Franchisors have many plates to keep spinning at one time, meaning employment culture can be neglected. Sue Tumelty explores the importance of this underestimated business element.
In 2005 my business began its first steps down the franchising road. Having previously focused on business development for my own HR practice, all of a sudden we were faced with a whole tranche of new concerns.
More than 15 years later, I know how many aspects of running a business there are for franchisors to manage concurrently. From recruitment of franchisees, to firefighting localised issues, to having overview of operations and profitably… there’s a lot to think about.
What might be harder to manage on the macro level is the culture of how you manage your franchisees and how they take on their staff.
A universal ethos here can pay dividends, by various means from increasing employee retention to maintaining your brand integrity.
I would encourage you to foster a culture whereby your whole network works together to protect the business model. At the same time, protect yourself against the opposite, such as rogue franchisee who can easily have disastrous consequences for the wider business.
Values are at the heart of the franchising marriage
I have experienced first-hand the difference a genuinely supportive and values-based franchise network can make. Buying a franchise should be a long-term commitment, not dissimilar to entering a marriage. In our business, we always look for franchisees who are keen to develop this ethos.
And just as franchisees should bear this in mind when they are exploring where to put their resources for their new venture, franchisors should also recognise that the culture of any business comes from the upper levels. Your ethos will filter down, in this case to franchisees and their interactions with end users or customers of their products and services.
So ideally there needs to be a strong compatibility across the board in terms of values, with trust being at the heart of the relationship. A strong relationship between franchisor and franchisee will help create a brand which can be trusted.
In our case, The HR Dept has a clearly articulated set of values – including the agility to adapt to change, a commitment to transparency and evidence of how we place a high value on the support and success of our franchisees.
The benefits of a consistent employment culture
Even when franchisors and franchisees get a robust framework in place for their own relationship, as mentioned previously it is often easy to neglect the dynamic further down the food chain.
I believe it is therefore essential to optimise the culture among franchisees’ workforces, for example by providing staff with an employment experience that is so irresistible, they never want to leave. It is no secret that businesses of all kinds can reap the rewards that come through this investment in their people.
Being a great employer does not come from providing fancy perks and gimmicks. It is key to put in place a healthy and supportive workplace culture that recognises and values the contribution of individuals in a range ways relevant to aspirations of the business and its staff.
And these measures do not have to be expensive or complex. The magic happens when business owners0 put in place proactive HR initiatives to help them find, develop, reward, engage and retain the best people.
The potential for positive and negative brand impact
Just as the owner of a conventional business would hardly be expected to take on any old person into their workforce, franchisors face the additional risk of considerable damage to their brand by selecting inappropriate franchisees who may go on to take on unsuitable staff.
Franchisors should therefore bear both of these factors in mind when setting up and executing their recruitment processes.
I would also say that to consider the unique challenges of running a business you should bear in mind that resilience, drive, energy and self-sufficiency needs to be higher in franchisees than in conventional employees.
And it is vital to create a culture of support so that franchisees are helped when the going gets hard, as it invariably will. Offering regular reviews and close attention (particularly for new franchisees) is vital to getting the best out of those who are, ultimately, contributing to the success of your business as well as their own.
The risks of not getting franchisee recruitment right are similar as those of recruiting the wrong staff member – there is a cost to the progress of your business, possible legal bills, wasted or repeated recruitment fees and also potential damage to your brand.
Our own franchising success has been based on the belief that it is most important to get the right people in, to support them and invest in their success.
Those values have served us well and continue to do so. Especially in today’s environment, where brands can be easily affected via social media, I would advise franchisors looking for sustainability in their businesses to focus on inducting the right people, rather than prioritising profits.
