Henry & Harris Partnership is an HR consultancy with a difference. The co-founders, Alanna Henry and Debbie Harris, have made partnership the foundation of their business, and it’s easy to understand why collaborative working is so important to them when you discover they forged their relationship while working together at the John Lewis Partnership. Here, they share more about what makes their consultancy unique.
How did Henry & Harris Partnership start life?
Alanna: “Debbie and I initiated the idea of starting our own business many years ago whilst working together on the HR agenda at the John Lewis Partnership. It finally bore fruit a couple of years ago when we turned that seed of an idea into a tiny tree. Running a business with a friend isn’t always easy but as well as successfully achieving this within the space of two years, we are delighted that the tiny tree has taken root and grown significantly faster than we anticipated.”
Debbie: “Many years ago, I began to dream about following in my mum’s footsteps and starting my own business, although I always knew I wanted to do this in partnership with someone else. Someone who would help me create and shape a business, who shared my values and who was committed to the same ways of working. Someone who would be there to champion me and walk alongside me, even when the going got tough. We had worked together for many years in different teams at the John Lewis Partnership and I knew we were aligned on how we wanted to work and what was important to us, especially when it came to supporting clients.
What makes Henry & Harris Partnership unique?
Alanna: “First and foremost, we are a partnership. We have been colleagues and good friends for many years, and now we are proud to be co-founders of Henry & Harris Partnership.
Having worked for the John Lewis Partnership for a combination of over 40 years, we have a fundamental understanding of what a true partnership is and how to work successfully together for the benefit of our clients. We own the business together; we make key decisions together; and, most importantly, we have learnt how to combine our friendship with running a business in a way that cements us to it. Crucially, that focus on partnership also translates to the relationships we establish with our clients. Our approach is always to work not just for them but with them.”
Debbie: “We’ve worked together to build Henry & Harris Partnership from the ground up. Through our combined strengths and experiences, we are able to provide clients with multiple services and end-to-end delivery on anything related to the employee lifecycle – HR consultancy through to coaching, mentoring, leadership development and employee proposition. We believe the breadth of our experience combined with our hands-on, personalised approach means we offer a unique proposition to our clients.”
We have different but complementary strengths. I like to create new thinking and possibilities, see patterns, and dream big with a future orientation. Alanna is fearless, she is driven to achieve and deliver. She is constantly focused on pushing forward and knows what it takes to do that – she has a great eye for detail and never misses a deadline.
Our shared strength and passion is people, enabling people to be the best versions of themselves. We make a powerful team, and we use these combined skills to really make a difference to our clients. We are driven by their success as much as our own.”
What sets you ahead of the competition?
Alanna: “We named ourselves a ‘Partnership’ because that is uniquely woven into our experience and values. We are committed to doing work that makes a difference and we are honest and transparent with our clients in whatever capacity we support them.
Our clients benefit from the blend of our skills and experiences. One of Debbie’s strengths is her ability to bring fresh thinking and future focus. She also offers exceptional expertise on how to truly maximise the talent within an organisation. She will regularly ask the difficult and otherwise unvoiced questions in the room, and has supported many individuals with first-class coaching. She is also the most generous and thoughtful person who will always help others at the expense of herself.
My role is to translate Debbie’s thinking and ideas into a reality. I am clear and direct about what actions are needed – I bring a commercial approach and expertise in leading large teams of people as well as providing mentoring and coaching expertise to individuals and smaller teams.”
Debbie: “A central part of what sets us apart from other consultancies is our carefully selected pool of Trusted Partners – we absolutely love working with each one of them. They all have their own individual style and areas of expertise but are united in how they work with clients and with us – the theme of partnership and togetherness is present in everything we do. Being able to draw on their range of skills and experience while still retaining the feel of a small consultancy creates an ethos which our clients value very highly.
We believe we have taken the best bits from the John Lewis Partnership model and applied it to a small business which is focused on working with the best people, delivering the very best to our clients. Our greatest moments of joy come from working together – with our trusted partners, with our clients. It is a privilege.”
What difference do you make to your clients?
Alanna: “We initially planned for the business to focus on leadership and team development and executive coaching, which we are both naturally drawn to. But we have found that clients also want to tap into our other skills in HR consultancy, organisational development and restructuring, as well as practical support with issues such as redundancy.
As a result, our services now cover seven core areas – leadership development, team development, organisational development, coaching and mentoring, HR services, redeployment, and wellbeing and resilience.
Being able to support our clients in these areas while still retaining the personal level of service we set out to achieve is important to us. Our Trusted Partners are a community of like-minded, first-class professionals who share our core values and approach – by working in partnership with them, our clients benefit from the expertise of a large consultancy alongside the bespoke approach of a smaller organisation.”
Debbie: “Whatever the scale or focus of our work with clients, our approach is always centred around partnership, transformation and delivery. We maximise the capability of our combined skills, different approaches and knowledge for our clients’ benefit. Our community of Trusted Partners creates a pool of knowledge and a combined bank of expertise which is hard to beat. We partner with our clients to bring this alive in their organisation and to ensure they receive a truly bespoke service.
Our business model was always designed to be different – we wanted to use our skills to give back to others who might not be able to access such support through the traditional routes. We are especially passionate about supporting children to be build awareness of their strengths from an early age and helping them to build confidence, resilience and resourcefulness. We currently work with the Yes Futures charity and mentor in local secondary schools.
Henry & Harris Partnership drives business growth by amplifying your people’s performance. To find out more about the range of HR consultancy services we offer contact us today to arrange a free discovery call.
