Harry Harrold - Being a Gen Z Director

Last month, our Director, Harry featured in The Sun to discuss his experience of being a Gen Z Director. To build on this here, he speaks about how it felt to step up as Director of the family business alongside his brother Jordan, and helping to modernise parts of a long-established traditional business without losing the values that have defined it for generations.

Harry Harrold, Director at H Harrold and Sons.

1.     What motivated you to join the family business and eventually take on a director role?

H Harrold & Sons has been around for over 106 years, so I’ve not really known anything else. It’s been a part of my entire life and a constant additional family member. Joining it, in some way, was always the plan. I grew up around the business, so I naturally grew into working within it – it’s a very natural home away from home (as you can imagine!).

Since joining four years ago, I’ve taken on more responsibility over time, learning different roles and picking up experiences along the way. Over time, my Dad had taken on a huge amount of responsibility, so my brother Jordan and I wanted to take some of those responsibilities off his plate. So we did! It all made a lot of sense.

We’re proud to be part of the fifth generation of the Harrold family helping lead the business. It’s important to us that we work alongside the rest of the team and play our part in the day-to-day running of the business – that’s a big part of how we operate as a family, and as a business, and it’s how it’s always been done.

2.     What’s been the biggest challenge moving from employee to director, and how did you overcome it?

People management. That’s the biggest challenge, but perhaps not for the reasons you may think.

I’ve always been a number-oriented person, so whenever I was met with a mathematical or logical problem, I felt comfortable dealing with it. But once I became a Director, people that had worked at Harrolds for years, who I had known since I was a child, were coming to me with problems that didn’t have clear-cut answers. With people, there often isn’t a definitive answer in the way there can be with numbers, so it’s something I’ve had to try and figure out over time. Now, after some practice, I feel more confident that I can handle those situations better – but it’s still a challenge and I’m always learning.

3.     How does being part of Gen Z shape the way you lead H Harrold and Sons?

It’s funny because I wouldn’t have said I necessarily identify as ‘Gen Z’. I was born in 2000 – I’m one of the older members of the generation – so my life experience compared to someone born in 2012 is very different. However, like many people my age, I have grown up alongside technology. This inevitably means I understand it in a different way to colleagues who have been here for 30-40 years more than me. Because of that, I’ve tried to help push forward areas such as digitising parts of the business and developing our website. But it’s important that it’s a gradual evolution, not a revolution, so that we can bring everyone along with us on the journey.

4.     Has social media or digital culture influenced how you run the business? Why?

We’ve been on social media for years, particularly on Facebook, although at times we probably haven’t used it as consistently or as fully as we could have. We have started extending our use of socials recently, perhaps that’s down to Jordan and I using it more and realising that there is a place for our content.

Historically, H Harrold & Sons has found new clients through the shop, the quality of its work and word of mouth – we are trusted by thousands and have been for generations – but now we know we need to publicise ourselves in a different way, especially if we’re to appeal to the younger generation.

We can do this in so many ways, but one that we’re really keen to share is the quality of our work and craftmanship via platforms like Linkedin. We also want people to understand that we do more than just cut keys – we’re experts in multiple areas of home and business security too.

Harry has been at the forefront of modernising the business.

5.     Do you think it’s becoming easier or harder for young people to take leadership roles in established companies? Why?

It’s hard for me to give a definitive answer, because this is my first leadership role and it’s within a family business, which brings its own dynamics. I’m not sure whether it’s easier or harder than it used to be, but I do think the role looks different now. When my Dad, Tony, took over the business, he did so as a highly skilled locksmith and that was the foundation the business needed at the time. Today, directors must cover a much broader range of responsibilities.

I don’t pretend to be the finished article on the locksmithing side, and there are people here with 30 years or more of specialist technical knowledge and hands-on experience, who are far better than me in that respect. I’m still involved in the day-to-day running of the business and always learning, but my main strengths are more on the financial side, things like VAT returns, payroll and understanding how we’re performing. It also involves looking at where we can improve, where new opportunities might be, and where we want to position ourselves in the years ahead.

I may be young but I know these things are much more multi-faceted and complicated than they used to be.

6.     What’s the most important advice you’d give to young people stepping into leadership roles – whether in family businesses or more broadly?

I can only speak from personal experience, but what I’ve found most useful is to not try and be the kind of leader I’m not. I’m no taskmaster or Sergeant General, I’m more of a listener. I want to make sure people in the business are able to thrive, and that works for me.

Everyone has a different approach to leadership, so my advice would be not to force a leadership style that doesn’t come naturally to you. Authenticity goes a long way. In my experience, being yourself makes leadership more effective and more sustainable.

You can read the full The Sun feature here.

To learn more about H Harrold & Sons, read Our Heritage page.