HD Human Resources Management HD prides itself on open communication with its union and nonunion employees and on its team-based culture. Employees are involved in goal setting, and this practice facilitates a shared vision of the company's direction. Self-directed work groups are the norm. Departmental differences are minimized through a focus on cross function communications. These types of personnel practices are known as partnering at HD; partnering results include increased employees motivation and a reduced need for supervision.
The company developed its Performance Effectiveness Process to foster both employee performance and career development. Employees are rated on a form that includes over 90 descriptors, which include: (1) value diversity in the workforce, (2) does what he/she says he/she will do, and (3) responds in a positive manner to criticism. The performance evaluation was tested and refined on managers before it was used on the workforce. HD takes career development seriously and has formalized all the company's learning, training, and development initiatives under its Leadership Institute. Each year over a third of the company's employees attend the institute's course. Management believes these courses improve the company's competitiveness, while giving employees the knowledge and skills needed for advancement and personal growth. HD prefers to promote from within the company to give employees opportunities for advancement and to demonstrate the company's commitment to retaining talent.
This is why they also have an extensive tuition reimbursement program, including undergraduate and graduate program offered though Marquette University and Milwaukee Area Technical College. HD even developed a program to assist its distributors. Classes offered at HD University (HDU) help distributors improve customer satisfaction, store layout, and merchandising.
An emphasis for HDU is teaching dealers how to market and sell motorcycle. Until 2005-2006, the HD's dealers functioned as order takers. Demand for HD motorcycle exceeded manufacturing capacity, and most buyers had to wait a few months before receiving their bikes. During the transition from the 2005 to the 2006 model years, supply briefly exceeded demand. For the first time in the memory of most dealers, unsold motorcycles were sitting on the show room floor. The fact that dealers simply did not know how to handle this situation became painfully evident when sales trended downward in 2007. HDU stepped in to help HD dealers learn what ever successful car dealership already know: how to sell your products.
In 2008 the company employed approximately 9,000 employees in the manufacture of motorcycles. As a function of their geographical location, unionized employees are represented by one of two unions, HD had incurred only one previous strike since the AMF buyout in 1981 when in 2007 the employees at the York, Pennsylvania, plant went on strike for three weeks. The bones of contention were pay, a tiered wage system, and copay for medical benefits. In the end workers received a 12 percent wage increase over three years, and the company received a lower starting wage for new employees. The tiered wage system flew in the face of Harley's compensation structure, which had traditionally been driven by two guidelines: (1) make a larger portion of a bonus compensation system used for employees is giving equal percentage bonuses, based on 15 percent of sales. It is believed that this practice minimizes differences in employee pay and promotes teamwork and lessens jealousy among employees. HD generally evokes a deep commitment from employees. Building consensus with union employees is HD's standard practice. Resolving the occasional union grievance is left to the employee's filing the grievance, the union steward, the work group, and the work group's advisor (manager). The grievance resolution is considered binding by the union and the company.
Harley has a time-tested device for keeping up with customer demands and ensuring product quality. Half of the company's 9,000 employees ride a HD, yet every employee, including the CEO, must go through a dealer to get a bike. This is just a testament to HD being a company driven by the human resources function. Fairness and equality are driving this company into the future with a workforce that believes they are part of something special.