As a restaurant owner or manager, employee scheduling is one of the many important - and especially challenging - tasks you face. And the fact that it's a task that recurs frequently can be stressful.
That's why we've put together these 5 tips for you to make creating work schedules easier. We'll discuss what to consider when creating work schedules, how restaurant scheduling software can make the process easier for you, and provide you with a free restaurant scheduling template. Let's dive in!
It is important to prioritise your employees' preferences when scheduling for restaurants. Not only does this reduce the need for changes and the number of no-shows, but it also ensures the satisfaction of your staff. Especially the next generation of the workforce values the degree of flexibility highly. If you don't respect this, they will easily find a new workplace that does.
Therefore, be flexible and offer your staff a voice in the work schedule. Equally important is to take their input seriously and to act on it when needed.
Scheduling ahead allows your staff to be informed of their workdays in a timely manner, but also provides you with peace of mind because you don't have to create the schedule last minute. An added benefit is that your staff can adjust their plans to fit their work schedule and seek replacements in a timely manner in case of conflicts with their private life.
To avoid confusion for yourself and your staff, it's a good idea to make it easy to access the most recent version of the work schedule. To make this as easy as possible, you can use
restaurant scheduling software (more on this below) or an online spreadsheet.
By looking at factors such as reservations, the weather, vacation periods, and historical revenue data, you can make a good indication of the number of staff members you need on a given day. This way you can avoid both over and understaffing while you can be reassured that the staffing matches the number of guests.
However, it is important to regularly check whether your estimates match reality. By instinctively looking at the productivity and stress levels of your staff as well as the extent to which your guests are properly served, you can make adjustments where necessary.
There are helpful restaurant scheduling apps that can make scheduling both easier and more efficient. Restaurant scheduling software can simplify scheduling, automate time tracking, and provide a better overview for the entire team. This in turn can save you a lot of time, money, and staff issues in both the short and long term.
It is however good to consider whether it can meet your needs. Some interesting features to look for include:
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Automated scheduling: this allows you to create work schedules automatically based on your needs and your staff's availability.
- The ability for staff members to request shifts and receive notifications when their requests are either approved or denied.
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Shift swapping: this allows your staff to hand over or swap shifts among each other.
- A chat function: allowing you and your staff to communicate about work from an app built for it.
The process of creating and maintaining the work schedule for your restaurant can be quite a task. However, there are ways to simplify the process that allow you to spend less time and effort on it. By applying the 5 tips in this article, you can make work life a little easier for yourself and your team - starting today.
In case you want to read more about restaurant management, this might be an
interesting article. And if you are curious if employee scheduling software is something for you you can try Workfeed for free for 14 days.
