HDR reviews

4.0

77% would recommend to a friend

(1,804 total reviews)
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John W. Henderson

88% approve of CEO

85% positive business outlook

HDR has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 1,804 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The HDR employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Construction, repair and maintenance industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
Sep 28, 2017

Read the Cons very closely

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The only good thing about HDR is that its a small team. That's pretty much all there is for pros.

Cons

Let me be clear, this review holds no grudges. This is a very carefully thought-out review. The worst thing about HDR Calgary is the absolutely poor management team. There is a gross lack of leadership qualities and anything even close to it. I have worked in a few consulting companies and I can definitely say that this is the worst management team I have seen. For starters, all projects almost always come out over-budget, leaving the leadership looking for who to peg the blame on. The atmosphere as a result of this is septic and in all cases, the Project Managers/Leads never take responsibility. This has happened on multiple occasions. The project management team in HDR Calgary is absolutely clueless on how to finish a project on budget. I can count the number of projects that came out on budget on one hand. There is mass misappropriation of Client budget on a Senior-level employees, with high charge rates, who don't contribute to the project progress, resulting in a net total loss to the company. I would advise patience and not apply to this company. However, if you are considering HDR Calgary, the only advice I will give is this: Cover your butt like diapers on a newborn, there's always a "peg the blame" game going on. Good luck and God bless!

2.0
Mar 24, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Big Firm, Big projects, Good benefits, and you can negotiate a good salary. The engineering side is a great team to work with. Matrix organization provides project based leadership opportunities

Cons

Last year they blocked USB ports and all data transfer websites like drop box and google drive so that no one can take work with them or reference past work which can feel like slavery with no end. On the architecture side there is no culture of promoting within and if you try to move up by taking on new roles and responsibilities this can end in a bad way. Leadership is either hired externally or transferred from the USA. In the past the architecture leadership has been led by an engineer which causes a lot of tension. 80% of HDR's work is TA technical advisory work which will never be built so if you have aspirations of doing professional paper architecture and engineering for a living this is the place to be. This can also create issues with time management because unlike real projects that are executed this work is time and materials billing so you just keep charging your client until they are angry and ask you to stop billing them. Projects can continue on for months or years beyond their scope. There was a reported a case of racism with one of the HR managers who stated that "immigrants will not be good managers because they are too emotional" and "Women do not make good CEO's", after this was reported nothing happened and there was no accountability with senior leadership.

1.0
Jan 4, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Met some hard working and very loyal people who are passionate about their work; unfortunately HDR knows they are not running away so their compensation is not equal with newer staff

Cons

Divisive management; Corporate advanced people who are good at sucking up, not because of their credentials or skill sets; they absolutely do not like or tolerate people who stands up and especially if it is women. Toxic work environment, a lot of gossip and negative treatment of others. They have extremely tight control centralize system. You can’t even move pen without 10 steps of approval. Good luck trying to achieve anything at this firm. You can bring up some serious issues with reporting manger, direct management or HR; They will see this as one being unhappy with organization and should leave, instead of taking this as constructive feedback or making some changes. One has to be sweet talker and show off to get away with any wrongdoing at this place.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 1,804 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,031 HDR reviews submitted anonymously by HDR employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if HDR is right for you.