You will find only one, at most 3 people at the leadership level in HQ that are competent. Most should not be at the executive level. Direct quote from someone on the executive team “People that have MBA are just show offs”. What!? And this quote is not “taken out of context”. Is says exactly what you think it says. If you don’t believe me when I say that skills are lacking at the top, just attending one of the open “investor” calls (very embarrassing for Harman).
The CEO dictates the culture of the company and unfortunately, that is not his strength. He is no doubt a person with strong financial skills, but he is far from being a mature leader. HR leadership at the top level, especially in the US is second rate, actually, let me correct myself, third rate, at best. Turnover rates are of course horrible! They try to hire the best (and from top companies) and guess what?? The best end up leaving (usually within the first year to a year and a half) due to a complete lack of professionalism and expertise at the VP level. People at the top, get promoted purely based on friendships. You better be having personal dinners with the CEO for you to be one of the “favorites”. Funny enough, the CEO is bold enough to mention this in one of his recent articles published in New York Times (way to go communications department). Last, but not least, if you are a woman, stay away! No matter how intelligent and accomplished you are, you will be just an object to look at, nothing more. Do your research, talk to people that worked there (you can always find them on LinkedIn).
The success of the company is built purely on the passion of the acoustics engineering teams (I am not an engineer but their contribution is what keeps the company going). What goes on at Harman is shameful and there is no-one to stop it. Now, are the products exciting? Yes. Can the job be challenging and interesting? Yes. But be aware, is you are someone from one of the best-in-class organizations and are used to mature leadership, you will not find that here. It just does not exist. This will not change unless the CEO is replaced.
