Setting Competency Assessments for Franchise Outlet Teams

A business preparing to franchise needs to ensure that the owner’s skills can be transferred to franchisees’ teams. Attending training alone does not prove that someone can run an outlet without supervision. Set up internal competency assessments before taking on your first franchisee. Within a franchise network, this helps protect the customer experience while giving prospective franchisees a clear understanding of the standards their teams must meet.

1. Distinguish support obligations from internal pass standards

Indonesia’s Government Regulation No. 35 of 2024 on Franchising is the main legal framework, replacing Government Regulation No. 42 of 2007. Its requirements include an established business system, a business that has demonstrated profitability, recorded or registered intellectual property, and ongoing support from the franchisor.

Internal competency assessments are a practical way to translate that support into demonstrable workplace skills. However, do not describe an internal certificate of achievement as government certification or treat it as a substitute for licensing. A team passing its assessments does not replace the need for a Franchise Registration Certificate (Surat Tanda Pendaftaran Waralaba, or STPW) or any other permits required to operate the outlet.

Before offering the franchise, define the scope of training and assessment. Explain who must take part, which skills will be assessed, who will assess them and what happens if a participant does not pass. Keep the explanations in your offer, prospectus and agreement consistent, so franchisees do not discover additional conditions just before opening.

Government Regulation No. 35 of 2024 requires the prospectus to be provided at least 14 calendar days before the franchise agreement is signed. Use this disclosure process to explain the training commitments and the practical and financial responsibilities involved, rather than simply handing over a document.

2. Assess real tasks, not recall of the manual

Start with tasks that determine safety, transaction accuracy and service consistency. Do not give every part of the manual equal weight. A team that can explain the brand’s history may not be able to deal with an incorrect order or cash up properly.

Create a simple matrix covering each role, its key tasks, the assessment method, evidence of performance and pass criteria. For example:

• Cashier: processes orders, cancellations and refunds through simulated transactions.
• Production team member: makes products to specification while maintaining hygiene and using ingredients or materials correctly.
• Shift supervisor: allocates tasks, checks that equipment is ready and manages queues.
• Outlet manager: reconciles stock and sales, explains discrepancies and escalates issues to the appropriate person.

Use conditions that reflect day-to-day work. Participants should be assessed when several orders arrive at once, an ingredient or material is unavailable, or a customer makes a complaint. The aim is not to catch them out, but to see whether they can take the right action when circumstances are less than ideal.

Define critical failures separately. In a food business, for example, an error that compromises food safety should not be offset by a high score for friendly service. These are internal standards that need to reflect the business’s risks and applicable technical requirements.

3. Make assessments consistent and traceable

Assessments will be difficult to trust if one trainer passes participants on personal impressions while another applies much stricter standards. Use an observation checklist that specifies the actions assessors must see, rather than broad labels such as “good enough” or “understands the job”.

When assessing cashing up, for example, record whether the participant counts the cash balance, reconciles it against the transaction report, records discrepancies and seeks approval from someone with the appropriate authority. Each step provides more useful evidence than a single final score without explanation.

Align assessors’ standards by having them observe the same simulation and then compare their assessments. If the franchisor still has a small team, the owner can act as an assessor, but should still use written criteria so decisions do not depend on personal relationships with participants.

Keep at least the following records:

• The participant’s identity, role, assessment date and topics assessed.
• The version of the procedures used as the assessment reference.
• Observations, significant errors and corrective actions.
• The assessor’s name and the decision on whether the participant has passed or needs reassessment.

Restrict access to those who need the records. Share results with participants and the franchisee’s management so that shortcomings can be addressed, rather than simply filing the records at head office.

4. Agree reassessment arrangements and their effect on opening

A participant failing an assessment does not have to mean the franchise relationship has failed. Provide targeted remedial training for skills they have not yet mastered, then reassess them against equivalent standards. Repeating the entire training programme without identifying the gaps only adds time and cost.

The agreement or training appendix should explain who pays for retraining, travel, accommodation and replacement participants. It should also set out how challenges to assessment results will be reviewed. Avoid both unilateral decisions unsupported by evidence and promises that every participant will pass.

Identify the key roles that must be filled by people who have passed before the outlet opens. If that condition has not been met, document any decision to delay opening or introduce supervised working arrangements expressly permitted by the agreement. Do not overlook critical failures simply because launch promotions are already under way.

Practical step: choose the most important role, draw up an assessment checklist based on real tasks and use it to assess your own team. Refine the criteria before making them a readiness requirement for franchisees’ teams.