When Melissa Moseley discovered the Frontline Recruitment Group, everything fell into place. She knew immediately the company offered something special.

“Actually I think the business found me,” she jokes. “I was young, I had returned from travelling through South East Asia and I didn’t want to go back to an accounts role that wasn’t going anywhere.

“I applied for several jobs but they weren’t the right fit. With Frontline, right from the start, at the interview process and meeting other people in the team, it just felt right.”

It was 18 years ago that Melissa stepped into an accounts payable role at Frontline, when the company was at the start of its expansion with just five franchisees on board.

“I hadn’t worked in franchising before, and in my role I was collecting money on behalf of franchisees. It was important for me to build relationships and trust with the franchisees, and this was really a fantastic opportunity to see the business through their eyes.”

Frontline Recruitment GM

Now as general manager of the highly-successful firm she joined at the beginning of its journey she believes trust is the most important aspect of her job; delivering on franchisees’ expectations of support and assistance. 

That connection with franchisees is what has kept Melissa engaged and committed to the recruitment brand’s mission to change lives and business outcomes, to always put people first.

“Frontline gets into your blood. I honestly think it’s the people focus. I really enjoy working with franchisees, they are inspirational, all in different ways.”

Within her first year the business was so successful matching great candidates to retail roles it expanded into other industry sectors. The business now operates across hospitality, health, education, construction, retail and retail executive sectors, and has significantly increased its head count.

Melissa enthusiastically embraced the opportunities on offer with the fast-growing franchise.

She snapped up every chance to experience different departments within the firm. Taking on roles across general operations and franchise compliance gave her a good perspective of the whole business and in the process she discovered a passion for operations, a role she relished and doubled down on during the challenging times of the GFC.

“I love working with franchisees to help them get their results. Operations is close to the frontline of Frontline, and I loved the variety of every day.”

Franchise leadership and innovation

Today Melissa puts her passion for helping franchisees at the heart of her leadership role, and she has been recognised outside the firm for her outstanding performance as a franchise leader.

Melissa was ranked in the top 20 in the prestigious Top 30 Franchise Executives 2023  report, released in May.

“I was just happy to be nominated,” she says. “To be ranked in the top 20, well, it’s just lovely to be recognised. It’s encouraged me to reflect on how far we have come.

“In the 18 months since I have been in the GM role, it’s been the biggest period of innovation in the Frontline business, with a rebrand, transformation of learning and development programs, new onboarding and career pathway programs, and technology enhancements,” she says.

As GM Melissa’s goals now are clearly focused on growing the respected Frontline Recruitment business: expanding the brand footprint by opening up more agencies; and nurturing and supporting franchisees as they drive their own businesses forward.

The business has ramped up its technical support for busy franchisees, streamlining processes in areas which can prove time consuming without the right tools, such as social media.

“We’ve brought in a platform to help franchisees manage their social media. It is loaded with templates to make it easy, and that helps franchisees get their names out in local markets.”

Frontline Recruitment fosters talent

There is also a working group, which includes franchisees, involved in HR development, and this has created a new structure for consultants to ensure they can advance along a progressive career path.

Melissa is proud of the training on offer now, not just for franchisees but their staff. As part of a service to help franchisees onboard employees, newly-appointed consultants spend the first week in training at head office.

The franchisor team continues to offer support, training and guidance as franchisees, and consultants, progress their skills in recruiting and business building.

“From a people perspective, we hope we can continue to grow our teams to be the best recruiters. If they transition into owners, that would be perfect! We already have franchisees who started as consultants, and we’d love to see more take up the opportunity,” she says.

Frontline Recruitment is fundamentally a people business, she points out.

“We have a ‘people first’ philosophy, which is really important when you are a franchised organisation, and even more so when you are in the people business.

“That’s the heart and soul of the business. It’s about our franchisees, our clients and our candidates.”