Kirsten started in September '22 as a Management Consultant in the business consultancy team at Harmony. After a fun onboarding day, she immediately started her first digital transformation project with a client, together with a few Harmony colleagues. Now, 6 months later, we look back with her on the past period at Harmony.
Hi Kirsten, can you introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Kirsten, 31 years old and I live in Antwerp with my boyfriend. In my spare time, I like to travel and a lot, I spend all my vacation days traveling. My father is American and lives in North Carolina. I visit him regularly. As a child, I spent my summers in America, which was wonderful. Maybe that's where I got the travel bug. I also love running: for example, I recently participated in the Brussels half marathon. I also like going to restaurants and meeting up with friends often.
What did your career look like before joining Harmony?
I studied Communication Sciences at KU Leuven and then took an additional Master in General Management at Vlerick Business School. After my studies, I had the opportunity to perform various positions at companies in a short time via a traineeship. This way, I was able to discover what I loved doing and what I wanted to do next. After this experience, I looked forward to broadening my knowledge in a new sector. I was then able to start at Brussels Airport Company as a PMO. This was a great experience in an extremely interesting sector. After 3 years, I did feel the need for a new role, but the opportunities within the company were limited. That's when I realized that consultancy might be a good career path for me because of the variety and growth opportunities. I started at a consultancy company where I was able to do fun projects about process optimization, but I didn't like the internal culture. I was contacted by a former colleague who now works at Harmony and that's how the ball started rolling.
How did your application process at Harmony go?
The interview process at Harmony felt really enjoyable, because it didn't feel like a job interview but rather like fun interviews. A lot of emphasis was placed on cultural fit. As a result, I also had little stress. I spoke to Maarten, Cleo, Thomas and the conversations were very pleasant. By having more conversations, I noticed that I really wanted to start there. I also liked that Harmony took into account my availability with regard to the launch date. That way, I was able to end my previous project with a good feeling and started with Harmony on a clean slate.
How did your first weeks at Harmony go?
My onboarding was with 2 other new colleagues: Anouck and Gert, which made it very enjoyable. I received a clear explanation about Harmony in general and about the internal workings of Business Consultancy. I immediately met my coach and also met a lot of colleagues at lunch. That's what I liked most about the day. The next day, I immediately started a project at Arag. I was lucky to be able to work on the project with 3 Harmony colleagues, which also made customer onboarding very smooth and organic. The transfer happened without much stress and at a pleasant pace, because I was allowed to take my time for it. It was a lot of information, but thanks to the good guidance of my colleagues, I was able to pick it up quickly. Once I got a better handle on the project, I was also able to take on more responsibilities within Harmony. This is how I keep in touch with my Harmony colleagues.
What project is it about?
I was able to start at ARAG, legal expenses insurer, as a Proxy Product Owner. In terms of content, the project is about the complete replacement of the current back office systems (claims and contract management applications) on which their entire operation — from drawing up quotes and contracts to processing claims — is based. Of course, replacing these critical applications will not happen overnight and is therefore a complex, long-term project. To be able to replace the old tool with a new one, all processes, flows, integrations with other systems, etc. must be mapped out. As Proxy Product Owner, together with the other Product Owners on the project, I am responsible for the content development. Each Product Owner is responsible for part of the process, and is therefore the intermediary between the business and IT. What differs between my role and that of a “normal” Product Owner is that, on top of that, I have to keep an overview of the interactions between the different topics and processes that are delivered.
The project is tackled in an agile way of working, so that we have a delivery every 3 weeks. Personally, I think this is a very nice way to work, because you immediately see the result you've been working on, it becomes tangible. Plus, we're working with 5 Harmonians on the project, which is of course a lot of fun!
How do you look back on the past 6 months at Harmony?
I am 100% convinced that I made the right decision to take the leap to Harmony. There is a good balance between seeing each other regularly, working with the customer and working from home. Every time we see each other, there is a nice atmosphere. You notice that everyone has the same mindset: we are driven and social, but we also value family and life outside of work. That's also how I see life: working is fun, but it doesn't define your whole life. The human aspect at Harmony is also very great, and I like that.
Thanks to this human approach, I was also able to grow at a rapid pace in my project. Because I got enough time to learn, I had little stress and was able to focus on my learning process. So I have experienced strong growth over the past few months and am quite proud of this. Thanks to the good guidance of Thomas and Harmony, I am where I am already. I didn't think that at all when I started my new project on the first day.
How would you describe Harmony's culture?
The informal atmosphere and flat structure at Harmony immediately made me feel at home. I would primarily describe Harmony's culture as human, informal, and jovial. Engagement is encouraged. We are not being pushed, but we all want to keep in touch with colleagues ourselves and do fun things together. For example, there are regular afterworks, a team building activity every 2 months, we will soon participate in the Hercules Trophy and we will even go on a weekend together in the autumn!
What would you say to people who are hesitant to join Harmony?
It's important that people think carefully about what they find important in their lives. For me, that's a drive for the job, but also flexibility to have a life away from work as a consultant. The informal FUN culture at Harmony is really a big asset. In addition, Harmony also simply has very interesting projects in terms of content, in various sectors, which offers a lot of perspective and opportunities.
Try it, because it may sound 'too good to be true' but it's not true, it's real! If it feels good, go for it, because it's actually a reality.
Do you want to work as a Management Consultant like Kirsten? Then take a look here and join our team!
