Thinking outside of the box can go a long way in finding the right managers for your franchise.

Hiring managers for franchise locations isn’t always the easiest process, but with an extra cautious eye, franchisees can find the best person for the job.

Omar Shaker is a franchisee who owns four Firehouse Subs locations. In an interview with 1851 Franchise, Shaker shared his tips and techniques on hiring managers for a franchise location and finding that right fit.

Hire from within

Shaker loves the idea of promoting from within.

“It makes the whole team strive to do better,” he said. “If you choose to do this, though, it is extremely important to have clear goals of what items need to be achieved.”

Shaker has different managers for different departments, and in order to become a manager, employees need to have a certain number of hours doing various tasks at “a superior level,” he added. This is a crucial part of getting promoted from within.

Shaker understands, though, that there are times when a restaurant can lose a manager and no one from within is necessarily manager material. When this happens, he likes to go the job board route, which he cited as a classic method restaurant owners use.

“I prefer Indeed, as I tend to find more qualified candidates, but that can depend on the area as well,” he said.

He also believes in using his current team to find external candidates. He offers a promotion for his employees — a $100 bonus if they refer someone for a role and that candidate works at Firehouse Subs for at least three months.

“Don’t sleep on your team,” he added. “They know a lot of people and who doesn’t want to work with someone they like outside of work? Make sure to stress that the people they bring in will reflect on how management sees them. If they can’t choose the right friend to work with, what makes management believe that employee can manage others?”

Hire customers

Franchisees can also leverage their customers for referrals. Shaker believes that “the best part of owning a restaurant is talking with your customers,” and he goes “into hunting mode” whenever a customer comes in wearing clothes with another company’s branding on it. He will approach these customers and, in addition to letting them know about catering opportunities, tell them about hiring opportunities.

“Some of these customers could be looking for new opportunities and they are in your restaurant,” he wrote. “I had a lot of success with this and hope it helps you!”

Look out for certain traits

Franchisees should look for specific traits when hiring managers.

“When I hire managers, I tell them the only difference between a crew member and a manager is that a manager has the extra task of managing personalities and egos,” he said.

He advises franchisees to look for managers that have their egos in check.

“You want someone that employees like but can command their team when the crazy times start,” he added.

He said that when he promotes a crew member to a managerial position, he tells that person that their view of the customer changes.

“It is no longer the people that come through the door but the people that work behind the line,” he said. “Your employees become your customers because if you treat them well, they in turn will treat the business’ customers well.”