Where to recruit employees for your franchise
As a business owner you should be aware that each job position requires specific competencies. For best results, it’s important to select the right candidates since people have different skills and knowledge suitable for different job positions.
Depending on the popularity of the brand your franchise operates under and the size of your business, you might recruit passively, i.e. post ads and wait for candidates to come to you, or actively, i.e. look for candidates in a number of places.
There are many places where you can look for employees. However, you should take your time and choose wisely. If you are in a hurry to fill an open position, you are risking missing the most qualified candidate in the rush. Recruiting takes time so be patient and you will attract the talents you are looking for.
Start the recruitment process by lookig inside your company. Current employees might be the perfect fit for an open position. You can either promote employees or transfer them from other departments. If you can think of former employees that you can rehire don’t hesitate to contact them. In case you have an intern program you have a bigger pool of potential candidates to choose from. People who are acquainted to the way the company operates and its culture do not need as much training and orientation.
Picking the right employee is tricky, but it is easier if you know where to start looking.
Another option that your existing employees provide are referrals. Many companies have understood the advantages of referrals. They have designed reward programs for employees who bring their friends to the company when a new position opens.
Third parties that can help you recruit employees through referral are business partners, friends, and customers. Referrals are good mainly because you don’t end up hiring someone you barely know. Hiring a candidate based on the recommendation of a person you trust is much better than hiring someone based solely on their resume.
Human resources (HR) consultancies also have a wide range of databases of specialists with some more experience. They can help you contact candidates who are looking for a job or who want to change their field of employment. They work with specialized software for matching the skills and expertise of people with the right job positions. If you are willing to hire someone with less experience but more potential you can contact educational institutions. They usually keep an updated database of alumni and their fields of specialization. They can provide you with a list of alumni contacts and resumes that you can choose from. Despite having no experience, recent alumni have fresh minds with interesting ideas.
If you don’t want to use the help of specialists you can post an advertisement on specialized websites and newspapers. People who are looking for a new job usually check these sites regularly. Some job search sites and engines allow companies to pull their ad up the list for a small fee.
Walk-in applications are a cheap yet effective way to recruit new employees. Let’s say you operate a family-owned cupcake bakery franchise and you are looking to hire a new salesperson with experience in cupcake decoration. You can put an advert on the window of you bakery. Another thing that you can do is to post an advert on job boards nearby you store. If someone interested walks by the ads they will notice them and will come right inside the cupcake bakery to introduce themselves.
However, walk-ins attract only a limited number of people. You can reach a higher audience by posting an ad on the company’s website as well as the franchisor’s website. Many people interested in your business will see it and act on it. If the franchisor supports a franchise bulletin board you can ask peers for assistance with finding the right person.
Have you heard of social recruiting? This is a concept involving social media in the recruiting process. An increasing number of employers recruit new staff through Facebook and Twitter. You might as well use your business’ account and the official page of the franchise-company. You’ll have access to a page of hundreds or thousands of likes and followers. Once you post you message it will reach many people who are potential candidate for the open position.
Whatever method of reaching potential employees you choose, don’t forget that recruiting is a lengthy but a very important process for your business.
