5 THINGS. Successful SMBs & Franchises Do For Their Employees

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1 5 THINGS Successful SMBs & Franchises Do For Their Employees

2 1 What does the blueprint for a well-structured business look like? For starters, it begins with culture. According to a recent Entrepreneur article, workplace culture is an essential attribute for successful franchises. One franchise in particular, Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffee & Smoothies, is well known for the successful culture they ve established across their franchises. Culture, from our employee and franchisee standpoint, is one of the most important things we do, Weinberger says. We want to create a sense of belonging and purpose, especially when we re not sitting next to our franchisees every day. That s hard to get across. We want to send out a tribe mentality. - CEO Mike Weinberger of Maui Wowi Hawaiian Coffees & Smoothies But what about the small businesses and franchises that haven t established an environment ideal for their employees or franchisees? For most businesses, a positive workplace environment happens organically as the leadership team recognizes the investment in finding high-caliber employees. However, there are common characteristics top businesses share that make them excellent employers and there are steps any business owner, franchisor and franchisee can take to help build their identity as an employer: they just need to know where to start. We ve outlined five things successful small businesses and franchises do for their employees, sharing tactics you can use today to improve the culture at your locations.

3 2 1. Create An Authentic Company Culture Why build a workplace that focuses on employee culture? When employees feel cared about as people, I ve found they do their best work. They also stay longer, work harder, and produce more, which makes caring an amazing rate of increase. It s a win-win for everyone. This attitude also trickles down into customer service, since relating to others on a human level should be so wholly baked into company culture. You can t create a company without great people, and you can t create a good company culture without recognizing the humanity in your employees. John Tabis, CEO of The Bouqs Company and Fast Company contributing author The effort spent building a positive business culture can go a long way. When business owners or franchisors take the time to better the workplace for their business and franchisees, they see results. Here are some of the benefits they get from creating a unique culture: Respect Employees will be grateful for companies that take the time to build a culture that s welcoming and authentic. They will feel and show more respect; caring for their work, as well as your brand. Positive Attitudes Any employee who enjoys his or her work environment has a more positive outlook on everything. Happy workers create better performance and customer service. Inspiration Providing a culture that emphasizes open communication and ideas, which allows employees to feel respected and can encourage creativity or extra motivation needed to push the business forward. Open Dialogue & Trust Open communication in the workplace is great for employees, but it has to start with leadership. Transparency between owners/managers and their employees is one of the most important pillars of success for a small business. Without transparency, all of the other benefits listed above are bound to crumble. To get these benefits, franchisors need to know how to build the right culture one that s unique to them and their brand.

4 3 2. Showcase A Strong Employment Brand That Highlights The Culture Apply Here! First impressions matter in any interview. But top business and franchise brands realize that the best applicants are reviewing a brand s website well before they commit to submitting an application. Is your website doing everything it can to showcase your franchise as an employment destination for top job candidates? The first thing a prospective job candidate sees when researching positions with a small business or franchise is the career site, or company website page dedicated to promoting open positions and workplace culture. Top candidates will not apply to jobs that don t provide them with in-depth, easy-to-follow information about the culture, opportunities and career progression that come with the job. For Hireology customers using a dedicated career site, we see direct, career site visitors driving approximately 20 percent of applicant submissions, but resulted in 80 percent of actual hires. This highlights the effectiveness of career sites in generating needed high quality candidates and hires for key roles. Career site hires are also more likely to become mid-to top-performers after a 60-day evaluation.

5 4 2. Showcase A Strong Employment Brand That Highlights The Culture continued FOUR CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF A GREAT CAREER SITE One of the key elements of having a strong employment brand is a dedicated career site. Here are a few essentials Hireology recommends for creating a robust career site that drives more qualified applicants to your business: 1. A CLEAN DESIGN Top candidates especially millennials seek companies that have a clean, well-designed site that s easy to navigate across multiple devices. A clean design lets users quickly learn about your business on the site and get excited to apply for open roles. According to a study conducted by Pew Research Center, 28% of Americans and 50% of young adults have used a smartphone during a job search. The study also highlights that 94% of smartphone job seekers have used their smartphone to browse or research jobs online, making a mobile-friendly site critical for companies looking for applicants. 2. A CLEAR CAREER PATH Today s applicants aren t just looking for a job, they re looking for a career. By outlining what the career path looks like at your company, you will gain a huge competitive advantage and attract better candidates. 3. CULTURE AND COMMUNITY Job seekers, especially millennials, pursue insight on the brand s history, culture and activity in the community, among other factors. This type of information should be included on a career site bonus points if it s visually appealing. Having lifestyle photos highlighting the business gives a great impression of a company s team, culture and history. 4. HIGHLIGHTED PERKS AND BENEFITS Don t make candidates dig for details on why it s so great to work with your company focus on your best qualities to excite applicants to join the team.

6 5 3. Communicate Community Involvement Although it may not be considered a critical tool for recruiting employees, community involvement such as volunteering is incredibly important to millennial job seekers and the way they perceive potential employers. According to a study cited in a recent Forbes article, millennials take cause work very seriously during their job search something all franchisees should consider the next time they start their recruiting and hiring process. Here are some of the findings cited in the article: 63% of female employees said their company s cause work influenced them to accept a job, compared to 45% of male employees. While only 39% of millennial employers said they researched their employer s cause work prior to the interview, 55% of employees were influenced to take their job after discussing cause work in the interview. Regarding volunteerism, millennial employees preferred joining a company-wide or teamspecific volunteer project rather than donating to a giving campaign. Millennials who volunteer with and donate to causes on their own were found to be the most likely to research and consider a company s cause work during their job search. Businesses with strong workplace cultures know how important community involvement is for recruiting. They do a great job of several things to showcase their community involvement on their websites, such as: Highlight company volunteering opportunities and paid time off for giving back List their franchise s community service mission statement Provide information on initiatives that help educate the community on your respective business or fields of community service interest Post pictures of volunteer outings and activities within the community Offer information on any partnerships within the community that support environmental causes or green projects Community involvement is a win-win situation for franchises. It s healthy and productive giving back to the community and provides a fellowship between franchise employees and those they serve. The best franchises to work for do this regularly, which never goes unnoticed.

7 6 4. Present A Defined Career Path According to a WSJ article, onboarding employees is costly: To get someone through the door means you also have to train them, and that can be extremely expensive. There s usually a ramp-up of six months before they re productive, so you can t really take a risk. Whatever the reasons employees have for wanting to leave their jobs, establishing career paths, along with a strong company culture during the onboarding phase can significantly reduce turnover. PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL GROWTH FOR EMPLOYEES Low compensation and no career path have a major influence on turnover. Here are a few ways to help build career paths for your employees, from a recent article from the San Francisco Business Times: Meet regularly to discuss goals and progress Ask about their objectives Recommend and provide learning and training opportunities Encourage and facilitate networking and mentoring A-players are attracted to strong and positive workplace culture. Having a positive culture will bring out the best in employees and prevent them from becoming disengaged. This is especially true for millennial employees. Here are some ways to keep young employees from leaving their company: Deliver a unique work culture that reflects Gen Y work preferences Let them know their work has meaning and purpose Provide a flexible work-schedule that allows time for work/life balance Offer stability via salary and benefits Encourage individuality within a team environment Give recognition when it s due Require encouragement and mentorship, as opposed to giving orders Providing a workplace that offers clear-cut career paths and a positive, productive culture can do wonders for franchise employees. It creates a team environment that produces results and builds a reputation, which helps recruit new talent coming into open positions. If current employees are engaged in their workplace, they become the best recruiters for your franchise.

8 7 5. Above All Else, They Focus On The Team Top small businesses and franchises value their team and focus on their employees. They ensure that all employees are engaged enough to care about the business, the customers and are putting forth their best work. This is something that sets top businesses and franchises apart from their peers. According to an article from Inc., having disengaged employees can be costly, slowing down the progression of employees output. Seventy percent of American workers are either uninspired at work or actively disengaged, which cost businesses more than $450 million in Employees disengage because they feel unsupported, over-scrutinized, or that their very jobs are at risk. And when employees feel unsafe, they re working from their more primitive reptilian brain. This puts people in a high-stress state where they can t concentrate and are looking for distractions, such as and Facebook. It s up to franchises to provide excellent leadership that not only motivates employees, but also shows that their well-being is taken care of. Otherwise, they are bound to have disengaged employees and continuous turnover. Here are five ways your business can show value in your employees to help encourage a healthier company culture: 1.OFFER EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING This must go well beyond the onboarding process. If employees aren t learning or developing their skills past the initial training period, they have a tendency to quit and head somewhere else. According an Entrepreneur article, 40% of employees who do not receive adequate training end up leaving their post within a year. Ongoing training for franchisees or offering certifications for specific positions is a great way to not only develop their skills, but also show that their careers are taken seriously. 2.SUPPORT TEAM BONDING To become an actual team, owners and managers must build chemistry with their employees. If a they want to succeed together, they have to trust one another. For example, franchisors should spend time with their franchisees. Hosting annual conferences, workshops and special trips to fun destinations are all fun ways to help get a team to know one another and bond. The best franchises do this well, and others who emulate this are bound to have their franchisees work better together.

9 8 5. A Focus On The People continued 3.INVEST IN YOUR EMPLOYEES Most people - especially Gen Y workers - take pride in themselves and what they can offer. Creativity and innovative thinking can provide real value to any business, so it s essential to support it. Franchises should view their respective employees as people with certain skills sets instead of people performing certain tasks. Showing employees that they are cared for is beneficial and will give them a greater sense of respect, as well as motivation at work. 4.PROVIDE THE RIGHT TOOLS The best companies to work for provide equipment, technology and whatever else is needed to assist better employee performance. Owners and managers need to take a look at what s missing from their locations, as far as technology and supplies go, to fully grasp what their employees are working with, as well as how they can increase their success. Proving the right tools is a simple way to get this done. 5.OFFER CHECK-INS WITH MANAGERS According to a study cited in a SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) article, Only 15 percent of employees said their companies are doing a very good job fostering communication. More than 1 in 8 said they d rather join a company that values open communication than one that offers lavish perks like top health plans, free food and gym memberships. Having regularly scheduled check-ins or 1-on-1 meetings with employees is an effective way to combat disengagement from employees. It also helps keep employees on track with their career paths, personal and professional goals, as well as boosts the trust and morale between the leadership team and employees.

10 9 Hireology Can Help You With Each Of These Elements The top small businesses and franchises know what it takes to create an effective workplace culture. They are rewarded by having a well-recognized brand and with better performance from their employees who truly care about their jobs. Without top-notch employees, you can t have a culture that generates success. Hireology gives franchises a prescribed hiring process everyone can follow, offering the ability to screen candidates for aptitude and culture fit as part of the process. What are you doing to ensure your business is taking the same approach? get a free demo Discover how Hireology can help improve your hiring process.