Hudsons Coffee franchisees can access nationally recognised training programs for their staff at minimal cost, thanks to a head office initiative.

The cafe chain can now deliver Certs III and IV, and diploma courses in topics such as hospitality, business, business and customer engagement, and leadership and management.

All training is done in work hours explains Hudsons GM Jarrod Montigue, who set up the program with the Institute of Training and Further Education (ITFE).

“All franchisees has to do is devote one hour a week to training. The majority is done online but we have our own dedicated trainer who comes to stores to do assessments every month.”

Jarrod heads up the Australian franchise network of 31 stores which now sit alongside Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break at the Foodco group after Emirates Leisure Retail Australia divested the stores to focus on international growth for the Hudsons brand.

“Training, developing and leading teams is what I love doing,” he tells Inside Franchise Business.

Jarrod worked for a year to deliver a program that met particular criteria and it was unveiled in 2020 with ITFE securing national funding and subsidies; the Federal Government’s Job Trainer scheme introduced to encourage job creation has helped the initiative.

Since then there’s been strong take-up on the corporate side and half of the franchisees nominating staff.

“It’s all about retaining top talent in the business. To grow and thrive you have to develop your own talent,” Jarrod says.

“It has helped as a point of difference in the marketplace for our franchisees to offer fully qualified training programs. It helps with retaining talent, and it is helping foster employee growth.”

Read more about how Hudsons has navigated the pandemic and where the future potential lies.