Artisan sausage franchise Snag Stand takes the training process very seriously, and has recently enlisted the assistance of an experienced training manager to develop its training program.
“We have spent a lot of time and effort putting together what we consider to be an industry best of class training program.
“It is administrated through Daniel Rogers, who is a dedicated training manager with 12 years of professional training experience across a variety of organisations,” says Phillip Blanco, managing director at Snag Stand.
“We knew that our training needed to be strong if our brand and operations were going to be strong, so we made the investment to go out and bring a professional trainer on-board.”
The world manager online training platform, where franchisees view, and are then tested on, company or product information, plays a key role in the brand’s training programs.
“If you are an employee or manager you log in online and review the material either in written or video based format.
“At the end of watching what might be a three and a half minute video you would answer a five to seven question multiple choice test, and if you fail any portion of that you would have to go back and review the material and take the test again,” Blanco explains.
A selection of artisan sausages from Snag Stand
He believes the platform is proving more effective than traditional training tools including text heavy training manuals.
“You can access the platform from anywhere you have a screen and internet access. It covers everything from brand overview and a full induction to human resources, customer service, operational policies and procedures and all product builds – everything.”
Franchisees go through a five week training program before they take on their own store, and it is facilitated by the brand’s national training manager.
“They take franchisees through each different module or station as well call them. They progress through and develop their competencies first as an employee, then they learn to run shifts and ultimately learn to run the store as a manager, and after that they would learn to operate within the network as a franchisee,” he says.
“The franchisees have to be every bit as competent in every station in the store as an employee would be and then they go further.
“They get their MBA [Master of Business Administration] so to speak as they complete all aspects of the training which includes the franchise training,” adds Blanco.
Franchisees are required to facilitate in-store meetings with their staff on a monthly basis, and when a new product or process is to be introduced the brand’s training manager will be on-hand to deliver the training in conjunction with the franchisee.
“We believe in interactive, face-to-face training so we would typically do these sorts of things after hours, between seven and nine pm,” says Blanco.
A bustling Snag Stand outlet
These sessions would see franchisees and their staff learn how to make the new product, taste it and also provide their feedback.
“If gives them a chance to not only view information about the product but taste it and try it, to ask questions. Obviously there is a lot more absorption of the material when it is done in a workshop setting,” he says.
Blanco explains franchisees receive ongoing support from the brand’s general manager of operations, who is in contact with them at least once a week.
“They would speak with franchisees minimum on a weekly basis, would be in their store monthly if not more often, and our head office team are in constant contact with them.”
He says the brand is constantly updating its training materials to ensure franchisees and their staff receive training that is both effective and engaging.
“The traditional nature of training material is the heavier the manual the more thorough and complete it must be, but it is often that the opposite is true.
“It is really about making it super simple, super impactful, and easy to understand and engage with.”