An Excerpt From Project 1, Harman
Lifestyle at HSP: Then and Now
While Harman operates as a corporation as opposed to a “Mom and Pop” shop, the term, “suit up,” may have been used loosely back in the 1990’s. Speaking with Jason Mondragon, a Lead Technical Support Specialist, on some of the aspects surrounding HSP, he can recall a time when male employees were comfortable with long hair. He was pointing to the fact that in the 1990’s Harman felt more comparable to a rock n’ roll gig than a corporate career.
There is still evidence of the rock n’ roll atmosphere with males letting their hair grow and a select few covered in tattoos, but for the most part in 2010’s a business casual attire is what is expected at Harman Signal Processing.
We must look at some of the departments and how they comply with business casual. Many employees who work on the manufacturing lines are typically found in jeans or shorts as they are working very hard 8 to sometimes 10 hours a day to meet deadlines. Service Technicians and Technical Support Specialists are most of the time found in similar attire to manufacturers. A majority of managers and engineers can always been found business casual attire.
Seeing a suit can often be intimidating to those who have not yet reached a position that calls for wearing one. The fact that it is rare to see those in authority wearing a suit is just one aspect that allows for an employee to easily approach their superiors.
There are other aspects to consider. Only a few employees of HSP have their own offices while most have their own cubicles that are very spacious. Offices are typically found with an open door, and there’s not much difference found in how an office and cubicle are decorated. Generally you will find them both with pictures of loved ones, books pertaining to their profession, tiny knick-knacks and pictures of musicians. Many companies also have privileged parking and HSP used to endorse this, but it has found that removing it has in a way leveled the playing field. In my interview with Dave Fata he brought up that there were feelings of resentment when HSP used to have privileged parking, but after changing this policy a lot of those feelings subsided.
A lack of suits, open offices and fair parking all lend to making managers easily approachable, and that is exactly what they want because they feel it is key for proper communication.
Health at Harman
The Harman facilities throughout the US all participate in what is, “Sound Living”. Sound Living encourages Harman employees to have a healthy body and also a healthy mind.
There is an entire website dedicated to encouraging Harman employees to have a healthy lifestyle. There are many great tools that allow someone to jump onto the right track to good health, including: diet and nutrition tips, ways for managing stress, tips for physical activities, proper neck and back maintenance and screening recommendations. The website offers definitions and solutions for managing specific health conditions, and you can also find diet and activity logs to track your success.
There can be incentives to participating in Sound Living besides a healthier body and mind. Let us look at two examples. Every year Harman offers free biometric screenings to their employees. In 2012, as a thank you to participants, each one received a $50 American Express gift card. For the month of July, employees could participate in a game that essentially tracked proper eating and exercising habits the entire month. Depending on the amount of exercise and healthy eating, participants were entered into a drawing for a $25 American Express gift card. For participants who played each week, they were also entered into a drawing for a Kindle Fire.
There is an underlying reason why Harman encourages its employees throughout the year to participate. Yes Harman does care for its employees, but there is the understanding that Harman’s insurance plan is self-funded. If insurance usage rises, rates will rise also. This is implied through effectively communicating the need for a healthy lifestyle. There are few areas throughout the facility where you cannot read about Sound Living.
