Australia’s first national conference dedicated to improving the performance of franchise operations professionals will be held at the Pullman Hotel, Albert Park, Victoria, on Thursday, 7th May 2015.
Hosted by the Franchise Relationships Institute (FRI), the theme for the National Franchise Operations Conference is “Making a Difference”. The content for the one-day Conference has been created in response to FRI’s research with Australia’s most successful franchise systems; as well as from results generated by a Field Manager Performance Study, exploring franchisees’ feedback about their operational support.
This research has revealed there is an appetite in the Australian franchising sector for an event where people who support franchisees can come together to share their challenges and best practice strategies.
In response to this need for more collaboration, the conference program has been developed by a “Think Tank” of experienced franchise professionals from a range of industries and leading brands such as Boost Juice, The Athletes Foot, Snooze, Battery World, Poolwerx and Hello World.
The conference will address the practical issues facing franchise operations professionals in a well-organised, fast paced program of interactive learning, peer sharing, expert advice and cutting edge research.
Through its work with hundreds of franchise networks, FRI has also discovered the retention and development of operations teams is a consistent priority. Senior franchise executives report that high calibre operations people with the right mix of skills are hard to find. Most executives acknowledge that, as the cost of recruitment is high, it makes sense to develop and retain their existing people.
The skills needed to deliver business value to franchisees are broad, and most operations professionals learn negotiation, finance, training, marketing, coaching and industry specific knowledge in an ad hoc manner, or through on-job trial and error. The Conference offers a timely and cost-effective way to improve these skills.
The Franchise Relationships Institute was established to help franchisees and franchisors create profitable partnerships and founder, Greg Nathan, sees the Conference as the epitome of FRI’s mission.
“The reason for this special Conference is we want to have a collaborative approach with other thought leaders and franchise professionals who care about the franchise sector and who want to help franchisees become more successful,” says Greg.
“Franchise operation professionals have one of the most challenging roles in the franchise sector. Most of these people deliver over and above the call of duty to help their franchisees to succeed. The National Franchise Operations Conference is designed to give them something back, particularly practical tools, new ideas and the inspiration to keep doing what they do.”
Over 20 subject matter experts and franchising mentors will be presenting and facilitating sessions throughout the day on topics to do with coaching, financial management, facilitation, local marketing, digital strategies, influencing skills and resilience.
Greg Nathan says response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Many franchisor executives are saying it’s about time there was an event that addresses the practical issues faced by their operations people. We’re expecting a sell-out event.”
Full Conference information and online registration can be found at:
www.franchiserelationships.com/conf2015.