Attracting and Retaining Staff in a Franchise Business

Attracting and Retaining Staff in a Franchise Business

Andrew McKay General Manager    Signwave
Attracting and Retaining Staff in a Franchise Business

Andrew McKay | General Manager | Signwave

Running a franchise business is more than a one man operation, so as a franchisee you must make attracting and retaining staff a top priority. We all have room to improve in the area of human resource management, and this is especially true if you do not have prior experience in managing a team.

A professional with 25 years in the signage industry, Andrew McKay has been with Signwave Australia since 2007 and serves as the company’s General Manager. Andrew has dedicated himself to growing a sustainable network with coverage in all capital & major regional cities and providing the essential support necessary for excellent centre profitability.  Below, Andrew discusses how to attract and retain staff.

Make Attracting and Retaining Staff in a Franchise Business a Top Priority

A major part of your role as a franchise owner will involve the hiring and retention of high quality staff to help you succeed in your businss goals. A successful franchise business will have developed an effective model for human resource management, and will train its new franchisees to use methods that have worked for other franchisees in the past.

To help determine if the franchise business you are looking at is sound in the area of human resource management you should ask the following questions:

• Is there a standard recruitment process to follow?

Franchisees often discover the hard way that using a random, haphazard approach in recruiting staff is a sure path to failure. Successful franchisors invest substantial resources to determine the personality types most likely to thrive in a particular business environment and role, and how to recruit people who fall within those categories. Such franchisors share this information with their franchisees.

• Are there different structures and organisational charts that have been a success for existing franchisees?

Quality franchise business operations are based upon a sound understanding of what types of structures and organisations have proven successful in the past, and can clearly describe their systems to prospective franchisees. You will not be able to generate healthy profits if you are constantly attempting to reinvent the wheel in how you coordinate your business.

• Are there pre-written job descriptions for all the possible staff roles in the business?

The availability of detailed job descriptions is an indicator that a franchisor understands how to most effectively use its human capital to execute its business plan and has researched its human resources recruitment processes. Having access to the various skill-sets associated with a particular position will assist you in making hiring decisions down the road.

• What policies and activities are there in place to retain staff?

Hiring qualified staff is only part of managing a successful franchise business operation. Once on board, staff must be trained to understand their roles and function efficiently as part of a team. This will increase their effectiveness and enjoyment in the job. Franchisors will have insight into the training methods that have worked in the past, and should be able to share them with franchisees.

• In busy periods or when I have unforseen staff shortages will I be able to seek the help of other franchisees or a pool of contractors to help manage the work?

Every franchise business will have periods, often unexpected, when they run short of hands to run their franchise business. Especially if the franchise is a highly specialized one, it may be difficult to address such human resources needs on a timely basis. This can eat into profit quickly. It can be most helpful if a franchisor has a pool of qualified individuals from which to draw assistance in such situations.

Remember, purchasing the franchise business is simply the first step towards your success! To reach your financial objectives you will also need to be able to attract motivated and qualified staff. The right franchisor should be available to provide an effective human resources model from which to pursue this goal.

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