WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION
Shifting from compliance to
business skills
Driving franchisee’s business performance
THE COMPANY: SUBWAY
DEVELOPMENT OF NSW AND
ACT
S
ubway is an iconic global brand
recognised for its sandwiches,
particularly the ‘6 grams of fat or less’
range brought to prominence by its brand
ambassador Jared Fogle, who lost over 100
kilograms by eating Subway sandwiches
for one year*. The company has since
grown into a multi-billion dollar business,
with more than 40 000 outlets in over 100
countries.
But what many people may not know is
that small business owners – franchisees
(which are, in many cases, single-site
operators) – form Subway’s business
model. It’s reasonable to be surprised
that Subway is not simply one, large
conglomerate. These small business
owners encounter similar challenges and
uncertainties much like any other small
business owner does.
Subway Development is a contracted
office of Subway that is responsible for the
establishment and ongoing operation of the
Subway stores within the geographic region
of Sydney, Southern NSW and the ACT. The
team are responsible for the establishment
of new stores (including leasing,
construction, and franchisee recruitment),
as well as the ongoing operation of
existing stores through compliance
reviews, training, local area marketing, and
guiding franchisees to improve the profit
performance of their business.
To drive continuing
success, we need
to model those
behaviours we
expect from our
franchise partners.
What we do has to
be measureable
and offer clear ROI
to our franchise
partners for them
to actively engage.
Greg Madigan, General
Manager, Subway
Development of NSW & ACT
* Combined with regular exercise
Service Skills Australia | Level 10, 171 Clarence Street Sydney NSW 2000 | T +61 2 8243 1200 | www.serviceskills.com.au
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION
THE NEED: UP-SKILLING
OPERATIONS CONSULTANTS
Currently within the Subway
Development NSW and ACT office, a
team of professionals are responsible
for providing a range of support services
to all 165 franchisees within the region.
These Operations Consultants are out on
the road meeting with business owners
regularly to establish and identify how to
grow these small businesses, and on a
broader scale the Subway brand.
However in order for Subway to fulfil
its goal of driving franchisee business
performance, the advice and support
that Operations Consultants provide
to franchisees needs to go above and
beyond general advice on Subway
operations and compliance. Subway
Development identified the need for
Operations Consultants to be able to
offer advice on a broader scope of
business functions.
THE ACTION: INDUSTRYBASED, PRACTICAL
TRAINING TO INCREASE
CAPACITY ACROSS THE
BUSINESS
Having identified a gap in the breadth
of knowledge staff are able to draw on,
the assistance of the National Workforce
Development Fund (NWDF) and Service
Skills Australia (SSA) has enabled
Subway Development NSW and ACT to
offer a Diploma of Retail Management to
17 staff within the business.
This has equipped those staff to think
and operate at a store management
level, with a much stronger business
emphasis in growing the outlets across
the region to achieve their business
goals. The project will transition the
operational workforce from a purely
compliance mindset to a business
focus mindset, in order to ensure the
individual Subway franchises receive
specialised support and have the
resources and capacity to grow. And with
the company’s investments in workforce
development brings a reclassified job
role – ‘Operations Consultants’ to
‘Business Consultants’, better reflecting
the broader expertise of the staff.
THE GOAL: BUSINESS
GROWTH VS COMPLIANCE
Subway Development’s goal is to upskill the existing operational workforce
to develop their capacity to provide
guidance and advice to franchisees
within the Subway system – essentially
transforming staff into business
consultants who possess a broader
repertoire of capabilities. This improved
support function will assist franchisees
to grow their individual business
performance, and offer a flow on effect
by transforming the Subway organisation
overall.
Subway Development’s aim is for the
team to consider the broader business
skills of franchisees and be in a position
where they can provide a mentoring
service to these small business owners
– the ultimate goal is to grow the
individual franchisees.
LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
To drive sustainable growth, we need to:
• Equip our Business Consultants to
engage with franchise owners as
partners sharing the common goal of
growing their business
• Ensure that franchisees are well
equipped to transition from a
single-site operator to multi-site
operators requiring well developed
business skills, operational planning,
managerial and leadership skills.
It’s great to see
Subway’s commitment
to workforce
development benefit
franchisees within
an entire geographic
region
Jeanette Allen, CEO
Service Skills Australia
This publication has been produced with the assistance of funding provided by the Commonwealth Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation,
Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.
Service Skills Australia | Level 10, 171 Clarence Street Sydney NSW 2000 | T +61 2 8243 1200 | www.serviceskills.com.au