By Jerome Chiaro
To create a detailed employee schedule every week seems a daunting task for any restaurant manager or owner. However, with the help of restaurant spreadsheets, this time-consuming work is done in a short time using a computer and an employee logbook of requests for permissible absences.
A restaurant can ask their employees their preferred schedule through request forms or an open logbook. However, a restaurant manager should know how to limit their requests and prioritize those with viable importance, such as family emergencies or an unexpected illness. The following tips should guide any person assigned to manage the employee schedule for the week:
1. Use different restaurant spreadsheets for each group of employees.
Employees working in the night shift should have different spreadsheets for day shift employees. Employees working in the kitchen should have a separate spreadsheet from those working on the floor as servers, bartenders and cashiers. Employees working at-will or part-time should have a different spreadsheet from those working full-time at the restaurant.
2. Do not be afraid to rotate.
Rotation may seem impractical at first because employees unfamiliar with a new set of skills will most likely work slow and commit errors more often as they learn the ropes. However, pairing a veteran with a learner and scheduling the rotation during dull business hours will pay off during peak periods when you need an extra hand.
Rotation works best in the kitchen where multiple skills are an advantage among the chef’s assistants. This also works well among food servers, whose job takes a toll on their feet. One group of servers can staff the floor while another group take inventory, haul the supplies, or do some errands out of the restaurant.
3. Set up your employee schedule at least a month ahead of Christmas and New Year.
A schedule set a month before the busiest season of the year takes care of any vacation time left for your employees. They will be more than willing to work extra hours if they can have more time spent with their families during the holidays.
However, be very strict with the agreed restaurant spreadsheets. Your employees should understand that others depend on their commitment to show up early and work on the days they agreed to be on the job.
In case of emergencies, be ready to step in. You may also ask relatives and friends to help when they can. As a precaution, hire servers as at-will employees or part-time workers.
4. Weigh each employee’s request for time off.
Some restaurants gather requests for time off through restaurant spreadsheets and request forms, while others leave an open logbook, which employees fill in their preferred schedule for the week. Although you’d like to accommodate everyone’s request, you will have to weigh between requests based on the following questions:
a. Can the employee postpone the reason for the request?
If the reason for time off is a doctor’s appointment for a routine check-up or for a mini vacation, then you may discuss with the employee about re-scheduling to make way for others who have more important matters to attend to.
Weddings and birthdays are important occasions and cannot be delayed or postponed. If the employee has a major role, such as a Best Man for the wedding, then prioritize his request, too.
b. Is it possible to have someone in the group act as a substitute?
If an employee substitutes for another, then offer the substitute additional time off or a monetary reward aside from the added wages he earns from working the extra hours.
5. Setting up an employee schedule integrates the work done by employees on different shifts.
Employees assigned to the morning shift are expected to open the restaurant and prepare it for the day’s work. On the other hand, employees on the night shift clean up the restaurant and put away the equipment and supplies.
Each shift might not meet each other during the day, but each one should work in tandem with the other, especially in following through procedures during closing time. Food left outside becomes fodder for rats and cockroaches, which cause problems for the day shift people who had to deal with the pests and the health risks involved.
Restaurant spreadsheets are efficient and time saving for a busy manager or entrepreneur like you. Use a desktop software or create the schedule manually, but either way leads to a more organized and less costly operation of your restaurant business.
About the Author: Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant Owner & Consultant out of Orange County, CA. Did you know that 95% of restaurant owners and managers spend over 55 hours per week slaving away at their restaurant! He can help you WORK LESS and PROFIT MORE… Claim your copy of his
Free Restaurant Forms
Toolkit. Success doesn’t happen alone! Join a mastermind of restaurant owners and a wealth of resources, at his Free
Restaurant Forms
Blog.
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=745053&ca=Business+Management