6 Practical Tips to Hire Top Talent

Although things are turning around with the pandemic more under control, the battle for staffing continues in the retail and services industries. 

• As a franchise business owner, you have to figure out how to win this race faster than your competition so you can provide quality service and products and have happy and loyal customers.

If you give them what they are looking for, they’ll keep returning to your business, your sales and revenue will be healthy and consistent, and you’ll be profitable in the long term. But it all starts with having the right people on your team.  

These are six practical tips to hire top talent. Although anybody can do them, almost no one does. So, if you implement them, you'll be better than most and probably win the race of getting that top talent in your organization. 

1. Be the leader that people are looking for

Easy to say but complex to execute because every person in your organization looks for a specific type of leader. 

• Your challenge, whether a franchisee or district manager, is to understand who they are and who you need to be for them so they can thrive within your organization.

If you are that inspiring leader, you’ll not only be able to attract and retain great people. They’ll bring their friends and recommend you and your organization to others. And, as we know, that word of mouth is much more powerful than a hiring campaign.

Discover 10 actions to attract, retain and grow top talent for your organization.

2. Create a good work environment

Foment a positive environment in which your team members want to work at. What does this look like? In these working spaces:

• People support and care for each other.
• There’s a camaraderie among them.
• People don’t work with fellow employees, but with friends.
• There’s a purpose beyond the immediate service you provide.

Create this ambiance by facilitating a way for your people to get to know who they are, where they come from, who their families are, and their interests. That’s how they’ll go from “the person in the drive-thru”, “the cashier”, or “the manager”, to being friends.

And don’t forget to give recognition to your top-performing workers. These things don't have to cost a lot of money, and they can make a difference in your organization's culture. 

Are you struggling with your franchise? This is the #1 key to franchise success. 

If you can create this environment, people will feel motivated, they’ll have fun while working, become more productive, and want to stay. There’s an additional benefit. The top talent will know that you are different and they'll approach you to work for you.

3. Think out of the box

Before, workers only cared about getting paid for the job they did. But now things have changed, and people are more interested in what businesses have to offer them, besides a paycheck. 

I know that as a franchisee, you don't have many possibilities to change things when it comes to the brand and the operations. But is it possible to modify your operating hours? Could you adjust things in any way? 

Remember that two minds think better than one. So invite a couple of your top employees and ask what they want and what they don't want. Listen to your team leaders, they might give you ideas you could have never thought of to attract talent and retain top talent. 

4. Flexibility is the new normal

In this day and age, flexibility at work is something that most employees look for, especially the new generation because they no longer live to work, they work to live the life they want. Instead of fighting this mentality, embrace it! 

Millennials at work? This is why you have to lead them to success.

Perhaps you can have flexibility on shift sharing and shift exchange, cross-training, multi-training, certifications, etc. Analyze what systems and processes you must adjust to make this happen easily for your team.

5. Provide growth opportunities

If you are a multi-unit franchisee, it is easy to provide growth opportunities. Explain what are the steps, necessary training, certifications, and experience that your staff needs to accomplish to go from a team member to a leader, a unit manager, or even a district manager.

If you are a single-unit franchisee, or you only have two units and cannot offer a career path, your staff can still grow their knowledge! Some ideas around this are:

• Offer outside training and management education programs.
• As a leader and a business owner, there’s valuable knowledge that you can teach them not just for the business itself, but for their lives as well. 
• Give some sort of school scholarship to employees who are studying.
• Organize workshops during off hours.

Find inspiration! 9 Lessons from a Serial Entrepreneur, a Rapper, and an Ultraman Racer

Your employees may eventually leave, but offering these growth opportunities will make them stay with you longer. This will help you reduce your turnover, achieve greater results, and have a better work environment.

6. Let the world know what you are doing

If you do any or all of the things I mentioned, you want to spread the word. Communicate that you are taking the time and effort to be a better organization and you want to attract top talent so that these professionals can contact you.

Post it on social media, put it on fliers, and share it on posters. Have your employees share with their family and friends how you are different from everybody else. 

I hope this was of value to you. If you do implement something like this in your organization, I would love to hear about it! You can reach out to me and send me a message by subscribing to our YouTube channel and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Get more resources and information like this on all of these platforms as well as on our podcast Franchise Success Formulas, which you can listen to on Spotify and Google Podcasts.

If you're looking for something a little bit deeper and you require more tools to help you be successful, I strongly recommend you attend our Multi-unit Franchisee Masterclass. In it, we share the systems, processes, and procedures that top-performing franchisees implement in their business to grow and have scalability for the long term.

If this interests you, go to Multiunitmasterclass.com to register for our free workshop and learn what other things you can do to have people stay with you.

Reflections:

• Are you making an effort to become the leader your people want?
• What’s the purpose of your organization?
• What actions can you take to offer flexibility to your workers?
• How are you helping your top talent grow within your company?

WATCH THIS VBLOG on YouTube HERE.