According to the International Franchise Association, 87% of franchisors say that their franchisees have difficulty recruiting.
Franchisors should not take this finding lightly: without a right and well-trained team, franchisees, and consequently the entire franchise network, cannot prosper over the long term.
It is therefore vital that franchisors whose networks are facing such difficulties consider this issue and try to respond by offering their franchisees appropriate solutions.
However, there is a limit to what franchisors can do: they cannot interfere in the management of their franchisees. In such a case, the risk is that the franchisor will be considered as the employer of its franchisees’ employees.
According to Gurpreet Singh (Group Vice President at InStride, a company specialising in employee training for networks, inter alia franchises), one of the keys is to offer employees development programmes.
In an article published on franchising.com on 4 April, he points out that no less than 86% of employees say they would change jobs if they did not have the opportunity to develop their careers. Conversely, companies that invest in the development of their employees report a 58% increase in staff retention and productivity.
In terms of franchising, Gurpreet Singh takes the example of McDonald’s, that offer educational support programmes to the network employees.
Once this has been established, the question is how.
For Gurpreet Singh, a successful development programme must meet 3 criteria:
– Be financially accessible. For example, by offering employees the opportunity to pay part of their tuition costs in advance, or by enabling them to take online training courses (at a reduced price).
– Be flexible in terms of accessibility and duration. Employees must be able to take these courses when their programme allows, and at their own pace.
– Be adapted to each employee “typology”. It is advisable to design different career paths according to the position, aptitudes and aspirations of each employee, in line with the company’s needs.
This task can be delegated to service providers referenced by the franchisor, a solution which also makes it possible to limit the risk of interference by the franchisor mentioned above.
Offering development programmes to franchisees’ employees is therefore a way for networks to improve their attractiveness, to the benefit of both franchisees and franchisor.
