To effectively own and manage a franchise business, a franchisee should assemble a team of capable employees who can perform daily tasks, help achieve business objectives, and establish and maintain positive customer relationships. These individuals should serve as the foundation of the location(s) to ensure operations run smoothly and successfully. However, finding employees is not necessarily an easy task, and attracting and retaining talent requires a strategy to ensure franchisees can build a quality team that lasts.

We’ve compiled some ways franchisees can attract and retain talent at their location. Remember that every franchise system is unique, and franchisees should consider industry-specific factors when recruiting.

SHARE THE FRANCHISE’S MISSION & VALUES

Franchisees can attract talent by sharing the mission and values of the brand with prospective employees. By sharing these details, franchisees can add a personal touch to their job postings and establish a connection with candidates who share the same values and desire to further the brand’s mission.

From an employee standpoint, many individuals want to have a sense of purpose in their life. The pandemic caused almost two-thirds of U.S. employees to reflect on their life’s purpose, while 70% reported that their work defines their sense of purpose, and half reported that they reconsidered the kind of work they do because of the pandemic. By communicating the mission and values of the franchise business upfront, employees can enter their role with a sense of motivation and focus. It can also be one of the driving factors that makes them want to stay in their role.

WRITE A CLEAR JOB DESCRIPTION

Depending on the franchise organization, job descriptions may already be available for franchisees to use at their discretion. However, a job posting will be one of the first things prospective employees will see as they seek job opportunities. Therefore, to attract talent, the job description must showcase the role in the best way possible. After all, a study found that 20% of all job seekers reported being “turned off” by the tone used in a job description, which increases to 24% among those with a college degree.

What makes a great job description? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this, as each franchise business differs depending on several factors, such as the company culture, story, brand voice/personality, etc. However, there is some insight into the length they should be; shorter job posts that don’t exceed 300 words receive 8.4% more applications per view compared to medium (up to 600 words) and long posts (601+ words). Communicating everything you want to share in under 300 words can be difficult, but sticking with short, clear communication renders a greater outcome in terms of applicants.

Of course, the content that makes up a job posting is important here, as it will either attract talent or repel them. A study found that candidates want to know what kind of work they will do daily, the salary, and if they meet the qualifications. These three components can be highlighted in a job description, depending on approval by the franchisor, and can help franchisees attract potential employees seeking job postings that check these boxes.

PROVIDE SUFFICIENT TRAINING

Having a pool of talented employees can play a crucial role in a franchise’s success, and one way to achieve this is by ensuring that employees receive quality training. Franchisees themselves receive training when they start their role and often receive ongoing training throughout their tenure. Extending this training to the employees running the franchise location(s) is just as important. The training should be customized to fit the specific responsibilities of each employee, but having an onboarding plan in place will ensure standardization in the training offered. This will give each employee the same basis of understanding and increase their accuracy and efficiency, ultimately leading to a successful team of talented employees.

Providing sufficient training is key to retaining talent. Statistics show that 40% of employees will quit their job within their first year due to poor employee training. However, employee retention increases by 30-50% when companies have a quality training program in place.

Additionally, training should not be limited to just onboarding new employees. Offering continuous training and opportunities for professional growth can help franchise owners keep their talented staff. This training can refresh employees’ understanding of their roles, enhance their skills, and increase their industry knowledge. Consequently, it can also help them advance in their careers. By highlighting these learning opportunities during the recruitment process, businesses can attract individuals eager to expand their knowledge in a particular field, and regularly sharing these opportunities with employees can help retain them.

Remember, many franchisors have taken into account that franchisees need to attract talent. Therefore, a franchisee can and should look to their franchisor for support in this area, as there is likely a “playbook” on the employee onboarding process that they can follow.

CREATE A POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT WITH RECOGNITION

A positive work environment, which includes open communication, supports growth, provides recognition, and prioritizes employees’ wellbeing, can be crucial in retaining talent. Maintaining positive work environment has several benefits, including increased productivity, boosted employee morale, and more. With 56% of employees ranking “a good workplace culture” as more important than salary in terms of job satisfaction, and a toxic work environment contributing to employee turnover by 10.4x, a positive work environment is of paramount importance in maintaining happy employees who want to stay in their role.

One easy way to create a positive workplace is by implementing employee recognition. Recognition that is highly specific to the employee and showing appreciation in the workplace can be important to employees. Research indicates that when companies prioritize this, 56% of their employees are less likely to seek new job opportunities. Additionally, 73% of employees say they are less likely to report being “always” or “very often” burned out when recognition is made a priority and 44% report being more likely to “thrive” in their life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RETAINING EMPLOYEES

The Great Resignation is a term that gained popularity in 2021 when a record number of U.S. employees voluntarily quit their jobs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4.5 million Americans quit their job in November 2021, the highest level they have ever reported since they started collecting data. In October 2022, this number decreased to 4 million, accounting for 2.6% of the workforce in the country, and moved down slightly to 3.9 million in March 2023. Although we are seeing decreases, this is still a significant number of employees changing jobs, indicating how important it can be to create a workplace environment that retains employees.

Replacing employees is not an inexpensive choice; the cost of employee turnover can be up to two times the employee’s annual salary, depending on the role and ranking in the business. Plus, with the added costs it takes to train new employees and the impact it can have on remaining employees and a business’ overall reputation, finding strategies to attract and retain talent is key to preventing this.

Franchisor support and training can be crucial elements in navigating this business landscape. At Dogtopia, we offer unparalleled initial and ongoing support every step of the way, and our culture helps showcase the values that are important to our business, which translate into the network of franchisees we have and the customers in each of the communities we are in. If you want to learn more about franchise opportunities with Dogtopia, be sure to check out our FAQ page for next steps.