Smart people, good clients - Director, Consumer Insights The Hartman Group Employee Review

Highly collaborative, creative, and engaging work environment. Some of the smartest, most insightful, and nice people I've ever worked with. It's a small company with a strong focus on building intellectual capital and is currently shifting towards a stronger strategic, consultative focus. It's not a place for Type A's who are searching to climb any ladders or dominate teams. It's well suited to deep, creative thinkers and researchers who appreciate the process of research, analysis, and solving business problems and enjoy the process of designing and communicating insights.

Sometimes understaffed, meaning it's difficult to allocate human resources to various project needs. The nature of project proposals and clients sometimes limits the scope and space to experiment with research methods and deliverables.

Hartman is growing its consulting services while maintaining research capabilities, so the employment opportunities here have expanded beyond research positions in recent years. If you have an interest in food culture, this is a good place to keep on your radar. So far, I have seen the company both hire skilled people from outside and promote talented people from within. Colleagues here are bright and happy to collaborate with one another. Many of the people I've encountered at senior levels exhibit a focused, empathetic leadership style. There's also a breadth of experience within the company that informs its approach--ranging from culinary backgrounds to ethnographers to management/strategy consultants. Projects often call on many of these capabilities, and team members are expected to be game for growing beyond some of the organizational/functional silos that are typical at larger organizations.

The organization's size means that its benefits package is less generous than those at large firms. Hartman was up-front about this during the hiring process. The location in Bellevue means the office is subject to the standard, day-to-day commuting pains that are familiar to everyone in the Seattle metro. Some schedule flexibility and a remote work day once a week help with this.