For restaurant owners, finding ways to cut costs amid ongoing labour shortages and inflation is the name of the game, and focusing on staffing and effective scheduling can put you in a position to protect your margins.
Building a schedule means looking at demand, costs, wages, and availability. It’s a daunting task, but it’s better for you, your team, and your business if you get it right.
Simplify the process
Making the process easier for you will save you time and money. Are you busiest at lunch? Do you have staff who prefer to work the lunch rush? Start with the things you know and fill in the rest.
Make it simpler for your staff, too. With restaurants losing about $150,000 per year in employee turnover, ensuring the process is more user-friendly may encourage staff to stay.
Some companies are allowing employee input into scheduling, so the first draft is the final draft. This way employees’ voices are heard, their needs are accommodated, and you don’t have to deal with ongoing requests and switches – everybody wins.
This strategy to retain staff and minimize turnover costs may also help you attract new candidates. Once word gets around that you’ve improved your system, your restaurant may become a more desirable place to work – you might get the upper hand in attracting new talent.
Scheduling is a time-consuming job and when you simplify this, you’ll have more time for running your restaurant.
Level up
Could your scheduling system use an upgrade? Much of today’s scheduling software allows employees to log in remotely to view their schedules and request time off. Not only does this make the process faster and easier for your team but it also lets you see what’s happening in real-time, so you have the data you need for your restaurant to run at its best.
Some apps even allow staff to be notified when shifts open up, so they can jump in if they’re free, saving you from the rigorous task of contacting your team to see who can fill in.
Effective scheduling is never easy, but by prioritizing your team, being flexible, and arming yourself with the best tools, your restaurant can cut costs, attract and retain employees, and stay one step ahead of your competition.
