The Road Ahead: Franchisees Navigate Bumpy Path on Post-Pandemic Journey

The Road Ahead:

Franchisees Navigate Bumpy Path on Post-Pandemic Journey

Though the nation continues its emergence from the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, business owners and managers – particularly those in the restaurant industry – are finding that recovery is bringing with it a whole new set of challenges in 2021. A labor shortage has taken center stage, quickly pushing past the lingering effects of the pandemic and vaccination policies as the biggest hurdles for franchise owners to face, even as sales climb back to or above pre-pandemic levels.

Of course, not all recoveries are alike. Many locations are experiencing a boom in receipts in states and cities where pandemic restrictions have been eased or removed, with sales far above anything seen over the last year. However, in places where capacity restrictions remain, sales have been slower to rebound.

Virtually everywhere, however, there is overwhelming concern over how to keep businesses staffed. A shortage of workers in the spring led some businesses to report that they were cutting hours of operation. Some restaurants were closing sections some nights for the same reason. The situation led employers to try new and creative measures to hire new team members, with varying results.

First, the good news: In places of the country where pandemic restrictions have been eased and locations are back open to dine-in service, sales are up. Whether spurred by stimulus money or by people eager to get their lives back to normal after spending months avoiding public places and crowds, operators of Buffalo Wild Wings® sports bars are seeing sales recover and even eclipse pre-pandemic levels.

“My region was up 31% over 2019 in period four,” said JK&T Wings Inc. District Manager Jon Breunig, who works in Missouri. “I have locations in areas that have been restriction free for several months.”

JK&T Wings owns 89 BWW® sports bars in seven states. In Michigan, a state still heavily affected by capacity restrictions at restaurants, a sales recovery has been slower to take hold, but there are still positive signs. “We are seeing an uptick in sales in several markets, but it’s still too early to tell,” said Joel Dover, another JK&T Wings district manager. “Michigan has not removed any of its restrictions. I do feel people are feeling better about venturing out of the house now that they have been vaccinated.”

“Concerns with social distancing and public gathering seem to be minimizing,” agreed Kevin Greene, a training manager with Four M Franchising LLC, a group with 11 BWW sports bars in Connecticut and New York. “The number of dine-in guests has increased. We are also seeing the return of larger groups, like sports teams and birthday parties.”

“We have seen a massive uptick in sales since about August of last year,” said Joshua Theiss, franchisee with BWW Southern Management Inc. “We’re in Florida, so we’ve had to deal far less with lockdowns and restrictions than most states, but our sales are outpacing our ability to adequately staff the restaurants to handle the sales.”

Therein appears to be the biggest challenge that franchisees and their managers face now. Finding enough new job candidates to fill out teams was difficult even before the pandemic. For many reasons, it has become even harder now. “We are in a very tough time with staffing,” Breunig said. “Applicant flow has all but ceased to exist. We can go weeks with zero applicants. Staffing levels are down 50% or more in some cases.”

“We can’t get any applicants. All the restaurants in our markets are hiring,” Theiss added. “Nobody can get enough people. There are different theories as to why, but no matter the reason, it so far is the big challenge of 2021.”

Blame for the tenuous labor situation has been placed on

“The number of dine-in guests has increased. We are also seeing the return of larger groups, like sports teams and birthday parties.”

– Kevin Greene,

Four M Franchising LLC training manager Continued on page 16

Regaining guest confidence together.

Advancing cleaner, safer practicesTM

additional federal government unemployment relief approved in March, which is thought to be keeping some workers on the sidelines collecting benefits rather than seeking work. While that’s a factor, there may be more to it. Child care issues and lingering concerns about COVID-19 are also playing a role in the availability of workers.

A recent survey by employment platform Joblist suggests other forces are at work too. According to the survey, 30% of restaurant workers are switching out of the industry, with interest in restaurant jobs falling 40% since last June. In a story for QSRweb in May, Joblist CEO Kevin Harrington said the survey found that some workers are seeking higher wages in other industries. “On a wide scale, the pandemic created an opportunity for workers – especially in restaurant, bar and other customer-facing roles – to find new jobs outside of the industry,” he said. “Even as those businesses and job opportunities have come back, many of the workers have already moved on. They have switched industries altogether, already found jobs with new companies, or transitioned to remote or freelance work.”

Whatever the reason, BWW sports bars are working harder than ever to build teams to meet the increased restaurant traffic they’ve seen so far and expect to grow throughout the year. “We’re utilizing Snagajob and TalentReef, which have yielded slightly positive results. We’re also offering a $200 recruitment bonus to existing employees who bring somebody in to work,” Theiss said. “We pay the bonus after the person works 60 days.”

JK&T Wings restaurants instituted hiring incentives and employee referral bonuses. Managers conduct on-the-spot job interviews when potential employees walk in to keep them from going other places. They focus more on finding candidates with the potential to do well in the hospitality industry and less on previous job experience.

At Four M Franchising, Greene said referral programs have been the most successful avenue for finding employees, and the company has also made online and social media pushes for job candidates. “Enthusiastic, fun and hard-working individuals are what we look for in new hires,” Greene said. “This has not changed during the pandemic. They just seem to be more difficult to find.”

Theiss agreed. “We still interview and train to ensure we’re getting the best people, but pickings are slim, unfortunately. At this point, we really just need more bodies.”

That makes keeping the people already working in the restaurants an important part of labor strategies. Team member retention is always a less expensive proposition than hiring workers, even in the best of times.

“To keep people, we’re flexible with schedules, making sure everybody gets their requested days off,” Theiss said. “We’re not working people more than five days unless they want to. On days when we’re significantly understaffed, we’re closing sections of the dining room to not overwhelm our servers and cooks. And we’re keeping our managers on five-day workweeks to not burn them out, either.”

Breunig makes a personal touch part of his retention strategy. “Our teams are working their tails off. As operators, we need to show our appreciation more than ever,” he said. “I set a personal goal to point out at least one positive thing per day with everyone I interact with. We have always had a praise culture. It’s more important now than ever.”

The labor challenge comes at a most inopportune time, with operators ramping up for growth while making changes to meet the new trends in consumer habits and sanitation expectations that have taken hold. JK&T Wings’ Dover fears that even when capacity restrictions are lifted in Michigan, the company’s Buffalo Wild Wings sports bars will still have constraints. “I feel very confident we will see restrictions lifted, but with the staffing needs, we will have to remain at limited hours with in-house dining restrictions,” he said.

Compounding the problem are the additional cleaning and safety procedures that restaurants instituted because of the pandemic and the growth that occurred in takeout and delivery service channels as a percentage of overall sales. Takeout and delivery are expected to remain significant pieces of the business even as dine-in service returns. “We’re focusing more resources on takeout and delivery,” JK&T Wings’ Breunig said. “We have remodeled locations to expand our waiting and order-staging areas to accommodate volume.”

Though these businesses spent the pandemic year hoping and preparing for the rebound that they’re experiencing, they’ve got to solve the labor crisis. The obstacles may be significantly different, but 2021 is turning into just as much of a challenge as 2020 was for the franchisee community. It may require just as much resolve and determination to make it through.

“We’re anticipating a great summer tourist season and strong 2021 football season,” Theiss said. “Again, staffing is of great concern. There don’t seem to be enough people able or willing to work, and we’re concerned with being able to provide the best experience to each guest because of the staffing crisis.

“We’re struggling for staff, like many, but we’re not relaxing our standards,” he added. “Our sales are strong, and if we could just find some more great team members, we’d be in a good position moving forward.” S

“We still interview and train to ensure we’re getting the best people, but pickings are slim, unfortunately. At this point, we really just need more bodies.”

– Joshua Theiss,

BWW Southern Management Inc. franchisee

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