
The normal workday routine has quickly shifted in a manner of weeks as workers are no longer making that commute to the office, which occupies a significant amount of their time every day. Around the world, people are sharing how they’re handling the new normal, including their new at-home office spaces. A recent Atlantic article detailed how some workers are valuing their ability to work from the convenience of home while others, particularly with young children at home, have found it to be uniquely challenging. To help our own teams adjust to long-term remote work, HARMAN is proudly supporting new, virtual work-from-home programs to help our teams adjust to work while away from the office.
Fully understanding how seamless connectivity and experiences have an impact on the user (and in this case, our own employees), HARMAN is dedicated to ensuring our teams from engineering to manufacturing can seamlessly transition from office workspaces to remote locations without skipping a beat.
HARMAN University’s WFH Courses

Our in-house professional learning and development program, HARMAN University, created courses that focus on assisting teams and individuals shifting their workspace from the office to the home. Creating an at-home workspace that is as productive as the office can be challenging, particularly when employees don’t have access to necessary work tools and solutions that are readily available in the office. However, our teams are embracing digital solutions to stay on top of their projects.
For example, HARMAN University has quickly adapted courses like Supply Chain and Data Academy to work with students outside the physical classroom and maintain the class schedule over postponement or cancellation. HARMAN University is also building out new virtual Professional Development and D&I courses geared towards topics such as: Career Conversations, Continuous Feedback & Coaching, The Alliance Mindset, Unconscious Bias and BLUE – a Professional Development Program designed specifically for engineers. With an aim to ensure our employees gain valuable career lessons from these courses, HARMAN University aims to equip workers with the best skills that can amplify and bring out the most from every individual.
As we look toward the future, this type of flexible learning format becomes increasingly important as we assess the impact of crises like COVID-19 and their influence on work from home efforts – especially for teams that aren’t typically able to work in a remote setting.

One of HARMAN’s teams, leading the development of the Digital Cockpit, is expertly navigating new training and brainstorming solutions through previously unimaginable virtual means. This is a herculean task to do remotely as these teams aspire to cement the Digital Cockpit as an experiential hub that allows for improved safety, telematics/5G, ADAS, V2X communications and overall connective experiences. While trainings for our Digital Cockpit experts typically happen on-site where they can get a physical experience of the technologies and the development process, HARMAN has been able to successfully implement digital training solutions here too to ensure the advancement of our market-leading Digital Cockpit technologies is not interrupted in these disruptive times.
Working from home isn’t a hassle-free affair for all as many are struggling to adjust to remote work settings. Keeping this in mind, HARMAN also took a proactive approach in sharing educational and productive resources with employees that help to alleviate stresses resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The informational materials that were shared with our teams focused on key topics like managing anxiety and the use of effective strategies to cope with the uncertainty and change that has been brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cultural Changes for Our Remote Teams

As a company that prides itself in its global, diverse and entrepreneurial culture, HARMAN teams have also taken steps to promote a sense of unity and harmony while apart. Our Huemen team recently created a Studio Vibes playlist to help keep their team connected and engaged with each other which includes artists like Fleetwood Mac, Billie Eilish and The Temptations. As a means of internal bonding with the team, Huemen also found a creative and quirky solution to bedheads with the use of the Huemen hat on Snapcamera. HARMAN has also been rolling out new podcasts such as Audio Matters, a podcast dedicated to the power of listening and creating music, and Go and See, a dedicated journey to discover what makes Lexus’s approach to designing cars so unique (also featuring the automaker’s unique relationship with HARMAN’s legendary brand Mark Levinson). Additionally, Virtual Fireside Chats were also organized to ensure we continue important discussions on critical leadership topics, including the role of mentorship in advancing your career and how we can further close the gender gap in the workplace.
HARMAN is a company that focuses on bringing connected experiences everywhere, which includes our own beloved employees across the globe. With these various work from home initiatives, we wanted to ensure that our employees still feel just as connected and engaged with the company and our culture, despite operating for extended periods in a remote setting. While this has not been an easy transition for many, we would love to hear how you are working around the “new normal”. What does your home office look like? Who are your new “co-workers”? Tag us @HARMAN and share your stories with us!