Culture of Innovation
Living the Legacy
Nurturing Innovation
Qualcomm is known for innovating wireless technologies that transform the way people communicate, work, and live. What you might not know is that the company’s entrepreneurial, free-spirited culture spurs innovation in every aspect of the business.
“Innovation has been a guiding principle of this company since our founding in 1985,” says Dan Sullivan, Qualcomm executive vice president, HR (human resources). “Our HR group focuses on nurturing that legacy.
“ HR’s goal is to provide employees with the environment and tools that they need to be successful. ”
- Dan SullivanQualcomm Executive Vice President, Human Resources
“HR’s goal is to provide employees with the environment and tools that they need to be successful,” adds Sullivan. “We strive to create an inspiring, supportive environment where people feel free to share their ideas and are rewarded for innovative thinking.”
Benefits and Perks Foster Well-Being, Growth
Qualcomm employees have access to a vast array of benefits and perks. And, every HR offering bears the imprint of Qualcomm’s unique culture.
To give you an idea, Qualcomm provides 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums. On top of that, at the headquarters in San Diego, the company makes it easy for employees to stay healthy with an onsite medical clinic, mobile dental and optical clinics, health education programs, and onsite fitness centers.
New employees aren’t left to fend for themselves. The New Employee Onboarding program is a comprehensive year-long program in which new hires are assigned a mentor and provided training, communications, and activities in an effort to improve their time to productivity.
To promote professional and personal growth, HR’s Learning Center offers hundreds of instructor-led and online courses in areas ranging from general communication skills to financial management and advanced engineering topics. New mobile learning opportunities include podcasts delivered to employees’ cell phones and laptops.
What Employees Think
“The people at the top know that Qualcomm wouldn’t be the success it is today without the contributions of every employee,” notes Qualcomm executive secretary Rita Stafford. “They have many ways of showing that they value and appreciate each individual.”
Among the ways: paying competitive salaries, providing excellent benefits, promoting from within, making training and development available as well as educational assistance, contributing to the community as a corporation and encouraging and acknowledging individual employee contributions, and much more.
Measuring Success
How does Qualcomm measure the success of its culture in nurturing innovation?
From a technical perspective, Qualcomm’s patent portfolio is one of the most widely licensed in the wireless communications industry. The portfolio includes approximately 17,800 patents issued and 37,200 patent applications worldwide as of December 2008.
From a business perspective, employees in every department and every location worldwide are constantly developing new processes and initiatives that improve productivity, efficiencies, and reflect Qualcomm values.
Consider the QREF (Qualcomm Real Estate and Facilities) team. In addition to championing greener buildings, QREF conceived a corporate Earth Day. The annual event offers onsite electronic waste recycling, fluorescent light bulb exchange, and cell phone recycling and donation. During the event’s first year, 11,211 pounds of electronic waste were recycled and over 100 cell phones were donated to domestic violence prevention programs.
As Qualcomm buyer/planner Midz Diano says, “Qualcomm is a great place to work because it is a great place to dream and make your dreams a reality.”
