Franchise hiring. The phrase alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of business owners and hiring managers everywhere. It’s a daunting task, one that feels like a never-ending cycle of posting job ads, sifting through stacks of resumes, and crossing fingers that the right candidate actually shows up on day one—and then sticks around.
For franchisors and franchisees alike, the struggle to find and retain employees is very real. In an industry where high turnover rates are practically a given, where franchise owners are balancing recruitment with day-to-day operations, and where job seekers now have more choices than ever, the hiring landscape can feel like an uphill battle.
But here’s the thing—recruiting doesn’t have to be this hard. Not when there’s technology available that can help make the process smoother, more efficient, and, dare I say, even effective. Enter applicant tracking systems (ATS), the unsung heroes of modern hiring.
A customized ATS tailored for franchise hiring isn’t just a helpful tool; it’s a game-changer. It’s the difference between hours wasted on manual processes and a seamless, automated approach that brings in higher-quality applicants faster. It’s a bridge between hiring managers and job seekers that ensures that every step of the process—from job posting to interview scheduling to offer acceptance—is streamlined, organized, and legally compliant.
And if you’re a franchisor looking to help your franchisees succeed, recommending (but not requiring!) an ATS could be one of the most valuable pieces of advice you can offer. Because at the end of the day, the strength of a franchise is built on its workforce, and the right hiring strategy can make or break success.
So, what exactly makes an ATS the ultimate hiring solution for franchises? Let’s break it down.
Let’s be honest: the traditional hiring process is a slog. Franchisees spend hours—sometimes days—wading through applications, trying to determine which candidates are actually worth calling. They go through the painstaking process of scheduling interviews, making offers, and waiting with bated breath to see if the new hire will even show up.
And then, after all that effort? Many franchisees find themselves ghosted, stuck back at square one, repeating the process over and over.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A franchise-friendly ATS introduces automation into the equation, ensuring that only the most qualified candidates make it to the interview stage. Features like:
More importantly, an ATS helps franchisees identify candidates with the right cognitive abilities, work skills, and long-term potential—leading to lower turnover rates and higher retention. And in an industry where turnover is a constant battle, that alone is worth its weight in gold.
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Use pre-screening questions to filter out unqualified candidates.
✔ Set up automated rejection emails to keep the process moving.
✔ Utilize an ATS with assessment tools to evaluate cognitive and technical skills.
Franchise hiring managers are busy—sometimes too busy. They’re juggling schedules, managing employees, overseeing customer service, handling day-to-day operations, and trying to stay afloat in an ever-competitive market.
Recruiting shouldn’t be an added full-time job.
A robust applicant tracking system eliminates tedious, manual hiring tasks, ensuring that franchisees can focus on their business instead of being buried in paperwork.
With an ATS, franchisees can:
Instead of sorting through a sea of resumes and manually coordinating schedules, hiring managers can focus on what actually matters—interviewing the best candidates and making smart hiring decisions.
And let’s not forget: speed matters in hiring. The best candidates aren’t waiting around. An ATS helps franchisees act fast, ensuring they don’t lose top talent to competitors simply because they couldn’t schedule an interview quickly enough.
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Use an ATS to automate job postings across multiple platforms.
✔ Implement automated interview scheduling to streamline the process.
✔ Take advantage of applicant tracking to avoid losing strong candidates in the shuffle.
One of the biggest challenges in franchise hiring? Consistency.
When you have multiple locations, different hiring managers, and a variety of approaches to recruitment, things can quickly become chaotic. Some locations might be thriving, while others struggle to fill key positions. Some hiring managers might have a strong grasp on best practices, while others are just winging it.
An ATS ensures a consistent hiring process across all locations.
With a centralized hiring system, franchisees can:
For multi-location businesses, a feature like applicant pooling is a game-changer. If one franchise location has an excellent candidate but no current openings, they can easily share that applicant with other locations. That means no great candidate goes to waste.
And in an era where job seekers expect mobile-friendly applications, SMS messaging features let applicants apply via text—no desktop required.
Multi-location business owners know that efficient communication is a must. The hiring process can be a difficult task when applications and interviews are managed across locations. The more internal stakeholders from different locations that get involved, the more complicated communication becomes. In addition, poor communication increases the odds of qualified candidates being overlooked.
An ATS helps coordinate communication with all internal stakeholders through tools like message templates, applicant statuses and ratings, and integrated interview requests. HR administrators can customize ATS features and still ensure a standardized approach to recruiting across the entire organization that minimizes employer liability risk. Provide your team with varying levels of permissions to maximize internal efficiency while maintaining control. Comprehensive platforms like HiringThing offer unlimited users so your entire team can collaborate.
Multi-location features make that consistency practical:
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Implement a standardized hiring process across all franchise locations.
✔ Utilize applicant pooling to share strong candidates between locations.
✔ Offer text-to-apply options to attract more mobile job seekers.
Hiring isn’t just about filling positions—it’s about doing it right.
Franchisees must navigate a minefield of labor laws, from fair hiring practices to discrimination regulations to background check compliance. And when mistakes happen? Lawsuits aren’t far behind.
An ATS helps eliminate legal risk by standardizing and automating compliance-friendly hiring practices.
Here’s how:
With a franchise-tailored ATS, franchisees can rest easy knowing they’re following federal, state, and local hiring laws—without having to become legal experts themselves.
For a franchisor, HR compliance is complex but crucial. Processes and data inputted into recruiting software are important, and even minor errors can result in serious compliance issues. A branded ATS is designed to collect and manage sensitive information to make it easy to stay compliant.
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Use an ATS to ensure all hiring practices align with labor laws.
✔ Automate background checks for safer hiring.
✔ Keep digital records of all hiring decisions to protect against legal disputes.
Franchises, especially those in the hospitality industry, notoriously struggle with turnover, which costs them money. Studies show that replacing an employee is up to 2x the cost of their annual salary, costing businesses millions of lost revenue. Franchises are constantly recruiting, so finding a way to streamline and automate the hiring process is crucial to reducing costs.
When franchises rush to hire without a proper strategy, they risk making poor hiring decisions. Organizations lose upwards of $14,900 on a bad hire that leaves the organization within that first year. Bad hires can also influence the productivity of your other employees. Imagine your revenue growth if you saved $14,900 on each bad employee? ATS use increases the quality of hires and makes the hiring process quicker (60% of candidates will walk away from an unwieldy hiring process).
A CareerBuilder survey reports that 45% of respondents made a bad hire because they felt rushed in the hiring process. An ATS can help streamline, automate, and standardize the hiring process, making it a strategic process rather than a frenetic means to an end.
43% of employees quit in the first 90 days, which we’ve already established is costly for franchises. If you’ve impressed upon candidates that you’re a great place to work during the interview process, quality candidates will be more likely to want to work with you and will start their new job on the right foot.
Creating a smooth, positive hiring experience for candidates is key to helping retain talent. Since your private label applicant tracking system will have your franchise branding (as opposed to third-party branding), candidates will associate this positive experience with your organization.
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Use an ATS to replace rushed, ad hoc hiring with a structured process.
✔ Give candidates a smooth, branded hiring experience to improve early retention.
✔ Track the cost of turnover and bad hires to measure the impact of better hiring.
A branded ATS presents your hiring process under your franchise's name rather than a third party's.
It comes with your company colors and logo, reflecting the employer brand your franchise has worked so hard to cultivate.
Glassdoor found a strong employer brand—how current and potential employees view working at your organization— can reduce the cost per hire by 50% and reduce turnover by 28%. Conversely, a negative reputation can cost a company 10% more per hire.
A strong employer brand:
Since your applicant tracking system carries your franchise's branding and gives candidates an excellent experience, it becomes a vital part of building your employer brand. It helps protect the corporate franchise brand that you and your franchisees have been building and strengthening for years!
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Use a branded ATS so every careers page and job posting reflects your franchise.
✔ Treat the candidate experience as part of your employer brand.
✔ Encourage consistent messaging across every location's job postings.
A key to driving revenue, increasing employee retention, and growing your business is being attuned to the wants, needs, and challenges of today’s job employees and job seekers. 57% of today’s employees and 67% of job seekers want to work somewhere that champions diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This is even more pertinent amongst franchises—30.8% of franchised businesses are owned by minorities, compared to 18.8% of non franchised businesses.
A branded applicant tracking system can help make your franchise's workplaces more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, starting with your recruiting.
Actionable Takeaways:
✔ Post jobs to diversity job boards and networks, not just traditional sites.
✔ Standardize interviews with set criteria and scorecards to reduce bias.
✔ Configure workflows and permissions to support fair, consistent decisions.
For franchises, hiring is one of the biggest challenges—and one of the most important factors in long-term success. A strategic, tech-driven approach to recruitment isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
By implementing applicant tracking software, franchisees can:
✅ Find better candidates faster.
✅ Save time with automated hiring processes.
✅ Create a consistent, company-wide hiring strategy.
✅ Reduce legal risks and ensure hiring compliance.
✅ Lower turnover and the cost of bad hires.
✅ Protect and strengthen your employer brand.
✅ Build more diverse and inclusive teams.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t just about convenience. It’s about building a stronger, more resilient workforce—one that keeps businesses running smoothly, improves customer service, and increases profitability.
The best franchise operations aren’t just selling products; they’re building great teams. And the right hiring software? It’s how they do it.
HiringThing is a modern recruiting and employee onboarding platform as a service that creates seamless talent experiences. Our white label solutions and open API enable HR technology and service providers to offer hiring and onboarding to their clients. Approachable and adaptable, the HiringThing HR platform empowers anyone, anywhere to build their dream team.
HiringThing’s centralized recruiting platform will help your franchisees increase their applicant tracking. Your franchisees can take advantage of centralized hiring with our suite of solutions without taking on joint liability.