Employee scheduling is one of the most time consuming tasks that every restaurant manager or owner knows very well. Those in the restaurant and hospitality industry understand that owners and managers wear many different hats, due to the various demands, and often, scheduling is left on the back burner. Creating an effective restaurant schedule all comes down to planning properly - but you can't plan without the right tools. Investing in automated scheduling software grants you just that; here are 3 benefits of automating employee scheduling.
Say goodbye to the days of excel spreadsheets and pen and paper schedules! Often, automating employee scheduling is done through a cloud based system. Scheduling is made easier and faster when you have your entire staff’s availability, in one simple and clear platform. Covering dropped shifts is a breeze when you know which person is available for which days.
Managers and owners are usually able to accept or deny shift swaps, and create or manage aspects of scheduling, anytime and anywhere. Cloud based restaurant scheduling software also allows you to make notes on important days, and make various versions of a schedule. If you own a pub, and its game day, it’s crucial to have enough staff working.
It’s key to schedule according to what your forecasted sales. You’re not going to schedule two servers during the lunch rush, and you’re not going to schedule ten servers during a slow slump.Scheduling on a whim will cost you overtime pay, your staff will be exhausted, which will potentially cost quality service, and payroll will be a nightmare to deal with.
Hand in hand with retail or restaurant scheduling, is retail or restaurant payroll. By investing in an automated restaurant scheduling system, the hours that employees work, has the ability to flow seamlessly into your payroll. Streamlining scheduling and payroll eliminates human errors in data transfers and saves hours with administrative work.
Far too often, management teams are holed up in their offices unable to properly interact with their staff and clients. Automating scheduling will free up a significant amount of time that you can use to meaningfully interact with your guests and employees. Some restaurant scheduling systems also offer accurate, instant, and real time reports that are essential in building your employee schedules.
Investing time in learning your business is key. How accurate was your forecasted labor/sales ratios in comparison to your actual? Whose clocking in and out properly? Have there been significant changes in hours and sales reports? Are there regular occurrences of overtime? It's important to use these answers as a tool to optimize your workforce to the best of its ability.
For most stores, labor is one of the biggest costs; you are essentially purchasing labor. Jobs in the hospitality and restaurant industry are the first jobs of many – the turnover is dangerously high. As an employer, it can be difficult to operate a retail store or restaurant day to day, while keeping your employees happy. Bi-weekly schedules are usually the unwritten rules between staff and managers, but it can be tricky to keep up with constant changes and daily duties. However, automating employee scheduling allows better and more efficient employee management.
Cloud based scheduling not only allows smart scheduling for you, but it also makes it easy for employees. Staff will be able to drop, swap, or request days off, instantly, from an online platform. Most scheduling software providers will also allow you to broadcast messages to the entire team, and eliminate the casualness of text messages. Employees will be able to easily access their schedules online through their mobile phones or desktop, reducing the number of staff calls during rush hour.
When you have more time, you feel less rushed, and you do better work. Owning a restaurant is more than just providing good food; it’s also about balancing on food and labor costs, maintaining excellent service, and managing quality staff. Managing a workforce and running a restaurant isn't easy, and sometimes you'll want to pull your hair out, but with the right tools, it can be a cakewalk.
For more information about an employee scheduling system made specifically for retail, restaurants, and hourly labor employees, connect with us today!
“In the labor numbers, we were reporting about a $300 to $400 difference than what we were getting through Push!”
-Tara Hardie, ZZA Hospitality Group, 16 locations
