FR.JANFEB13.PG011.pdf
Page
11
11/12/12,
3:21
PM
Interview|Inspire
liked people management and people development and I liked the idea of multi-unit franchising because it meant I was able to create career paths for people.” With six stores and over 220 staff in The McManus Group, Carolyn admits she spends hardly any time in store, and is more focused on how she can grow her mini-empire. “It’s now an organisation that runs franchise businesses, so one day is never really the same each week. On every Sunday I have to plan what will happen in that week, what meetings I have, and they might be around new sites that we’re looking at. Generally my role involves spending a lot of time with the general manager of the business. We have a general manager, an operations manager, and our own financial controller all within our group,” she says. “I Dreview A _ F Rthe H Ostore’s WS E results P_ 1 2 . p but I’m more focused on the forward planning and where the
“It’s the biggest reward for business is going. That’s where me,” Carolyn says. “We’ve got my energies are now.” a manager at one of our stores But Carolyn hasn’t always had who started at 17 years old the luxury of being able to take and the most rewarding part a step back from the coalface, of being in business and in trusting others to run her franchising is seeing them grow. businesses as she wants them run; I get such a sense of pride seeing in the early days of franchising my staff work together and one of the hardest parts of her job knowing that they’re friends was understanding the wants and outside of work – it’s nice to needs of her staff. “I came out from managing bankers and had good people management skills but then I had to manage a younger generation who didn’t have the same motivators as those career bankers did,” she says. “I had to go back and learn and understand what the motivators of Gen Y are. I needed this workforce and I needed to figure out how to create a motivating environment for them.” Six years later, she’s got that down and df Ppat a g e says 1 watching 2 0 / 0 her 8 / 1 2 , 6 : 0 9 PM staff grow and develop is one of the Carolyn McManus at the FCA awards most rewarding parts of her job.
Looking for an organised business opportunity? ■ Operating over 10 years ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Over 50 stores in Australia Global product sourcing Master franchises in 5 countries Intensive training and ongoing support Strong national marketing support including annual catalogue
■
Spain
NEW SITES NOW AVAILABLE 2013 COLLECTION OF HOWARDS FAVOURITES
SIMPLY ORGANISED
NEW
Products, Solutions & Clever Ideas Inside!
hsw.com.au
Australia
■
New Zealand
■
Singapore
■
Philippines
■
Ireland
hsw.com.au 2015-Half Page Ad.indd 1
www.fRanCHISe.net.au
20/08/12 11:25 AM
jan/feb 2013 fRanCHISInG | 11