A franchise coffee chain opens its ninth outlet. The outlet manager needs six people in twelve days. She takes the first candidates who walk in, offers a pay figure from memory, and starts three of them the next morning. At the older outlet across the city, the manager screens by phone, asks each candidate to work a paid trial evening, and hires one in four. The chain's customers see two different standards under one signboard.
Hiring is where multi-site businesses lose their consistency first. Each branch hires in its own local market, under time pressure, with little guidance. This article sets out a routine that branch managers can run quickly, that head office can inspect, and that adapts to coworking centres, serviced offices, salons, stores, schools and clinics.
Start with one role profile
Write a page for each role used across the business. Say what the person does in a day, which hours and weekly offs apply, which skills are needed at joining and which are taught, what the pay band is, and who the person reports to. For a coworking community manager, the page covers member greeting, day-pass handling, meeting-room bookings, access cards, complaint handling and end-of-day cash or invoice checks. For an outlet cashier, it covers till opening, billing, refunds, stock counts and closing. One page. Used by every branch.
A screening routine that fits a busy branch
- 1
Phone screen, ten minutes
Check the role, hours, travel distance, notice period and pay range. Many candidates drop out here, which saves everyone time.
- 2
Structured interview, thirty minutes
The same six questions for the same role in every branch. Ask for a recent example: a difficult member, a rush hour, a mistake at the till.
- 3
Trial shift, paid
Two to four hours at the branch with a senior colleague. The branch manager sees how the person handles real work, and the candidate sees the site.
- 4
Reference check by call
One call to the last employer or a teacher or a mentor. Ask about attendance and attitude, not about pay.
- 5
Decision within two days
Good candidates do not wait. Use a scorecard so that the area manager can review choices later.
ROLE / BRANCH / DATE / INTERVIEWER: ____.
CANDIDATE NAME / SOURCE (walk-in, referral, job portal, college): ____.
GREETING AND MANNER, scored 1 to 5: ____.
HANDLING A DIFFICULT CUSTOMER OR MEMBER, scored 1 to 5: ____.
RELIABILITY (past attendance, travel distance, notice), scored 1 to 5: ____.
BASIC SKILL FOR THE ROLE (billing, booking system, grooming, phone), scored 1 to 5: ____.
TRIAL SHIFT NOTES: ____.
DECISION: hire / hold / decline, with one reason.
OFFER BAND AND START DATE: ____.Where candidates come from
Each branch finds people in a different way, and each way has a pattern. Walk-ins are quick but uneven. Staff referrals tend to stay longer, but a manager who always hires through referrals may close the door to others. Local colleges and training institutes supply fresh candidates for front desk, counter and sales roles, with the hospitality and beauty institutes offering trained hands for outlets and salons. Job portals suit centre heads and area managers. Keep a record of the source of each hire and look at it after six months.
- Walk-in day. A fixed weekly slot, so that candidates come to a planned time.
- Referral note. A short form for staff to refer someone, with a small thank-you after the referral completes ninety days.
- College tie-up. One named contact at a nearby institute, contacted before each intake.
The offer and the first ninety days
Use one offer letter format. Put in the role, the branch, the hours, the weekly off, the pay and its components, the probation period, and the name of the manager. A candidate comparing two branches of your own chain should not find different promises. Add a joining checklist so that every new person receives the same uniform, access card, system login and induction at the start.
At ninety days, ask the manager and the joiner three questions. Is the role as described? Is the roster working? What help is needed? Record the answers. Over time you will see which branches, which sources and which interviewers produce people who stay. The recruitment process work behind this routine is simple, but it needs someone to own it centrally.
Splitting the work between head office and branch
- Head office owns: role profiles, scorecards, offer format, pay bands, the ninety-day questions.
- Branches own: local sourcing, scheduling interviews, running the trial shift, the final choice within the band.
- Both review: a monthly list of open positions, time to fill, and joiners who left early.
See how the routine looks in a serviced office operator's recruitment work and in an education franchise's hiring for centre staff. The sector overview for multi-location businesses shows the wider pattern of branch-by-branch hiring.
