How healthy is your franchise culture?
Of course some franchise communities function better than others. Could the reason for this be that they have a healthier franchise culture?
One of the observations I have made after 27 years in franchising is that the best franchisors use the power of culture as an effective weapon in the war for the hearts and minds of their franchisees and customers.
Make no mistake. A healthy franchising culture will give a franchise network a competitive edge, especially given that attracting and retaining good people is the biggest challenge facing small and large businesses today.
What exactly is culture?
Professor Ed Schein from M.I.T. defines it as "the way we do things around here". This includes the expectations that people who work together have of each other and the habits they share. This is can be demonstrated in various ways including: the way they answer their phone, greet each other, respond to emails, even the expressions they wear on their faces when they are under pressure!
And where does culture come from?
In short it comes from the person who sets the expectations – the leader. Leaders of franchise networks with healthy franchising cultures care. They care about their customers, they care about their franchisees and they care about their brands.
Caring is not something you can fake. It comes from your values and what you stand for. However these values need to be nurtured. If leaders don't take time to reflect on what is of fundamental importance to them, the day-to-day pressures of running a franchise network can wear them down and make them cynical.
If you are in a leadership role consider that next time you roll your eyes when you hear a particular franchisee is on the phone, or you criticise a member of your team in front of his or her peers, or you continue to write an email when a staff member is talking to you about something that is important to them, in fact next time you do anything, just remember that people are watching you.
While leaders hope that their followers are listening to what they say, when it comes to shaping a culture actions are more important than words. When you say one thing and do another, guess which one people are going to take note of.
So how healthy is your franchise culture?
I have put the following checklist together to help you review the health of your culture. Use it for private reflection, for discussion at your next management meeting or maybe even at your next franchisee meeting.
Greg Nathan is a corporate psychologist and Managing Director of the Franchise Relationships Institute Franchise Council of Australia 09.05.2008
FCA Member
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