Five tips for onboarding franchise staff
The success of any franchise is hugely reliant on the learning it provides to its employees.
Initially, training might not seem the most important factor to consider when owning a franchise, as it is not directly associated with revenue. However, with servers being the first customer touchpoint, training should in fact be a top priority.
Customer satisfaction stems from good service, leading to positive feedback and increased sales.
However, understanding the importance of training is only the first step. Training needs to be well-planned, user-friendly, consistent, and straightforward.
As the franchising industry evolves, new skills and training are required for employees to stay up to date.
Businesses can use eLearning to maximize their training. Franchises can deploy eLearning platforms to ensure their employees have the requisite knowledge and skills to succeed while staying up to speed on new processes and procedures.
eLearning can be customized to meet the requirements of a wide range of employees, allowing them to access the learning they require in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Here are the top five tips for the successful onboarding of franchise employees.
1 Keep learning relevant
The wide variety of training required in the restaurant industry – from health and safety regulations and procedures to how to make a sandwich – can be overwhelming for many new employees. Therefore, the first step when creating a course is to identify the specific objectives of the particular tutorial.
It is also critical to establish clear course expectations so that students know what to expect. This includes setting deadlines, providing clear instructions, and outlining desired outcomes.
Franchises can ensure that the eLearning content is tailored to their employees’ needs by determining clearly and concisely the course objectives.
Notification systems, assigning specific content to users, and sequential courses are helpful ways to assign relevant content to users.
[The Role of L&D in the Modern Franchise Agreement]
2 Develop engaging and interactive content
Having an attractive interface for learning is critical to keeping employees engaged.
By providing interactive and easy-to-navigate content, franchisers can ensure their employees remain engaged and actively participate in the material.
An engaging interface helps boost the motivation of learners. Ultimately, users are more likely to complete a course if it is engaging and enjoyable.
This can be accomplished using videos, quizzes, and other interactive elements. Visual components such as images and diagrams help employees better understand and retain the content. eLearning platforms can enable more interactive interfaces for training material beyond general slide decks.
Also, using real-world examples and storytelling techniques proves both helpful and engaging for employees. Using such techniques also helps in retaining key aspects.
3 Learning anytime, anywhere
Franchisers have employees located all over the world. eLearning enables employees to access learning anytime, anywhere and provides consistency in learning, regardless of location.
Employees can access learning on their own time with eLearning allowing them to complete it at any stage.
With restaurant employees learning at various times – and perhaps not all in one sitting – an effective eLearning platform should also track where a user concluded and notify management when training is complete.
This ease of use can be through an application on a smartphone, a website, or a store-wide interface – the key is for each user to have access.
4 Ongoing training and mentoring
Consistency in training is critical.
When first starting a new job, it is normal that there will be a lot of training. However, the key to success is to ensure this training continues. Employees should receive consistent training to ensure that everyone remains updated on new processes and procedures – whether that is updates to the menu or a refresher course on a particular area of the restaurant.
Consistency in training across the restaurant – especially in the franchise industry – is critical for success.
5 Measure the results
Effective eLearning courses will be able to measure the platform’s results. This can be done by using tools like completion rate, assessing knowledge retention, and evaluating employee engagement.
Also, utilizing employee feedback to assess course effectiveness can be very effective and help improve content – making it more engaging and relevant for users.
Ultimately, businesses can determine if the course’s objectives have been met by measuring the course’s results.
Conclusion
eLearning can be valuable for franchising businesses to maximize employee training.
With eLearning, organizations can reduce costs, engage employees more, measure employee performance, and increase employee retention.
Using the above tips when creating a learning and onboarding program for employees will also ensure consistency across the entire brand, protecting the organization’s culture.
References:
https://blog.scoop.it/2021/04/29/the-importance-of-content-and-design-in-e-learning/
https://www.scholarlms.com/the-importance-of-engaging-content-in-elearning/
https://www.intuition.com/the-role-of-ld-in-the-modern-franchise-agreement/
https://www.synergysuite.com/blog/restaurant-trainings/
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/measuring-impact-online-training