As you continue to communicate with your system about reopening plans, it’s crucial to stress to franchisees the importance of making sure their employees understand the new operational guidelines put in place by the franchisor, as well as their respective governors, mayors, and local public health agencies.
Communicating these guidelines and ensuring all employees are following them is critical to helping prevent the further spread of the virus, but as we’ve also seen national media recently report, the threat of employee walkouts is very real if employees feel a business is not taking the appropriate steps to protect them and customers. A walkout is a PR crisis and will result in a lack of trust among the community, as well as a loss of sales during an already difficult time.
To help you navigate this potential crisis with franchisees, we wanted to share some suggested communication strategies and other strategies to consider as you prepare to reopen your doors.
Preventing a Walkout through Proactive Communications
In most, if not all, walkouts, employees are concerned about the risk of exposure for both them and customers because basic preventative measures are not being followed. It’s likely your franchisees already have someone advising them on how to implement these measures, but franchisors should consider what tools and resources they can provide franchisees to help them communicate these changes to their employees prior to reopening, so there are no missteps on opening day and everyone feels safe.
Examples of communications resources for franchisees may include:
- Template email to their employees reminding them of how COVID-19 is spread, as well as the symptoms, and detailing the new operational guidelines
- Training videos (e.g. food safety, cleaning/sanitation, social distancing, contactless delivery, etc.)
- Plans to respond if/when there is a positive COVID-19 case among employees
Voicing Concerns about Workplace Safety
Franchisees also should consider providing employees a way to anonymously voice their concerns regarding workplace safety, if such an outlet doesn’t already exist. An alternative could be a corporate COVID-19 hotline or email.
Developing a Crisis Response Plan
If a franchisee suspects a walkout, they should immediately inform the appropriate corporate team member(s), so we can work with you to prepare a response plan as it’s highly likely local media will cover the news — and it could easily turn into a national story. Additionally, if the walkout is at a single location, we will want to get ahead of it before more franchise locations follow.
As always, we are here to be a resource and sounding board for you as we navigate this ever-changing situation together. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
