David Harker, CEO & Founder, Harker, LLC

In an interview with Invest:, David Harker, CEO and founder of Harker, LLC, underscored the importance of office culture and community among employees as he recounted his company’s achievements over the last year. 

What were some key achievements and challenges for your company over the last year?

We’ve had some significant project wins, which has been great. We feel like we have a great market share in the interiors space. Employee retention has definitely been our biggest achievement, as we have been able to keep the same teams in front of the same clients. That certainly endears us to them and them to us. The maintenance of existing relationships and of the current team is critical. 

In terms of challenges, interest rates have been a constant topic. Rates don’t necessarily impact us directly because we specialize in high-end workplace and medical interiors, they do, however, impact our clients and their decision-making. Another factor impacting our business is the elongated amount of time it now takes to get a project from concept to completed. From lease negotiations and execution to permit review and approval and project execution — everything is taking much longer. 

What are the most sought-after amenities today and how are you incorporating those?

I would say the office of 10 years ago is quickly ceasing to exist. Employers are embracing upgraded amenities within their spaces to enhance employee attraction and retention. We recently completed a headquarters project that included a pub, a movie theater, a poker room, a barista station, a prayer room, and an arcade. What you think of as your father’s office, doesn’t really exist anymore. Or if it does, it probably won’t be around for much longer. Our office is in South End and is in close proximity to a host of great amenities. South End continues to draw a lot of interest from corporate users, and we continue to see a lot of traditional downtown centric firms becoming our neighbors. I think open, collaborative workspaces with high-value amenities have become the norm.

How important is flexibility and how does that get incorporated into your projects?

As a construction company, we were flexible regarding working from home, but we came to the conclusion that what’s best for our team is limiting working out of the home. The ability to collaborate across desks, the learning, the mentorship and being a part of a team is simply not possible remotely. We found that in our business, it really did more damage than good. It was much harder to get a feel for how someone is progressing. It felt like they were missing out on a great opportunity to be in on the action. I would say that we as humans are very social by nature. Remote might work for some professions, but certainly not in the service industry. 

How has the workplace adapted to this new demand for home comforts?

We’re seeing fewer private offices and more open workspaces, with the densification of office huddle rooms and hoteling offices. In this situation, the offices are not assigned to an individual and you can come in and use it throughout the day. Having a larger open café or break room is key. There are booths people can work in. You can plug a computer into an island and sit and work as one would in a coffee shop. I might argue too that, in general, the office space requirements might have gotten slightly smaller because of the lack of dense private offices. The focus is now on interior conference centers. 

How does your firm differentiate itself from competitors in your area?

Part of it is in our ability to retain people. It harkens back to the work from home issue. I think it’s a culture killer. It’s hard to maintain a healthy office environment when you don’t know who’s going to be in each day. With us, we are active with each other both during and after work hours. We host a lot of events where we engage both our community and our clients. We get the impression that people enjoy working here because they like the people they’re with. Again, there isn’t a high turnover. There’s a sense of home in our culture. 

How is the company involved in the community?

Last year, we were the recipient of the National Philanthropic Small Business Award which recognized Harker LLC for our efforts in our community. One of our Core Values is Engagement. We believe that as a member of the Charlotte business community it is our duty to give back and thank the community for what it provided to us. We have a Community Involvement Committee that meets every week trying to find opportunities to help the community. We believe the sign of a healthy culture is that our volunteer sign-up sheet is always full. We want to feel good about participating with each other and spending time helping others.