One of the most important things you can do for your franchise is hire employees. Even if your business is small and you technically can take on all of the work, hiring help can free you up to focus on business strategy and sales.
Below are four tips to hiring your first franchise employees.
1. Identify the Roles You Need to Fill
Before you take out a want ad, you need to know exactly the roles or tasks you need help with. When and where do you struggle without assistance? Maybe your restaurant franchise gets pretty busy in the early afternoon, and you struggle to keep up with orders. Hiring a part-time waitress could alleviate the stress and make customers happy. Or maybe you spend a lot of time managing inventory for your retail franchise. Hiring a cashier could ensure that customers get served while you’re working in the back.
2. Consider the Qualities You Want
Short of cloning yourself, what do you want in an employee? Honest, loyal, hardworking...these are all a given. But do you want someone with experience using computers? Perhaps a college student studying marketing could give you help with your social media accounts. Is heavy lifting a necessity with your franchise? Consider all of the qualities and skills that would make for a successful employee, as you’ll want to include those in your job ad.
3. Budget What You Can Afford to Pay
If you’re not sure what the going rate is for, as an example, a sales clerk, do some research firstto see what businesses are paying for a certain type of role in your area. Because you’ll likely be paying your employee hourly, determine how many hours a week you can afford to pay.
Don’t forget to calculate employee benefits costs, especially if you plan to hire full-time staff. One advantage to hiring part-time help is that you don’t incur these costs, and you can hire just for the hours when you need help most.
4. Craft Your Job Description
To find qualified candidates for your franchise, you’ll want to post your job ad on sites like Monster and Craigslist. The more descriptive you are, the better targeted the applications you will receive.
Be sure to include requirements versus nice-to-haves. For example, you might require someone to have experience in travel to work in your travel franchise, but it might just be a nice-to-have that the individual have a college degree.
As you receive the applications, sort out the ones that best meet your requirements and interview them. Take your time on the process. After all, you want to ensure you find the best person to hire.
Susan Guillory is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, a marketing firm specializing in content writing and social media management. She’s written three business books, including How to Get More Customers With Press Releases, and frequently blogs about small business and marketing on sites including Forbes, AllBusiness, The Marketing Eggspert Blog, and Tweak Your Biz. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.