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Training: access all areas

Sarah Stowe

Is online training always best for franchisees and their staff? Natalie Brennan considers the issue.

Once upon a time, I stood before a classroom of franchisees and presented lessons using ‘technologies’ that included an overhead projector, a chalkboard and a manually-operated ‘ditto machine’. The system worked at the time and while I’m really not that old, the online learning facilities available to us today weren’t even an option 25 years ago.

Nowadays, I don’t even need to be physically present to train a group of franchisees and neither do they for that matter! We can be on opposite ends of the globe and still engage in ‘face-to-face’ learning via Skype and smartphones.

Lesson note-taking is virtually irrelevant because franchisees can now download up-to-date information through file-sharing portals like Drop Box and follow step-by-step tutorials using online video sharing.

On the surface, it seems online learning tools have made the franchisee training process so much easier today but is this in-fact the case? The answer is both yes and no.

Regardless of the learning platform – online or otherwise – the essential key to successful franchisee training is to know your audience. It is imperative that franchisors design training content that is transferable for a transient workforce.

Although the average age of an entering franchisee is between 40 and 50 years young, new entrants aged in their 60s are not uncommon in the franchising food industry. The new generation of online learning tools can overwhelm older franchisees and others have language barriers to overcome.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, on-the-ground staff members are typically tech-savvy teens and 20-somethings who take well to online learning. So the solution to yield optimum learning outcomes across all ages and learning styles is for franchisors to use a combination of both online and offline training platforms.

ONLINE ADVANTAGES

Online learning definitely has its advantages. The Foodco online Learning Management System (LMS), which is accessible to all current Muffin Break, Jamaica Blue and Dreamy Donuts franchisees, plays a critical role in the timely delivery of industry updates and initiatives, including:

Legislated compulsory learning modules 

Foodco’s online LMS allows our training team to efficiently communicate with franchisees on important matters such as food safety legislation. Not only does the online facility allow us to update our entire franchisee network in real-time as required, Foodco head office controls the removal of outdated information, reducing the risk of unintentional legal breaches by franchisees. 

A far better alternative to old school hard-copy filing methods, the LMS also serves as a backed-up library of training records for our franchisees to refresh their knowledge at any time and securely store business documentation which must be kept by law.

Communicative learning 
Foodco’s LMS allows head office and our entire franchisee network two-way communication channels to learn and discuss brand initiatives through online noticeboards and forums. Again, this provides for real-time updates and eliminates the need for snail-mail which is far more likely to be misplaced. 

ALTERNATIVE TRAINING OPTIONS

Learning outcomes that cannot be achieved through online training include:

1. Skills-based training 

You can watch a heap of online videos about latte art and know the theory of it inside-out, but until you physically train in the skill, you’re highly unlikely to be a competent latte artist. Online learning activities can only make-up part of the skill based experience.

2. Interpretative skills 

People are unpredictable and in dealing with any type of customer service, the theory can be studied online but a thorough understanding of human body language can only be conquered through practical experience. Knowing how to interpret and react to customers’ emotions cannot truly be grasped by watching a video. 

Foodco dedicates a substantial amount of face-to-face training time with new as well as existing franchisees but with a network of more than 3,000 staff in-stores, we simply could not implement successful training programs without online learning. 

Online learning is an invaluable tool for theory-based learning but it is not enough in isolation. With all skill-based learning, which is what hospitality and retail is really all about, excellence can only be achieved by practice and no amount of online training, chalk or talk will ever match the optimal results of actually “doing it.”

Natalie Brennan is the national services and support manager at the Foodco Group

Image: Thinkstock