As well as providing lots of one to one support for our franchise partners, we think it’s really important they develop relationships with each other. This gives them good peer support and the ability to see how others have progressed at different stages of their business.
One of the ways we do this is by getting them together. Initially we’d do this once a year, taking them all to the CIPD Conference and Exhibition in Manchester in November. They enjoy the conference and we do some bonding as a team and go out for a meal, but they didn’t spend a lot of focused time together because they were at seminars and workshops a lot of the time. Unfortunately we won’t be attending the conference this year in-person but they all have virtual tickets and will be able to join in with on-line seminars to get some valuable continuing professional development.
A few years ago one of our franchise partners said she would find it useful to get together more often. Although that obviously represented an increased cost to us, we wanted to ensure they felt supported and benefited as much as possible from working with us, so added a second get-together.
This usually takes place in March but due to Covid 19 this year we had to postpone and we are now looking at an actual in-person get-together in November (lockdown rules permitting!) We generally ask the franchise partners what content they would find most useful. It’s essential to us to make sure our consultants are getting what they need from working with us, so we try and consult with them all the time on how we can make things better, and what additional tools/guidance/support/activities would help them make a success of their business.
This year we are planning to have an external trainer in to do some work around business planning and development. In addition to that, we also like to spend some time with them sharing their experiences or any problems they may have encountered. And, of course, allowing for some social time as well, which will hopefully mean they go away with some real gains from the day, enhanced relationships with each other and feeling as though they are fully supported in their business. Which is what we’re all about!
If you’d like to know more about becoming part of our growing team, do get in touch.