IS ONLINE EMPLOYEE SCHEDULING SOFTWARE RIGHT FOR …€¦ · How much are you spending on overtime...

IS ONLINE EMPLOYEE SCHEDULING SOFTWARE RIGHT FOR YOUR

RESTAURANT?

Is Online Scheduling Software Right For Your Restaurant?

CONTENTS03 Introduction

04 Ready: Moving Beyond Manual Systems

07 Set: Prepare to Move Your Schedule to an Online System

10 Go: Creating Schedules in an Online System

12 HotSchedules Success Stories


INTRODUCTIONSTILL USING MANUAL METHODS? TELL US WHY.

Share your biggest scheduling challenges with our @HotSchedules Twitter handle and use the hashtag #GetYourShiftTogether.

When it comes to scheduling employees, restaurants have a lot of choices. There’s paper and sticky notes,

email and spreadsheets. But as managing labor gets more complex and as employees turn more and more to their phones for real-time scheduling updates, those old-school scheduling methods just aren’t getting the job done.

This puts most restaurant operators in one of two categories: Either they’ve already adopted online scheduling software to manage their workforce, or they know they know they need to make the switch from manual methods to an automated online scheduling tool.

The purpose of this eBook is to show you how easy it is to use employee scheduling software and how much time it can save everyone in your organization—from the managers making schedules, to employees trying to get their shifts covered, to the operators and owners looking to meet budgets and increase profits.

But before we get down into the details, let’s cover the reasons why manual based scheduling methods make managing a restaurant less effective and costly.


MOVING BEYOND MANUAL SYSTEMSWhy You Should Stop Using Manual/Traditional Scheduling Systems

If you were to describe the manual process of creating, managing and communicating employee schedules, what would you say? Chances are your complaints would sound something like “time consuming, inefficient and never accurate.” Sound familiar? You might have some other four-letter words, but we won’t print those here.

What’s interesting—especially in the restaurant and hospitality industry—is that a lot of managers continue to use manual, outdated methods simply because it’s the way it’s always been done.

Pen and paper, sticky notes, spreadsheets and voicemails solve the immediate problem—getting someone, (anyone!) in the store to work—but that’s about as far as those systems can take you.

Here are some common scheduling challenges that restaurant managers face when using manual scheduling methods. How many do you currently deal with? How much time are you losing to these inefficient processes?

READ

Y:

ON AVERAGE, RESTAURANT MANAGERS WORK 45 HOURS PER WEEK

How are they spending their time?

25%(11 hrs of your time)

devoted to guest interaction & employee development

75% (34 hours of your time)

spent on cumbersome operations

TIME SPENT PER WEEK ON OPENING & CLOSING (i.e. inventory management, payroll and vendors)

TIME SPENT PER WEEK ON TRAINING

5

5

5

15


Communication Snafus

On their own, paper schedules might not seem like the worst place to keep track of who’s working and when, but rarely can you just set it and forget it. Schedules change. Employees have last-minute emergencies. People don’t answer phone calls and human mistakes happen all the time.

In a world where everything is accessible from the tiny computer in our pockets, the last thing you want to do is call on the restaurant every time the schedule changes.

Swamped in Shift Swaps

Do you remember those old telephone switchboards? The switchboards connected people to each other and required an enormous workforce to manage the call volume coming in. If there was a call, someone had to be sitting at the switchboard ready to connect two people. And that was their full-time job, until automatic switching was invented.

Restaurant managers using outdated employee scheduling methods are essentially full-time switchboard operators. Someone calls in to make a swap or request time off and you always have to be there ready to answer and make the connection to the schedule. What’s worse is that instead of it being one switchboard, you’re bombarded with requests from all kinds of different channels—face-to-face conversations, text messages, emails, phone calls, voicemails on your cell phone, voicemails on your work phone; the list goes on and on. In fact, you could have a conversation with one person about a shift swap in every single one of those channels.

Lack of Insight

How much are you spending on overtime right now? What’s the average spend for your BOH employees? What about FOH? Are part-time employees working the right number of hours? If you have the same amount of sales last year, how much staff should you schedule to hit budgets?

If this information is stored in various spreadsheets and random folders, you don’t really have the insight you need to be truly effective. There’s no way to maximize your workforce data to make more intelligent labor decisions.

GET BACK YOUR TIME!

Did we forget to mention how much TIME you’ll be saving?

• Time savedcommunicating toemployees.

• Time saved figuring outhow much staff you needto meet historical guestand sales numbers.

• Time saved approvingshift swaps.

• Time saved dealing withpayroll questions and tipcard adjustments.

• Time savings in everysingle nook and crannyof an online employeescheduling solution.


Employee Turnover

Because our lives are not 100 percent static and predictable, schedules will always change. With paper or spreadsheet schedules, making those changes on the fly is hard. You’re are either so flexible that things are chaotic, or you do the opposite and lock schedules down so hard people don’t have the flexibility they need in a restaurant job.

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute noted that employees with unstable work schedules suffer significantly more work-family conflict and have higher work-related stress. High-stress leads to unhappy employees, which in turn, increases turnover.

Money Lost

In the restaurant industry, you’re either spending time or you’re spending money. The goal is that the time and money spent gets a return. But if you don’t have efficient systems in place, you’re bleeding both. With restaurant failure rates higher than almost any other industry, there’s not a lot of time or money to waste on systems that don’t work for you and your staff. There are simply too many ways to lose money—unnecessary overtime, payroll mishaps, early clock-ins, employee turnover and expensive health care coverage (not to mention sales lost to poor planning)—to not have a system in place that helps you manage the second most expensive cost center for restaurants—labor,

PAPER SCHEDULES ARE STILL USEFUL (IN A PINCH)

Many managers using online systems still print out their schedule and post it in the break room.

It gives staff an additional checkpoint when they walk in the door. It’s also a fail safe for those times when your Internet goes out.


PREPARE TO MOVE YOUR SCHEDULE TO AN ONLINE SYSTEM8 Things to Set Up Before Creating the Perfect Online Schedule

Being prepared is half the battle and scheduling is no exception. If you’re going to get your schedules created fast, efficiently and accurately, you’ve got to set up your system first so that it does the heavy lifting for you later. Here are eight things you’ll want to have set up before you start creating schedules.

SET:

1. Set up Labor Categories

A labor category is a way to subdivide and organize your schedules and job codes. Basically, this information is controlled in the form of a hierarchy: labor category > schedule > job code. Common labor categories include; FOH, BOH, store or salary.

2. Set Up Schedules

Setting up schedules allows you to put employees with certain job codes (more on job codes in a minute) into a specific schedule. These are typically front of house, back of house, bar, busser, chef, managers, catering, delivery or any other special event schedule you might need to recreate on a consistent basis.

3. Set up Job Codes

Job codes are the specific duties that the employee will perform as well as their pay rate. An employee can have multiple job codes and schedules if they work in several positions. Servers can be runners, bartenders can also be servers, for example.

There’s also something called a primary job code, which is a way to indicate that while an employee may be able to work several positions, they have a primary position in the store that they work the most.

4. Set Up Shift Information

Shift information refers to the day parts that are configured for your restaurant which in most cases is breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most restaurants are set up with two day parts, AM or PM. Though some restaurants have a need for an early morning or late night shift depending on hours.

HOW A PRIMARY JOB CODE WORKS IN HOTSCHEDULES

If you have an employee with a hostess and server job code you would mark the server job code as a primary code so that managers can safely assume that they are scheduling them under their typical role in the company.


5. Set up Scheduling Locations

Locations can be used to tell a server or cook exactly where they will be working. In the case of servers, the restaurant’s dining area is usually divided into sections and each person is assigned to one. So you could create sections 1 through 10, and then tie them to the server job code.

Then, when you are scheduling people with that job code, you can specify what section they will be working in. Since locations can be named anything, you could apply these same steps to kitchen staff and specify whether someone is working the grill, salad, etc.

6. Add Certifications and Skill Level

Not every employee is created equal, which is why it’s helpful to be able to have the certification and skill levels available in a scheduling system. These variables can help managers make better decisions about who to schedule and where based on certain characteristics.

In some cases, like in HotSchedules, managers can put a date on certifications so they know when their employees need to get them renewed.

7. Set-Up Parameters for Time-Off Requests.

As we’ve already established, flexibility is important to employees in the restaurant industry. At the same time, there have to be some rules to ensure that the operation stays open and turns a profit, which is where parameters around time-off requests come in handy. A feature like this allows managers to set the last possible day an employee can request off. The cut-off day gives employees a period of time to put in a request and helps managers set expectations around staffing needs—especially around high volume seasons or events.

8. Ask Employees to Submit Time-Off Requests

As you’re starting out, it’s a good idea to get any long-term time off requests in the system. These are things like class schedules, child care, doctors appointments, other part time jobs or even jury duty.

3 WAYS TO SET UP A CUT-OFF DATE

1. Day of the Week BeforeNext Schedule: This sets thecut-off to a fixed day of theweek before the next workweek starts.

2. Fixed Number of DaysBefore the Next Schedule:This sets the cutoff to a fixednumber of days before thestart of the next work week.

3. Fixed Number of Days NotAligned to the Work Week:This sets the cutoff to a fixednumber of days from thepresent day. The work weekstart or end does not affectthe cutoff.


CREATING SCHEDULES IN AN ONLINE SYSTEMSeven Ways to Create an Online Employee Schedule

How to create a schedule... Oh let us count the ways. Well, we did some counting and there are seven best practices to be exact:

GO:

1. From Scratch

In many cases, you can begin by creating the employee work schedule from scratch. This can be done by looking for employee availability, requests for time off and the most reliable employees. You can then use this information and make adjustments on an as-needed basis. This method works if you’re creating schedules for the first time, if you have a small group of managers or if you suddenly see an up-tick in sales and need to adjust your staff volume.

2. From a Scheduling Template

If you’re looking to generate a recurring schedule, scheduling templates are a great approach. Employee scheduling templates can be generated based on sales, budget, labor or other requirements. For instance, you might generate a schedule template for different levels of sales, one for $40K, $60K or $480K (you could even make these thresholds.)

You could also create a templated schedule for particular events like Super Bowl weekend or Mother’s Day. In HotSchedules, if you recognize that you’re creating a schedule or copying a schedule frequently, there’s an option to create a templated schedule from an already created schedule.

3. Copy Schedules From Week to Week

Copying a schedule from a previous week is similar to the scheduling template method, but instead of having a general schedule (no employees in it) you can create a schedule with shifts and employees that you can copy from week to week. An example might be a kitchen schedule.

You know the same chefs and cooks are working every week for the same shifts so you would copy that schedule from week to week. Each week you can go back to make adjustments if employees were late or clocking too many hours.

WHEN TO USE TEMPLATES VS. COPYING VS. AUTOSCHEDULER

Copying schedules from week to week saves managers time if the same people are scheduled for the same shift.

Unfortunately, a lot of managers will use the copy schedule method for any kind of schedule and then spin their wheels adjusting shifts and moving people around.

What would make more sense is to create another template, create a schedule from scratch or use the AutoScheduler.

GET CREATIVE WITH TIME OFF REQUESTS

HotSchedules users aren’t afraid to make the system work for them. One user actually put in a time off request for a regular date night with his girlfriend. Each week, on the schedule, the manager saw that he wasn’t available because it said “Night off with G/F.”


4. From a Forecast

Some of the best schedules are created using the forecasting method. Forecasting allows managers to quickly apply appropriate templates to future weeks based on projected sales figures. Forecasting is most effective if you have a number of templates created that correspond to different sales levels. Once a schedule is forecasted and posted, managers will be able to see the labor variance between the forecasted template and the schedule that was actually posted.

5. From the AutoScheduler

The AutoScheduler in HotSchedules allows managers to define specific parameters for how shifts will be assigned to employees. There are three ways to configure the AutoScheduler:

» Day Priorities: This setting allows you to specify a priority for what days are more important with regards todistributing shifts.

» Thresholds: This setting allows you to specify how many of your highest and lowest skills are eligible towork in a single day. The AutoScheduler will then avoid giving you too few of your best employees and toomany of your least skilled employees.

» Locations Skill Levels: This section allows you prevent employees from working in locations if their skill level is not high enough. When the AutoScheduler references this setting, it will not give the unassigned shift toan employee if their skill level does not match what is specified for the location.

6. Use Employee Rankings to Create Schedules

In HotSchedules, having certifications and skill level rankings appropriately set for employees in the Settings section funnels into the AutoScheduler which assigns employees to a schedule based on job dodes, locations, availability and skill and certifications.

7. Communicate Schedules in a Single Click

Once you’ve got your schedules created, communicating them to the entire team can happen with a click of a button. Employees will receive notifications through email, online or on their phones and will have access to their schedule any day, and at any time. If changes are made to their shifts, they will be notified, keeping everyone informed and managers out of the crazy last minute call mix.


SUCCESS STORIESHopefully you’ve got a good idea of what it takes to set-up your online

scheduling system so that it does the heavy lifting for you and your team. But if you’re not yet convinced that software is right for you, we’ve got a few success stories from restaurant groups who can’t imagine business without an employee

scheduling software system like HotSchedules.

It took quite a bit of time to create a schedule on a spreadsheet or on paper,

and yet it would still have mistakes. H0tSchedules shaved a good couple of

hours off the time to create the schedule. And not only that—it also helped me

generate a more accurate schedules than I’d have made with a paper version.

So it’s faster, and results in fewer errors.

MICHAEL KURAS, MANAGER, TACOS & TEQUILA

TACOS AND TEQUILAWith the increase in the cost of food, Tacos and Tequila (an Austin based restaurant that goes by T&T) wanted to save money by improving their employee scheduling template. Their old system was time intensive and inefficient. David Pencsak, operating partner at Tacos and Tequila has grown up in the restaurant industry. As a previous owner of five restaurants, he fully understands the challenges restaurateurs face on a daily basis. Food, fuel and labor management costs carve into what are already razor thin margins. While little can be done to bring down the impact of rising food and fuel costs, labor costs can often be managed more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Well aware of these challenges, Pencsak realized that spreadsheet-generated scheduling was definitely one area that could stand some improvement. As he noted, “Requests get lost and errors are easily made. For example, when you have different schedules on different tabs, like the bar and server schedules, it’s very difficult to see when you have double-scheduled someone who works under multiple job codes.”

After adopting HotSchedules, T&T was able to lower their labor costs by 5 percent, which translated to a savings of $17,500 per location. In addition, T&T was finally able to predict their labor needs, which allowed the restaurant to set the staffing levels needed for its day-to-day operations.


THE LAZY DOG CAFEThe Lazy Dog Cafe quickly realized that it needed a more advanced system if it was going to meet the challenges of staffing multiple restaurants. After adopting HotSchedules, the time it took managers to create schedules decreased by 75 percent. The staff appreciates the ability to input vacation or school schedules into the tool and swap shifts with each other online.

Because of the POS integration with HotSchedules, their management teams were able to enforce clock-in times, cutting labor costs immediately. The tool also helps their teams stay in compliance with California’s complex labor laws, because they are automatically incorporated in the scheduler.

The iOS, Android and Windows scheduling app allows staff and management to communicate with each other even when they weren’t at the store.

One of the nicest parts about HotSchedules is that it pulls the sales and

labor hours and dollars from the POS and compares them against what was

scheduled. It can then be a predictor of future expectations, and helps us

ensure we have the right people and the right number of people on the floor

when we need them.

ANTHONY MEJIA AS IT DIRECTOR, THE LAZY DOG CAFE


BIANCHINI’SBianchini’s operates three very successful but different restaurants, which posed a significant staffing challenge. Bianchini’s needed a method for accurate scheduling that allowed for employees to not only trade shifts, but ensure that when they were traded, the right employees showed up at the right time. With the HotSchedules App, employees were able to trade shifts immediately after the schedule was posted and management was able to approve those shift trades with all the information about the employee.

The results were clear. Bianchini’s was able to lower their labor costs by 3 percent, managers and employees were able to communicate with each other faster and more efficiently and everyone was held accountable to be working the right shift on the right day.

We had a lot of challenges around getting the schedule communicated in

time. Now, when we post the schedule, everyone gets it immediately—right

on their smart-phone. Plus, the shift swapping and releasing options are

the best thing ever. If someone has an issue with their schedule, they just

request a change and, once approved, boom, it’s done.

MARC BIANCHINI, OWNER CUBANITAS AND INDULGE

The materials and information included in this eBook are provided for reference purposes only. They are not intended either as a substitute for professional advice or judgment or to provide legal or other advice with respect to particular circumstances. © 2015 HotSchedules. All rights reserved.

IS ONLINE EMPLOYEE SCHEDULING SOFTWARE RIGHT FOR …€¦ · How much are you spending on overtime...

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