Tackling the Great Divide: What It Takes to Bring Veterans into Your Franchise Workforce

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If the strength of a company lies in its people, then employing from a group that has a 99 percent satisfaction rate is the easiest way to guarantee your company’s success. 

By Danny Farrar

Veterans are good for franchising. The franchising world advocates the benefits of having veterans within the work system and there are plenty of reasons why. A perfect example is the International Franchise Association’s VetFran program, the living embodiment of this core belief, which features more than 650 franchise brands within its network alone. While veterans are good for business, they present a deep challenge to the workforce. The looming question remains: how do you get veterans involved with your concept? 

The 2014 Veterans in Franchising Progress Report, prepared by Franchise Business Review for the IFA, found hiring veterans is difficult task. Nearly “36 percent of franchises indicated that finding qualified veterans was the No. 1 challenge in meeting their hiring goals.” If you are finding yourself in this same predicament then perhaps it’s time you tried a different tactic. 

Veterans are used to being a part of something bigger than themselves. They matured in an environment where mission accomplishment was life or death. They have a strong ethos that has been instilled in them that they will never leave a fallen comrade behind. What is the relevancy of all this in regards to your recruitment goals? Everything. 

Money’s Not a Leading Priority

Veterans want the “why” — the form of payment as opposed to good old cash most people enter the workforce for. In today’s work environment, employee job satisfaction is based primarily on “good benefits and doing what they love. Money is not their first — or even their second — priority, according to Workboard.com.  Yet, for many companies, especially in the franchise model, their recruiting efforts rely more heavily on the potential return on investment than they do the opportunity to change the world. 

As herd creatures, we have evolved with an intense desire to work towards the betterment of our species as a whole, and more specifically with whatever demographic we most closely associate. In regards to veterans, there is something about the military experience that by far and large stays with those who have served. They will forever see themselves as veterans first and foremost, and as such feel that their oath has no expiration date. As a result the ethos they pledged to uphold stays with them long after they take the uniform off. 

Understanding this dynamic will help you with recruitment of veterans into your concept.  

Initially, your mission must come first and be clearly defined. Secondly, there should be an emphasis placed on helping the veteran individually but even more so, the community at large. You can accomplish both of these steps by making a conscious effort to
involve your system in some form of veteran advocacy. 

A Diverse Demographic

The ease of this lies in the diversity of the veteran demographic. For every concept in our industry there is a veteran’s issue to advocate for that will resonate with that concept’s mission. Whether it be empowering minorities, helping with the homeless, or combating mental health issues, there will be an easy line that can be drawn back to veterans. 

For the civilians, you may be thinking to yourself that this is all well and good, but how do you start? If you find yourself unsure of how to move forward, the easiest thing to do would be to go to the experts. This would be the perfect time to utilize a veteran on your team or a veteran you know in your personal life to help you get involved with an issue that makes sense. Starting with a veteran who knows and understands your brand is a very easy way to determine which veterans’ issues would be a natural fit for your organization to advocate for. 

Regardless of how you define it, once that line is established you simply need to add it to your recruiting campaign. Ensure that on all of your marketing efforts you have placed an explanation on how your company is doing its part to help improve the lives of their military brothers and sisters. Once it is clear that your company is not only veteran-friendly in hiring, but also committed to improving veteran lives outside of its doors, you will begin to see an influx of interest in your concept. 

Increasing the Quality of Employees

The greatest benefit of having more veterans interested in your concept is that they do not keep that interest to themselves. The truth is, we hire those we know and that means they will hire more veterans themselves. 

This should get your wheels turning. It will not only help you with your recruitment goals but it will greatly increase the quality of the employees that your concept will have. As Franchise Business Review notes “99 percent of franchisors surveyed indicated that veterans were a good fit as employees in their company.”

If the strength of a company lies in its people, then employing a group that has a 99 percent satisfaction rate is the easiest way to guarantee your company’s success. 

At the end of the day, veterans will decide to leave military service for any number of reasons. Very few leave behind their desire to serve. As they seek transition to civilian life, they do so with the intention of aligning that desire with the freedom that the civilian sector affords them. 

While it is true that veterans are agents of change, they much like everyone else, appreciate the comfort that comes from familiarity. The more involved your concept is with veteran-based advocacy, the more likely it is to feel like home to the veteran and the more likely they are to become the leaders you need to propel your concept further. 

Danny Farrar is co-founder and CEO of SOLDIERFIT. He is a nine-year veteran of the U.S. Army who served a combat tour in Iraq. 

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