Key Takeaways
Claromentis recently conducted a digital workplace survey of 189 franchise leaders and 242 employees across franchise and multi-site organisations. Nigel Davies, Claromentis CEO, shares the top-level findings in this blog.
Franchises live and die by operational consistency. With this in mind, the challenge for franchises in 2026 isn’t ambition; it’s execution at scale, across dozens, or even hundreds, of sites, teams and systems.
In 2026, an effective digital workplace sits right at the centre of achieving this, providing the tools, processes, and information that keep multi-site operations aligned, compliant and moving quickly.
This goes deeper than what leaders are trying to roll out, and looks closer at what employees across locations are actually relying on day to day. In franchise environments, strategy only matters if it reaches the last mile - and the gap between “what’s deployed” and “what’s used” is often where performance, risk, and inconsistency start to creep in.
Franchise digital workplace priorities in 2026: our findings
The following findings are based on a survey of 189 franchise leaders and 242 employees working in multi-site franchise environments, commissioned by Claromentis.
Respondents were asked to identify their top priorities for improving the digital workplace in the next 12 months.
Here are some of the key findings:
- Efficiency and consistency across sites lead the way (24%) - The number one priority is clear: franchises want smoother, more consistent operations across locations. Standardising delivery is still the biggest lever for performance - and it’s where digital workplaces either strengthen execution, or expose weak points.
- AI adoption is right up there (22%) with efficiency as a top priority for 2026. Franchises aren’t just experimenting; many are actively exploring how AI can fit into and complement day-to-day work, decision-making, and delivery.
- Engagement and collaboration remain high on the agenda (17%) as franchises continue to prioritise how teams connect, share information and work together across sites. Supporting the employee experience isn’t a “nice-to-have”; it’s a direct input into alignment, speed, and consistency in distributed networks.
- Compliance and audit readiness remain a major priority (17%) with organisations working to stay inspection-ready, reduce risk, and prove accountability - without slowing down operations.
- Tool reduction matters, but it’s not the main driver (11%). Some franchises may be willing to live with a patchwork of operational systems, as long as they can improve consistency and outcomes.
- Cost reduction is a lower priority (10%), with many franchises focusing less on short-term savings and more on building a digital workplace that delivers measurable operational impact.
Nigel Davies, CEO at Claromentis.