Article:
Franchise Training
Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask
By Marla Rosner, Principal Marla
Rosner & Associates
The successful execution of the most brilliant
franchise concept depends largely on one key initiative:
training the daylights out of everyone in the system.
Designing critical elements of training before you sell
franchises is essential if your franchisees are to
succeed. Not only will effective training contribute to
your brand's quality and consistency, prospective
franchisees are impressed when they see you've committed
to robust training throughout the organization.
Phase One
Manuals
The obvious starting point is the Operations Manual.
This is the company's repository of everything the
franchisee needs to know in order to run the business.
General topics include store operations (standards,
policies, procedures staffing, etc.,) financial
management, marketing and advertising.
The Ops Manual must be complete before recruiting
franchisees a) because it's a fantastic sales tool
demonstrating your commitment to franchisee support and
b) because every detail of running a business needs to
have been thoughtfully documented in order to train the
first franchisees.
Next on the list of manuals will be those needed for
site selection and build out - again to set the stage
for launching new franchisees.
Franchisee Training
Your investment in these manuals will be leveraged even
further when you use them as your reference materials
for new franchisee training - clearly another essential
to launching franchisees. Assigning sections of the
manuals as pre-work or homework gets franchisees in the
habit of using them and conveys the critical information
they need to know.
The new franchisee training program should impart the
vision of the franchisor as well as the nuts and bolts
described in the manuals. Typically the program consists
of classroom training including visits from key
department heads to describe functions related to their
area: local store marketing, operations, accounting,
etc.
If the company is new to franchising, provide some
hands on experience to the new franchisee in the company
owned store(s) to augment the classroom training. In a
mature franchise system, assign the neophyte to an
experienced franchisee mentor to "shadow" for
a period of time.
Unit Level Training
Another essential piece of training is that aimed at
unit employees. Whether there are technical procedures
to delivering the service or product, or product
knowledge to convey to customers, franchisees can't open
their doors until their people have completed that
training. Whether the offering to customers is
packaging, sandwiches, haircuts or business services,
frontline personnel need specific skills and knowledge
to carry out the task. Often these are taught through
videos or through other training aids supervised by the
store manager.
Unit Manager Training
Unit managers are pivotal to the success of any store
operation and for the most part are promoted from the
ranks with little or no experience in managing. Manager
training as a priority should fall into phase one though
some new franchise systems don't recognize this. If
manager training is not built into your start up plan,
the development of managers falls to franchisees that
may or may not have the skill to do that training.
The good news is that there are many avenues for
executing manager training. Classroom training is great
for managers who benefit from coming together with
others from the system and from getting practical
employee management experience through role plays and
demonstrations. I've had the pleasure of training
countless Supercuts managers this way who have been
launched into careers they thought were previously
unattainable to them.
But alas, the cost of having managers out of their
businesses and sometimes out of town for this type of
training makes it prohibitive for some companies. Great
alternatives do exist: blended learning combining
teleclasses and web-based approaches can provide more
flexible options that don't require the manager to be
gone for long stretches from the store. There are some
web-base training programs that allow managers to access
information "just-in-time". For example, 20
minutes before conducting an interview, a manager can
jump online to access customized interview questions and
review "do's and don'ts" for the interview
process.
Phase Two
Let's assume the franchise has grown to include
multi-unit franchisees that often employ general
managers or senior managers to oversee multiple units.
For multi-unit franchisees, it's helpful to structure
programs that are directed at their unique challenges
and opportunities; negotiating larger scale purchases,
rotating staff, developing their own trainers, building
a pipeline of managers, etc.
General managers are often overlooked when it comes
to training. They are usually managers promoted to
general manager positions and are in need of further
development to be able to shed their old roles and
assume higher levels of responsibility.
The notion of expensive classroom training can undermine
initiatives to train GMs, but remember there are
alternatives; teleclasses combined with web-based
training provide a blended approach that can be easily
shaped to the needs of GMs. Often what they most need is
a network for problem solving and the facilitated
teleclass provides a great cost effective method for
accomplishing that.
Phase Three
Once the franchise system has reached a critical
mass, franchisee and manager conventions become great
venues for ongoing training and inspiration. Field
consultants and general managers can fit into either or
both of these audiences. These provide the franchisor a
vehicle for communicating new programs and products,
conducting advanced training, and injecting stimulating
new approaches by bringing in outside speakers. Equally
as important, these conventions renew franchisee and
manager loyalty and pride as they're reminded that
they're part of a now large, established, and successful
company.
Beware Stale Training
As you refine your system, alter policies, add new
products and services, and find more productive and
profitable methods for unit operation, you'll need to
revise manuals, franchisee, unit manager and employee
training, and reshoot videos. Manuals should be
revisited at a minimum of once a year. Thankfully,
you'll have started with a model for manuals that is
sectioned and numbered so that pages are easily
replaced! Revisit videos every 2-3 years. The better you
are at continuously improving your business, the more
you'll need to update your manuals and training.
Corporate Training
Everyone in your corporate office needs Franchising
101 to learn the differences between working with
employees and working with franchisees unless they've
worked for a franchisor before. And even then, a
brush-up doesn't hurt since there are legal
ramifications for the franchisor if someone who works
for you takes the wrong tack with a franchisee.
Additionally, there are two key positions at the
corporate level that need focused training to ensure the
success of the franchise: the franchise development
manager and the field consultant(s). The franchise
development manager clearly needs training as part of
phase one, in order to sell franchises.
The franchise development manager will be recruiting
franchisees and representing the franchise opportunity
to prospects. There is perhaps no position more
vulnerable to legal retribution than the franchise
development manager since they are representing the
franchise offering and fielding questions about
potential sales and support. Any misrepresentations,
intentional or otherwise lay a path for future lawsuits.
Here, your franchise lawyer may participate in training
to clarify what can and cannot be communicated to
prospective franchisees.
Field consultants usually come from the ranks of
seasoned operators within the system. This may be a
corporate general manager or in the event the franchisor
has only one corporate store, it may be the founder that
functions as the field consultant for the first few
franchisees! Field consultants generally already have
operational expertise but may need development
presentations skills to provide training, business
analysis and consultation skills (e.g. establishing
credibility, building trust and providing advice in a
manner that is well received.).
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