5 Keys to Achieving the Expected Business and Financial Results
Jun 22, 2022
There are seven critical responsibilities that the district manager has to command to achieve the business and financial results that the franchisee business owner expects.
In past blog posts, we covered leading, planning, staffing, execution of brand and business systems, maintenance, and marketing. Last, but not least, we’ll analyze the results responsibility, which ultimately sums up why these leaders do their job every day.
If the district manager does what he needs to do in all the other responsibilities, he’ll be able to accomplish this one. That’s why this position has to be clear on what are the duties and routines they have to perform to achieve the desired results.
That’s not all. Aside from that, they need to develop these specific five skills:
1. Understanding financials
The district manager must know how to read the financials and how to interpret the key business numbers and financial documents, especially the profit and loss statement since that is the ultimate scorecard of the business performance.
Being number savvy and understanding what the financial reports and scorecards are reflecting will help district managers make the right decisions in their everyday activities.
2. Creating a culture of metrics
District managers need to move the numbers on each unit of their district to have an impact on the business results. The only way to do that is by measuring how the stores perform every day and having some sort of metric or target to know if they are getting better or worse. Otherwise, they won’t know whether they are achieving the expected results.
These multi-unit leaders must have the ability and the support from leadership to create this culture of metrics so that they can research, analyze, identify, measure, and then act upon those numbers and then, move them forward.
3. Training and coaching for results
The third skill that a district manager must have to be successful in the responsibility of the results is the ability to train and coach the team.
This is probably one of the activities that they're going to be doing the most often, every time they visit a unit and every time they communicate. The district managers need to implement not only the normal steps of training but go beyond and also inspire the team members.
Learn here 5 staffing strategies that will make a great impact on your business.
That way, the employees will receive and absorb the information from their leader but also feel motivated to do what their superior wants them to do in order to produce the desired results in their district.
4. Give recognition to duplicate the good performance
District managers require the ability to recognize people’s achievements so that they feel motivated to duplicate the positive results. Also, they have to be able to identify those top performers and inspire them to be consistent in giving good results and repeating that positive behavior over and over.
To achieve success in this responsibility they have to be fair and creative in how they give the recognition since some tactics might require investment but others could be low or no cost.
5. Apply accountability to modify behavior
A district manager must have the ability to modify the behavior of their employees to produce results. It is true that leaders need to hold people accountable but how to do it is the question, because it's not always about writing people up or firing them, but ignoring the problem isn’t right either.
Holding people accountable to motivate and modify behavior requires a few steps:
Step 1: Understand and identify why people are not behaving properly and not doing the job the way they're supposed to, instead of just deciding to get rid of them without inquiring or asking.
Good leaders that have low turnover, high performance, and a highly motivated team, have the ability to find out the reasons behind this poor performance, both the visible and the hidden ones.
Your employees are not doing a good job? There are three reasons you must pay attention to.
Step 2: Decide if the employees need training or perhaps a shift in their position will do. There are many things that district managers can do before they implement progressive discipline that will probably be more impactful on people's behavior and performance.
Of course, they still also need to hold people accountable, but they must do it with dignity and empowering the employee to cause a change in their behavior.
These are all skills that a multi-unit leader must have to produce results in a franchise organization, which is really why this position exists.
The multi-unit franchisee decides to hire a district manager to delegate operations to them so that this owner can focus on initiatives like growth, development, and leadership. So it is critical that the district manager is trained the right way so that they can meet the seven critical responsibilities of the role.
The American Franchise Academy offers help in training these professionals with our Multi-Unit Leader Certification Program, a well-structured and world-class knowledge course. Go to DistrictManagerTraining.com and register for free in our upcoming information session, where you’ll get to know the content we cover, the methodology we use, and the outcome you’ll get at the end of this program.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see the whole district manager series. And don’t forget to give us a thumbs up on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to get more information, tips and tactics, and best practices that’ll help you be successful in your franchise business.
Reflections:
- How much understanding does your district manager have of the business financials?
- What are your business metrics and how are you measuring their accomplishment?
- Is your district manager a good trainer?
- Does your district manager know how to properly motivate and recognize the team members?
WATCH THIS VBLOG on YouTube HERE.
