model, combined with years of promotions in every business unit based on either cronyism or meeting sales metrics, not based on ability or business IQ, have thrown that all away. The general morale now is defeatist, infighting between business units is rampant, and management is either oblivious or pretends everything is fine. Either scenario is bad. When legitimate concerns are raised they are either dismissed or nominally "recognized" and then ignored. Avoid this place; the recent significant stock drop is a harbinger of things to come unless substantial cultural changes are made. If you read back a few years, the general trend of Glassdoor reviews across business units is downward.

Advice to Management

Double digit growth for decades on end is not possible when the product does not scale. This isn't software, the product involves time which is finite. Take a step back and focus on sustainable, moderate growth for the sake of everyone internally and for your client base.

Pros

- Talented co-workers - Decent benefits and compensation - Good environment to learn key entry level skills

Cons

- Middle management and leadership do not communicate effectively and put much more weight on metrics than development and mission - Feels like the company is suffering post acquisition. Heritage CEB employees feel like they are left to fend for themselves. - Professional development and career pathing is misguided at best and a lie at worst. At entry we were told that we'd be preparing for a promotional interview after 9 months and in a new position after 12. After 9 months this didn't materialize.

Advice to Management

Listen to your employees, focus on their strengths and developing them as an employee rather than their numbers. Don't lie. Control the rumor mill, practice transparency so you can shut down falsities and reinforce the positives of truths.

Pros

The company values culture and fostering learning opportunities. It's a great fit for anyone wanting a traditional corporate experience.

Cons

There's a significant disconnect between the values and operating standards of Gartner corporate and its acquisition companies, which hire new talent below market rate and lack strong, experienced middle management.