Over the past few years, the hiring landscape for financial leadership in the franchise sector has evolved in new and interesting ways. Retirements have taken some subject matter experts out of the market, but non-franchise industry crossover is occurring with greater awareness of opportunities, bringing fresh ideas and expertise. The continued tension between remote work and return-to-office poses new challenges, as does the far-reaching effect of economic uncertainty leading to a more cautious approach.
Over the course of my decades at the intersection of finance and franchising, I’ve seen roles and priorities evolve – and I’ve also seen how some core values remain the same.
To successfully navigate this changing market, it’s more important than ever for top franchise finance leaders, like CFOs and Controllers, to have broad business awareness. Recruiting for these key roles must focus not just on their finance-related experience and skills, but also on their understanding of operations, legal, compliance, franchisee support, IT, and all the other pieces that come together to make a franchise excel.
Tailoring Your Hiring Approach
Strong performers, especially with CFO, Controller, and VP candidates, continue to be highly sought-after regardless of industry. Specific industry knowledge, along with broader financial skill, is key to allowing leadership to effectively impact and influence the business. For instance, a health-related franchise could require deeper knowledge of insurance provider and payer dynamics, while foodservice or retail might require more expertise with supply chains, real estate, and minimum wage laws. Additionally, each hiring franchisor has different needs pertaining to financial leadership. Some require baseline bookkeeping, versus deeper business partnership with company leaders and investors.
Some skills that should be top priorities, regardless of industry, include:
- Specific accounting/finance knowledge pertaining to accounting for revenues, expenses, real estate, others.
- Knowledge of process and key players in capital formation, M&A, FP&A.
- Specific knowledge around franchise compliance requirements (legal and otherwise).
- Ability to interact in a meaningful way with franchisees and franchisee candidates.
- Multi-location, multi-regional (including perhaps international) management.
- Tact and resilience in working through disagreements and conflict situations with franchisees.
As the franchise marketplace continues to evolve post-COVID, candidates and hiring companies continue to evolve their needs and interests. Keeping abreast of these issues will be very important for hiring companies in franchising across all industries and geographic regions, especially as competition (and expected compensation) for high-performing candidates increases.
The passive candidate pool is a golden opportunity to identify top performers who could benefit your franchise; the trick is finding the right value proposition with which to convince them to consider the new position. For top leadership roles, such as VP or C-suite level roles, top talent will be considering factors such as:
- Solid reputation, track record, and trajectory of company, investors, and legal proceedings.
- Public vs. privately-held companies – some candidates have a clear preference due to opportunities of position and personal liabilities.
- Personal legal protection where necessary. An employment agreement could be essential for these senior positions.
- Favorable location of office.
In terms of actual compensation, top talent will be looking beyond just a base salary. Be sure your compensation package is competitive when it comes to bonus potential, equity participation, benefits, and relocation reimbursement if necessary.
Partnering with Recruiters
Partnering with an executive recruiter with franchise experience, like Blue Rock Search, can help ease the strain of talent search. Blue Rock brings a solid track record of transparency, honesty, and performance, as well as a broad network of potential candidates, industry contacts, and more.
That deep understanding of the industry and of specific roles and responsibilities allows your recruiting partner to ask good questions of the client and act accordingly. We work with you to proactively address the needs of the business, including near-term, medium, and long-term financial priorities. The same solutions won’t work for every organization – be sure your recruiting partner can assess and source best-fit candidates for each specific situation.
When it’s time to make your franchise’s next big financial hire, count on Blue Rock to help you navigate the search process and emerge successful! Contact us to learn more about our franchise executive recruiting solutions.
About the Author
Michael Cullom is a collaborating advisor with Blue Rock Search, focused on executive searches for franchise and multi-unit, multi-regional and consumer-based industries, including but not limited to the restaurant, retail, and ecommerce sectors. He concentrates on senior financial, operational, board, and other relevant searches for a variety of BRS clients.
Michael has served for decades as a senior executive and board member for a number of well-known multi-location franchised and company-operated concepts ranging in size from early stage to the Fortune 500. He has been an officer of publicly and privately held (PE, VC) companies in rapid-growth, turnaround, and restructuring standing. He has held C-level finance, corporate development, and operational roles. He has also been a management consultant to investors, board members, and senior management clients.
Michael received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from The U. of Cincinnati and earned an MBA from The Wharton School of the U. of Pennsylvania. Michael and his family live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains west of Denver, Colorado.