The ScheduleOkay lets get started. Always remember – control your labor costs through better scheduling, not lower wages.

New week, New schedule

Every week is different and your schedule

should reflect this. Don’t just recycle last weeks

schedule. Ensure you have checked the

availability of your staff for the coming week.

Check last weeks schedule to see where you

may have been overstaffed and look ahead to

any large events that may be planned.

Don’t leave yourself struggling to cover shifts at

the last minute.

Cost & build

Costing as you build allows you to really see

where you can save. If you wait until the end

then it becomes a mad dash to cut hours and

stay on budget, which always leads to inefficient

schedules.

Set clear targets

Without clear targets there is no way to ensure a

steady labor cost. Work out what your current

target labor cost is based on this weeks

schedule and see if you can reduce it by 5% for

next week.

Monitor targets

Target sales per labor hour (SPLH) is a great

key performance indicator (KPI) to track for your

business. If you have target sales of $2000 and

target hours of 40 then your SPLH is $50. Try

and maintain a steady SPLH throughout the

week and don’t let it fluctuate with sales

patterns. This will also ensure you have

adequate staff cover for each day.

Arriving together?

Do all your staff arrive at the same time for each

scheduled shift? Do you need all your staff to be

in at the same time? Most shifts require a bit of

prep work which usually only takes one or two

people. If you adjust your shifts to start in 15 or

30 minute increments then your staff will arrive

as you need them.

The ScheduleOkay lets get started. Always remember – control your labor costs through better scheduling, not lower wages.

Are labor patterns

reflecting sales?

When your sales increase your labor cost may

increase but when sales decrease do your labor

costs decrease? In order to achieve a reduction

in costs you have to schedule accordingly and

anticipate periods of low sales as well as high

sales.

Low service levels

and too many staff?

Remember sometimes service levels can be

affected by having too many staff. Too many

staff can often be worse than too few staff.

Remember the old saying “the devil makes work

for idle hands”.

End of week comparisons?

Before launching head first into another busy

week, it is important to reflect on what happened

last week. Try comparing scheduled labor costs

against actual labor costs at the end of every

week. You will quickly see if changes are

needed.

Time & AttendanceMost labor savings can be made at the start and end of each shift.

Have you got any

buddy punchers?

Buddy punching is when an employee has a co-

worker punch them in early or punch them out

after they leave. It is a common practice that is

extremely hard to detect. A common deterrent

for buddy punching is a clock in machine with a

fingerprint scanner. These however are

notoriously slow, easily broken in a fast paced

environment and can actually result in

employees being late for work.

We experienced this in our restaurant and

replaced them with our own iPad clock in app

called Timestation. This allows a quick picture to

be snapped each time someone clocks in or out,

a simple and effective solution.

Obviously there are other great apps out there

so find one that suits your business, but know

that eliminating buddy punching can

dramatically reduce labor costs.

Are you comparing actual against

scheduled times at the end of every

shift/day?Is there a pattern emerging with staff leaving

later on certain days regardless of how busy you

are. It is important to emphasise to your

managers that they need to stick to the

schedule and ensure their teams finish on time.

Try to ensure that staff only sign in when in

uniform and sign out before changing.

Set clear times for

actual breaks

Your staff should know when their break is and

how long they are entitled to take. Allowing your

staff to take breaks “when we’re quiet” leads to

longer breaks as there is no pressure to get

back to work. Also for staff who smoke, this

should only be done on their actual break. Do

not offer

“Smoke Breaks” to staff.

Shift ManagementBefore, during and after service there are some practical things to do.

Pre & post service

team briefing

A quick meeting before and after every shift

gives you an opportunity to teach and listen. You

can also take the opportunity to share targets

with your employees at these shift meetings.

All hands on deck

Are all hands on deck at your busiest times.

There should never be anyone taking their break

or working in the office in the middle of service.

Ask yourself, are all your staff fully utilized – at

all times? If not what prep work could people be

doing.

Work smarterDon’t just assume that your staff don’t have the

time to do the job. Sometimes it is just a case of

working smarter. Often the time it takes to do a

job is directly related to the time you have

available to do the job. Think about what every

job your staff members are doing. Are there

more efficient ways of doing the same job?

How many employees does

it take to change a light-bulb?

Watch out for tell tale signs of too many staff –

For example two people to clean a fridge. Write

a clear job description for each employee. A job

description is a detailed definition of a job and a

list of the specific tasks and duties the employee

is responsible for daily, weekly and monthly. The

more complete the job description, the simpler

the task of training.

Remember, staff with a confirmed list of duties

will be less inclined to “fill time.” Sample job

descriptions may be available from your HR

department. You could also get started with a

quick Google search.

Spot patterns

Ensure that there is an absenteeism policy and

take proactive steps when employees are

absent. Try to keep an absenteeism chart in

their office, to easily monitor patterns.

Shift ManagementBefore, during and after service there are some practical things to do.

You’re no angel...

As a manager you must examine your own work

practices too. Do you come to work grouchy?

Do you have sloppy or careless work habits? Is

your appearance unprofessional?

It is essential that you obey your own standards

and rules and do not avoid addressing problems

when they arise.

Are you showing respect? Mutual respect plays

and enormous role in good leadership. Share

your goals with your employees, remember lead

by example.

ErgonomicsSimple changes can increase productivity and reduce waste.

Eliminate clutter

A place for everything and everything in its place

– staff will not have to waste time looking for

anything.

Easy access

Can you rearrange work areas. The fewer steps

that people have to take, the faster they can do

the job. Create mini work stations where all

necessary food, utensils and prep spaces are

close at hand.

Workstations

Break the kitchen activities into self-contained

workstations where ingredients, tools,

equipment and supplies are within easy reach.

This will eliminate excessive bending, lifting and

reaching. Its also important to remember your

left-handed employees when setting up

workstations.

Problem equipment

Check that there are no equipment problems

that are affecting labor. Ensure knives are sharp,

and train your staff how to use them.

Clever Storage

Increase productivity by having 3 types of

storage. Active, back up and long-term. Active

storage is accessed repeatedly throughout the

day and should be near the work station.

Back up is used to refill bulk items and long term

should be out of reach and locked away.

The MenuWhere in the menu can we save time?

Hidden labor

Do we need to change the menu, is it too labor

intensive or are there too many offerings?

Always ask, are you selling enough of a specific

item to warrant the labor required to prep,

prepare and serve it.

Self serve options

Explore labor saving ideas of self service

restaurants – buffets, tea/coffee machines etc.

Could you make this work for your business,

perhaps with a unique twist?

Are the dishes

causing problems?

Always check how many dishes are returned

after each service. Know the reasons why each

was returned and how much it cost to comp or

replace meals. More often than not it is the

same one or two dishes that are causing

problems for your customers and obviously your

chefs. While the problem may lie with the cook,

you may also reduce wasted labor and food

costs by making some small changes to the

dishes or removing them from the menu entirely.

Better prep work

Can you do more prep in advance and perhaps

batch cook some dishes? This will allow the chef

to serve and observe portion control etc.

You may look at sous-vide cooking as

a labor saving option for your food prep.

Staff TrainingYou won’t do it better if you don’t know how to do it right.

It’s quicker when you know what

you’re doing

Do you invest in training? Ensure that the staff

are trained in the jobs they are doing. Allocate

time to properly train your employee. Regularly

review your current employee training needs.

Who’s the trainer?

Maybe you could appoint a trainer in your unit.

Untrained employees will cost you more in low

productivity, poor service, waste and

inefficiency.

A flexible workforce

Cross training staff and multi skilling. Teach your

employees how to do jobs other that their own

regular jobs. Employees can be moved around

and fill in while other staff are absent.

Supervisors could serve or do cash. Chefs could

man the counters if required.

A smarter workforce

Lack of training can lead to employees having

poor attitudes to various aspects of the business

and will most definitely lead to many staff

developing poor work habits. Proper training will

lead to greater employee productivity. It’s your

job to teach them how to work smarter, not

harder.

Staff HiringHire once, hire right, retain.

Look for more

Remember your business success is based

upon your success at gathering together a group

of workers with different skills and experiences

to produce a quality product.

Search for the right person to fill the job. Look

beyond the basic skills for a person who will be

the face of the restaurant and will work well with

your team.

Hire on tasks, not on talk

Before you hire an employee – Keep in mind the

tasks the employee must accomplish. Is this

person suited to talking to important customers

all day or doing a lot of back office tasks?

Remember the cost of employing a worker is far

greater than his or her net pay, regardless of the

worker being salaried or hourly.

It is never the right time to hire the

wrong person

Resist the temptation to “panic hire.” Don’t in

desperation, hire the first person you interview.

Hold out for the right person.

Your current team has

great potential!

Try to promote from within your own business.

Develop a succession plan for your business if

you have not done so already.

ASK YOURSELF

What % of your budget comes from agency

workers?

What % of your budget comes from overtime?

What is your labor/sales ratio for every day...

better still by the hour?

Instead of looking to employment agencies, ask

your employees first if they can recommend

anyone.

Cut Staff TurnoverHire once, hire right, retain.

High staff turnover costs more than

money!

High turnover of staff is very costly to the

business. Re-staffing and training costs your

business in productivity but also has a huge

impact on customer relations. Any relationships

fostered between your staff and your customers

will be hard to recover, should that team

member leave.

Other costs include lost uniforms and obviously

the time spent hiring in the first place.

Know why they leave so

you can improve

Remember exit interviews are valuable

information gathering opportunities. Make sure

that you get a chance to spend a few minutes

with any staff member leaving before they move

on.

This will be your only opportunity to hear their

honest opinion of their time with you and your

team.

Don’t throw money at the problem

While offering greater benefits and pay rises will

undoubtedly attract more potential employees

and help to retain existing employees, this will

not solve the underlying reasons for a high staff

turnover.

On a daily basis there are simple things you can

do to ensure the workplace is a supportive and

enjoyable environment.

Hardworking team members should be praised

for their work in front of their peers. This helps to

show others that you respond well to a job well

done.

After busy weeks or great team efforts small

gestures like a gift cards or movie passes can

be great to let your team know their efforts are

not going unnoticed.

Start controlling your labor costs today

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