Engineering the management team

A management team holds a great significance in the growth and sustenance of a business. Being a franchisor, it is not necessary that you have all the prima facie required to run your business smoothly. Therefore, it becomes essential for the franchisor to build a management team in order to operate successfully. This team of highly skilled professionals provides a helping hand to the franchisor in different aspects like training, monitoring and motivating the franchisees, thereby contributing towards the overall expansion of the franchising business. This article will give an insight regarding the significance and roles of the management team.

Role of the franchise management team

The franchise management team is vital for every franchising company for a sustainable growth. A management team helps the franchise business work efficiently. It includes a group of employees that help them to focus on different area of expertise, therefore bringing a desirable change to the business. The team performs a number of tasks such as:

• Development of the franchise network: The head of the franchising project may also be called as franchise manager and is responsible for the development of the franchise network. S/ he has a whole team under him/ her who are assigned with their dedicated roles to achieve the same objective of developing the franchise network.
• Recruitment of the franchisees: Recruitment of the franchisees is an important task that lays the foundation of a strong franchise network. So, one or more employees from the team are assigned with this job of selecting right franchisees to expand the brand presence. The franchise manager also helps them in finalising the right franchisee.
• Franchise support and services: Providing support and services to an inexperienced franchisee is very crucial. Therefore, one or more employees are handed over with the responsibility of providing all the required support (to the franchisees) to ensure proper start-up of the franchise. For instance, layout of the outlet, infrastructure, suppliers list, recruitment of the staff, franchise marketing and so on.
• Training of the franchisees: The management team also includes people who train the franchisees and their respective staff. The training may include product training, operational training, or technical training.
• Monitoring of the franchisees: In order to assure the proper working of the franchisees, the franchisor has to keep a check on their performance. This is done by the management team, who monitors the operations of the franchise business from time-to-time.
• Motivating the franchisees: Besides the annual conferences or award shows, the franchisees get timely motivation from inside the parent company. It is the management team who not only performs the timely audits but also gives the franchisees valuable suggestions about how they can further improve their performance and raise their profit share.

However, the size of the management team is business specific. It is not only related to the number of franchisees in the franchise network but also to the complexities of the franchise business.

Recruiting and training the management team

This team of skilled people can help in administering and growing the franchise network. Being a franchisor, you need to employ new individuals or promote employees from within the organisation to handle the franchising business. The newly appointed employees or the employees being promoted within the organisation need to get a hold on the franchising concept. In order to enhance their specialist knowledge and make them capable to fulfill their roles, a franchisor has to give them formal training regarding the franchise model. The best way to train the franchise management team is by organising a workshop or conference where an expert can impart knowledge on the franchising concept.

In short, one can say that a right mix of employees and their respective expertise is essential to strengthen a franchising business. As a franchisor, you are likely to execute a number of roles and responsibilities concerning franchise network, therefore having an effective franchise management team will help you to build a more efficient and successful business.