Hi, I’m Claire from Delaget. Every franchise operator has struggled with the decision of whether to retain an underperforming employee or to cut ties. Here are some tips that can keep you and your teams in control of the “coach or fire” decision, and – by extension – reduce turnover and improve the customer experience.

#1 – Hire right. Spend the time to make sure you’re only bringing on the right people who match up with your brand and business goals. Even role play or ask them to perform a task that they would be doing on the job.

#2 – Believe in (and guide) your people. Most people want to be good employees and good team members. Give them the training, tools, coaching and discipline to succeed.

#3 – Take all employee turnover personally.  People move on in our business, but make it for the right reasons. Learn to accept personal responsibility for voluntary and involuntary turnover and ask yourself: What did I miss? What could I have done differently?

#4 – Use all of your tools, like your brand policies and procedures. Also, use your reports – the numbers don’t lie. If you have prescriptive data analytics solutions like Delaget Coach and Delaget Detect, believe what these tools are telling you, and coach your team accordingly.

#5 – Performance manage your team. Use documentation as the ultimate accountability, but aim to improve the employee’s performance, don’t use it to threaten termination.

#6 – Keep investigations swift and confidential. Involve the right people per your brand or company standards. Typically, suspending the employee during the investigation is in order, to protect the employee and the integrity of the investigation.

Finally, #7 – Partner with your human resources department and your immediate supervisor, when you do decide to terminate an employee. Make sure you are 100% right, so that you protect the best interest of your organization, yourself, and the employee.

If you follow these 7 tips, you’ll face the decision to “coach or fire” less and less, and you’ll see employee performance steadily improve.

For more information on how you can control the “coach or fire” decision, visit Delaget.com/Coach today.