7 Steps to Build a Rockstar Unit Manager Bench
Jul 01, 2025
Your next great Unit Manager may already be on your team, ready to be developed as a leader and become a rockstar who helps your organization thrive.
The Unit Manager is the most important position in your business, and having the leadership bench ready to go is critical for your franchise's success, especially when you are in “growth mode” opening more and more units and looking for leadership talent.
However, hiring an external manager might be less effective than promoting someone from within your team. Think about it! If you identify potential leaders and develop their skills, you'll have a better chance of success because these men and women already know you, are familiar with your culture, and understand how you do business.
Follow these seven steps to build a capable, confident, and successful Unit Manager bench for your organization so that you can have those leaders ready to go as you grow.
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Step #1: Hire for Leadership Potential
Building an exceptional manager bench begins when you're recruiting and hiring.
If you have a growing organization opening new units regularly throughout the year, everyone you hire should have leadership potential and desire, even if they are frontline team members and staff. That way, the candidates will not be just temporary team members but long-term potential leaders and a management bench for your organization.
- To do this kind of hiring, you need to prioritize attitude, work ethic, willingness for growth, and alignment and fit with your culture.
Adopting this strategic approach in your hiring process will allow you to attract great team members and build a bench for future leaders.
Don’t miss: Unit Manager, The Most Important Job in a Franchise
Step #2: Build a Training Process for Leadership
The second essential step to have a rockstar unit management bench is to build a franchise manager training process for leadership, not just for tasks.
That means that in addition to the training you provide everyone in your organization to perform their work and responsibilities every day, you should also develop leadership skills in them.
That way, you will build an amazing team that respects and pushes each other to be successful, and you will also be able to identify the team members who are rising to the top. Those are the ones that are going to become part of your leadership development program and your Unit Manager bench.
Step #3: Develop Future Leaders
The third step to having a bench of rockstar Unit Managers is to develop any assistant managers, shift leaders, or those who are second in command in the units, to become Unit Managers.
The difference between an assistant manager or a shift leader and the Unit Manager is that the former are responsible just for the shift that they're running, while the managers are responsible for the business results.
- Accountability and experience are the main factors that differentiate these franchise roles. However, the knowledge, training, and development should be the same.
This means anyone responsible for managing a shift should know everything the Unit Manager knows. That’s how they'll be able to run the shift effectively and develop a strong bench of future Unit Managers in your organization.
In case you missed it: 5 Ways to Find Leaders for Your Franchise
Step #4: Track their Development
The fourth essential step in developing rockstar franchise managers is to have a very robust and consistent process to track their training and results. This may include training checklists, audits, and performance reviews.
Tracking the team members’ performance will allow you to understand where the team is in terms of knowledge and abilities, identify leadership opportunities, and confirm if anybody is ahead of the group so that you can then take the proper actions.
Remember: potential rockstar Unit Managers will outperform everyone else, and you need to pay attention when that happens so you don’t miss those signals and can act upon them. Those are the ones with high-potential leadership development.
Step # 5: Create a Culture of Metrics
Measuring your information, data, and key performance indicators (KPIs) and being a data-driven organization will allow you to track progress not only in training but also in the company's overall results.
But you shouldn’t keep these metrics to yourself; you should share the information with your leaders and team members. When they are aware of the goals and expectations, they can focus on what matters most and identify opportunities for improvement.
Your franchise KPIs should be at the center of your conversations! Exposing team members to these metrics as they grow in their careers will allow them to become rockstar Unit Managers, as they will know what to expect and how to reach those goals.
Step #6: Foster High Accountability
That doesn’t necessarily mean to discipline; it just means understanding who is lagging and having actions to improve their performance, whether with coaching, training, or redirecting.
Having a culture of metrics will not only allow you to identify who’s falling behind. It will also help these people understand where they are and why they are not performing as they should, holding them accountable for their behavior and actions.
If you notice any red flags, you must take the time to sit down with these team members individually and develop a plan to address the issues. This ensures they understand the expectations and feel supported and empowered to focus and make the necessary changes to reach the desired results.
After that, hold regular check-ins and follow-ups. If they still underperform, then consider further consequences.
Step #7: Celebrate and Reward High Performance
The seventh essential step to building the manager bench of people you need to take over when the next unit opens is publicly recognizing those top performers.
The rockstars want to be acknowledged for the things that they're doing. So if any team member is doing the right things and producing the results they have been trained to make, celebrating them and recognizing their actions will be a great motivator, especially for the leaders you are developing for the future.
- Not only that. People will also repeat what they are rewarded for and inspire others to perform better so they, too, can be recognized.
If you follow these seven steps, you will be able to build a rockstar bench of future Unit Managers. And, at the same time, you will continue to elevate your existing Unit Managers, because the culture of super performance will be embedded in every level of your organization.
A Unit Manager Who Became a Rockstar
Let me share my personal experience. When I first entered the franchise industry, I didn’t set out to become a top performer. Honestly, I was looking for a job to pay my bills and decided to become a pizza delivery driver while I figured out my next move.
When I wasn’t delivering pizzas, I spent time at the unit and became curious about how everything worked. I kept asking the Unit Manager lots of questions, and he was generous enough to share his knowledge and teach me everything he did, which only made me more curious!
My District Manager noticed my curiosity and desire to learn and asked if I wanted to become an assistant manager. Although I initially said no, he kept asking for a year and a half because he saw great potential in me. He understood that even if I said no, it didn’t mean ‘no forever’, it just meant ‘not right now’.
Eventually, he convinced me because I saw this could be a career for me. I watched firsthand how people went from team members to assistant managers to Unit Managers, gaining not just titles and responsibilities but also higher pay.
Once I agreed, it only took me four months to be promoted to store manager. That was very motivating!
What could happen in your organization if you hire these types of performers with the potential, attitude, behavior, personality, and character to become great leaders?
- All they need is training to step up and become rockstar Unit Managers!
Hopefully, this will inspire you to follow these seven essential steps in your organization to develop these rockstar leaders, especially if you are in a growth mode.
If you're looking for external resources and tools to provide these managers the training they need to be successful, I invite you to explore our Unit Management Certification program.
This very robust training program gives Unit Managers and franchise unit leaders the leadership and management skills they need to maximize the business profitably.
Discover more about what we teach, how we teach it, and the outcomes you can expect on our MANAGE Program website. We open a new cohort every quarter, so if you are interested in joining the upcoming class, click the banner below:
Reflections:
- Can you identify and develop potential rockstars within your organization?
- Do you have clear systems to recruit, hire, and motivate these top performers?
- Are your leaders aware of the key KPIs in your franchise business?
- How quickly can you turn your team members into Unit Managers?
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