Training in the New Year: Planning Ahead to Get Ahead

One of the biggest issues in franchising is hiring and training employees, with many brands identifying employee turnover as a major issue. Training is a key component to ensuring that an employee is onboarded properly, and is getting continuing education to be able to learn and grow in their positions. For many brands, the fourth quarter is a time to take a hard look at what worked and what didn’t work that year and create a strategy plan to improve in the new year.

Shifts in technology have had a major impact on training in the past few years, with new POS systems, delivery and order ahead technology, kiosk ordering and more. These systems have improved efficiencies, but also require additional training to ensure proper use. As technology has evolved, brands also need to be nimble and evolve as well.

“For the past ten years, technology has been all but non-existent in the [food and beverage] industry. Now that there are many new options to consider for restaurateurs, choosing the right one and implementing it the right way, and using it the right way, is going to be key,” said Four Foods Group CEO Andrew Smith. “We have invested into our own ‘gamification’ training platform to better assist our employees [to] learn their jobs, and [have] fun while training on site and at home. We believe using these types of technological platforms and options will increase the ability of employees to get up to speed more quickly.”

In addition to proper training at the outset, brands also need to make ongoing education a key component of their employee engagement strategy.

‘Where I think many companies go wrong is they set ongoing training up as a task or a chore to complete, something that must be chased by the supervisor, and a measurement of the employee,” said Smith. “Instead, I think it needs to be part of the culture. Employees should see it as a benefit that is offered, an opportunity to learn and grow, a way to diversify their skills and strengthen their areas of opportunity for future growth and initiatives.”

Amanda Beers, Vice President of Learning & Development at The Learning Experience, also identifies ongoing education as an opportunity for the employee to advance in their careers.

“Continuous education and development are critical to the business, but I believe it must be delivered in a way that reinforces this message. Personally, I see a direct correlation between training and employee engagement,” said Amanda Beers, Vice President of Learning & Development at The Learning Experience. “It provides an opportunity for the employee to be exposed to different areas of the business or skill sets that may [pique] their interest. It also sends a strong message that we value them and see them as a key member of the team.”

Shae Kalyani, a franchise owner with The Learning Experience, agrees that training and ongoing development programs are essential for an organization’s success, and that many franchise brands provide the necessary tools and resources to franchise owners to execute.

“Effective training programs should add value to the organization. The right investment in training should help generate revenue and profits, lead to an increase in productivity, and efficiencies that deliver results,” said Kalyani. “Training should also be designed to help your team grow and reach their personal goals, which contributes to employee engagement and a reduction of turnover and recruitment/onboarding costs.”

Once an employee is onboarded and trained, it’s equally important for franchise brands to be creative in their approaches to retaining good employees, in terms of benefits as well as reviews and ongoing development programs.

“Higher pay is always one that works, but for us, we like the optionality around ownership at the store level and sharing in the profits of the business as well as offering higher positions within the business when they come available. Upward mobility is one of the best ways to retain top performers,” said Smith, adding that he and his team rely heavily on rating tools to execute a review process to check in with employees on how they feel the organization is doing and how it can support them.

“Coming from large organizations that invested heavily into training and development of their talent, my husband and I experienced first-hand the positive results of training and talent development. Effective training can provide knowledge and confidence, but it also refreshes, excites and motivates people which leads to better performance. When our team returns from a great training, our children and families see the difference in the classroom,” said Kalyani, adding that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to training and development and that business owners should approach each team member individually.

According to Smith, training is always in high demand and is also ever-changing and he advises franchise owners, “Never rest on your laurels. Training is something that is always in high demand, but also something that is ever-changing. The learners are changing, the method of delivering content is changing, the channels in which we can share content is changing. As a leader of the training department, I must always be looking for ways to innovate, motivate, and engage our learners.