The Leadership Habit Costing Your Franchise New Recruits

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “Executive Sponsor,” allow me to enlighten you by first sharing what it doesn’t mean. This term isn’t a reference to paid media in exchange for brand exposure, nor does it describe the mentorship provided by an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) support coach.

In the world of franchise recruitment — and beyond — an Executive Sponsor is a senior-level leader within the organization who makes an intentional effort to engage in the pursuit of a goal. But this isn’t to say an Executive Sponsor is a micromanager; far from it. Rather, it’s a role that requires an active commitment to provide the team with the tools, resources and support necessary to ensure success.

An Executive Sponsor brings strategic alignment to the initiative, removes barriers, obstacles and challenges, oversees the risk management factor and plays an active advocacy role. Their responsibilities range from the tangible, such as managing the allocation of manpower and budgetary constraints, to the intangible, such as explaining the “why” behind the stated objective or goal.

It’s about being present — having the ability to connect the vision with the execution. Executive Sponsors and the initiatives they champion apply to all industries, business channels and sectors. But as you’ll see, this advocacy role has become an increasingly important factor in determining the direction, oversight and eventual success of franchise recruitment campaigns.

We’ve all met this manager before

Show me a brand that isn’t hitting its recruiting goals, and the first question I’m asking is, who’s leading the charge? If I had to guess, it’s probably the manager in the big corner office who snaps to attention once every quarter and frantically calls for an all-hands-on-deck meeting to review the numbers. And guess what? He’s shocked — shocked, I tell you — that the brand once again missed its recruiting goals.

In rapid-fire succession, he’ll go around the table peppering his subordinates with questions about the process, where things broke down and why corrective action wasn’t taken at the time — usually while maintaining a look of incredulity on his face. Never mind the fact that there were plenty of blinking red lights in the months leading up to this depressing roundtable. He simply wasn’t paying attention as the pipeline dried up and candidates who were once engaged in the process fell by the wayside for one reason or another.

In fact, the only clue he may have had that things weren’t progressing according to plan is the fact that he couldn’t remember the last time his presence was requested for a Discovery Day event. As the meeting winds down, closing out yet another round of whack-a-mole excuses, he’ll retreat down the hallway to the comfort of his cozy corner office and begin working on a new policy directive that attempts to address the shortcomings of the team’s recruiting program.

Of course, he will most certainly fail to mention his own lack of engagement had anything to do with the disappointing results found in the quarterly post-mortem report. Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you’d like to know how to go about being an effective Executive Sponsor for your franchise recruiting team, I have plenty of practical advice to share. To borrow a metaphorical football team analogy, you’re playing the role of Quarterback. There may be 10 other players on the field, but absent your leadership and presence, these teammates can’t execute the coach’s game plan. How you address them in the huddle, providing specific instructions to each player, is where the magic really happens.

You’re telling them when to move, where to move and how to work in concert with one another to move the ball down the field. That takes intentionality. Using all the best leadership traits you can muster, you’re actually motivating them, building trust in a unified mission. Is the execution of a complex, comprehensive recruiting program on behalf of a franchise brand really all that different in a head-to-head comparison?

Actionable advice for the willing

In our discussion thus far, we’ve communicated the main platitudes about the role and function of the Executive Sponsor. But moving beyond words, let’s introduce some actionable advice to the equation — concrete steps you can take to gauge whether you’re capable of moving the needle in the right direction. Consider the following:

• The days of assembling your team at the end of every quarter to bash their underwhelming performance are over. Instead, host a private, one-on-one session with your recruitment manager once a week. Run the authentic numbers and assess your progress. If what you’re doing isn’t working, course-correct it right then and there. Seven days later, see if it worked.
• Schedule a monthly meeting with the entire recruiting department to assess the progress of your benchmarks. In this scenario, you’ll have three opportunities to refine your approach before the final numbers are tallied.
• Take an active role in assessing the contributions of your individual team members. Make it a point to know who is pulling their weight and who might need a little more encouragement. Motivate them by being tough, funny, but fair. Your people are the biggest investment in your brand and should be treated accordingly, like the precious resource they are.
• Pay closer attention to the brand’s average unit economics and financial performance. If you’re noting significant financial gains, update Item 19 in your FDD accordingly. That’s the section consultants, brokers and candidates pay attention to the most.
• Reassess your recruiting goals in the presence of your entire sales and development team. Make sure every team member has the opportunity to contribute to the discussion by seeing to it that each employee is seen, heard and valued. Don’t be afraid to admit your goals are too ambitious. Better to hit a respectable number than burn out your staff chasing an impossible dream.

Some final thoughts

You’ll never become an effective, respectable, and charismatic Executive Sponsor unless you can function as an open, honest and transparent leader. If you can’t be a truth-teller, this role isn’t for you. You can be the slickest sales guy in the world, capable of selling a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves, but if you’re not grounded in honesty, you’ll never earn the respect of your sales and development team, nor the candidates you’re recruiting to join your franchisee network.

Being a great leader means being vulnerable, having a human side. Someone people can really relate to, rally behind and follow, wherever the road may lead them.

Starting next week, roll up your sleeves and commit yourself to the difficult work of being an authentic Executive Sponsor. Because there are lots of people counting on you, and I’m one of them.

So, please don’t disappoint us.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term “Executive Sponsor,” allow me to enlighten you by first sharing what it doesn’t mean. This term isn’t a reference to paid media in exchange for brand exposure, nor does it describe the mentorship provided by an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) support coach.

In the world of franchise recruitment — and beyond — an Executive Sponsor is a senior-level leader within the organization who makes an intentional effort to engage in the pursuit of a goal. But this isn’t to say an Executive Sponsor is a micromanager; far from it. Rather, it’s a role that requires an active commitment to provide the team with the tools, resources and support necessary to ensure success.

An Executive Sponsor brings strategic alignment to the initiative, removes barriers, obstacles and challenges, oversees the risk management factor and plays an active advocacy role. Their responsibilities range from the tangible, such as managing the allocation of manpower and budgetary constraints, to the intangible, such as explaining the “why” behind the stated objective or goal.