A recent panel was formed to find answers to the most pressing questions facing franchisees. The panel found that hiring and retaining good employees was their number one unexpected challenge. Almost all small franchise businesses need to find, interview, hire, and then train and motivate their staffs if they are to have a chance to succeed. Many franchise industries rely on their employees for face-to-face contact with the public and franchisees felt that the quality of their employees was the key to their success. The employee issue is one of the areas that buying into a franchise rather than trying to go it alone can help. A good franchise agreement will have provisions to not only train employees, but train you, the employer, in all aspects of human resource management.

Hiring Employees Online
Your franchisor should have a plan to help a person go about finding new employees online. Gone are the days of putting an ad in the help wanted section of your local newspaper. Today’s potential employees rely on online help-wanted ads and social media to find the latest job opportunities. Your franchisor should have a plan to capitalize on this opportunity and you should get copies of all company-generated correspondence to streamline the online application process.

The Job Application
At first, a franchisee will sit down with each applicant that they think is a candidate for employment. The franchisor should train you on how to interview an applicant and what questions to ask, and more importantly, what questions you cannot ask.

Employee Training
When you have selected an employee, the franchisor should have a training program that you can implement at your place of business. When the new employee successfully completes the training he/she can start to work.

Characteristics to look for in a new employee include educational background and extra-curricular activities, grades, and prior work experience. Most employers are told to look for how long an applicant was with their last employer. There is usually a verbal portion of an interview where applicants are given a chance to explain in their own words what they think the job entails, what their employment goals are, and why they think you should hire them.

Source: http://www.franchiseknowhow.com/operations/staffing.htm

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