The essence of good leadership is the ability to create and develop a great team.
It was co-founder of Apple: Steve Jobs who said: “Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.”
Therefore, to build a successful franchise, you need to surround yourself with good people. Equipping and enabling teams with the right skills and mindset will require investment. However, investment and focus on this important element of leadership will be repaid many times over, through well trained employees exhibiting more care and dedication in their work. Staff will provide better customer service and supply more attention to detail, ultimately delivering longer-term value for your business.
Attracting the right people
Attracting good people can be challenging. Benchmarking and improving rates of pay compared with competitors can help. This is particularly so for franchisees recruiting staff at a minimum wage level, as often these employees, only ever intend to stay within the business for a short time before they move on to a better paid position elsewhere. However, whenever you lose a team member, there is always a monetary value attached. Both time and resources need to be devoted to onboarding including interviewing, induction, uniforms, training and development, yet staff turnover costs are often invisible within an organisation, and can be significant.
Support
Franchisees new to the industry will naturally require support with recruitment to attract the right staff at the right pay grade. At Papa John’s, our HR support unit works with new and existing franchisees, providing a robust onboarding and induction process so recruitment is as seamless as it can be. We also supply employment law updates to ensure franchisees are across the latest regulations. Look to your franchisor to demonstrate best practice in your sector and provide resources to assist with this often, complex and detailed process.
Retaining good people
Once recruited, retaining good people is a further challenge. All research points to staff staying longer if any concerns they have can be addressed within the initial 30, 60 and 90 day timeframes. Therefore, we also encourage our franchisees to review progress with new people at these key milestones to help them resolve any issues early on.
Transparent pay grades and training can also help keep good team members, as can creating a culture where people come first. If it’s a great place to work, then staff are more likely to be committed and stay.
Creating a career journey
Because of the high costs associated with recruitment and training, ensuring staff have access to clear career journeys can also give them an incentive to remain within the organisation. At Papa John’s, franchisees and staff have full scope and use of our Pizza Academy training system. We take advantage of a technology platform to ensure all training is accessible in one place. Any new team member may join as a delivery driver but map out a career pathway by acquiring the relevant skills and experience to become a team leader or store manager and beyond. They can even move into a corporate role; the options are limitless.
Without good people, a business will stagnate, and desired outcomes will never be achieved. Therefore, excellent staff recruitment and retention within a franchise is a key aspect of its success. As a franchise leader, putting people first by implementing good onboarding and retention strategies will ensure the business will have the best chance to thrive.
Henry Ford built cars, but his most famous innovation was the factory assembly line, which took teamwork to a whole new level. He said: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
For more information about Papa John’s multi-unit franchise opportunities please see: www.papajohns.co.uk/franchise
