Empowering Restaurant Managers: Five Fantastic Tips
In years gone by, employees saw money as the main motivator for staying in a job and progressing up the career ladder but this is very quickly changing. For managers within the restaurant industry, they’re now looking for happiness, responsibility, and rewards. If managers don’t feel empowered in their role, they very quickly look for more responsibility elsewhere and having a high manager turnover can be very damaging indeed. With this, we have some simple tips below to empower managers and keep them happy!
Make Scheduling Easier – According to a recent study, managers spend four hours per week on creating schedules and making changes once the schedule has been written. With sticky notes covering the office regarding employees’ favored hours and staff members constantly texting and emailing to change their hours, it’s an endless process. Therefore, we recommend an online scheduling platform that’ll do all the work for your manager so they free up time for the more important tasks.
With a high-quality platform, past schedules can be copied before then making tweaks rather than starting with a blank piece of paper every week. Through an app, small changes can be made in seconds and staff members can even request time off so everything is in one place and the schedule is accessible for everyone.
Optimize All Labor – Without an effective clocking in and out system, companies pay more wages than the amount due and this can hit the profits hard. With up to 20% of restaurant workers admitting to clocking in ten minutes early or waiting a few minutes at night before clocking out, the labor cost is actually artificially increased and managers need a better system to reduce costs and increase profit.
For this reason, we recommend an integrated POS system and labor management platform that allows all hours to be tracked down to the minute. When staff have free rein to clock in and out whenever they wish, they’re going to take advantage of this. Even if a few minutes doesn’t seem too much, multiply this by the amount of days they work in a year and how many staff members do this and it amounts to thousands of minutes and hundreds of hours. With a digital labor management system, managers can set rules so that everybody automatically clocks out at a certain time or it only allows a five-minute window for clocking in before a shift begins. With managers having this power, they feel motivated to make a difference and remain in control.
Losing the Element of Risk – If you were to ask 100 managers whether they felt burned out, a significant number would return with a ‘yes’ answer. Unfortunately, part of this comes down to the sheer amount of metrics and data they have to follow. Although it may not surprise you, we’re going to recommend a digital solution to resolve this issue because it can offer advice on best practices while also streamlining all metrics to just one platform.
With platforms like this installed, managers can communicate with staff via messaging tools as well as tracking compliance with rules such as breaks and overtime. In addition to this, it can keep tabs on certifications, off-time, and the weather if this is an important variable for your restaurant.
Manage Rules and Regulations – For every manager, regardless of industry, it seems as though regulations are always getting in the way of efficiency. Considering the restaurant industry is synonymous with employing those under the age of 18, employment regulations play a pivotal role and this makes scheduling even harder.
With a platform that allows the manager to customize the schedule and take all minors into account, the scheduling becomes easier and notifications will be shown when certain employees are close to the limits of working hours. Furthermore, it shows when breaks should be given and managers can even input the local school calendar so summer breaks are clearly shown.
Providing Help – Finally, we believe owners can prevent managers from leaving simply by acknowledging the fact they need help. Although your manager works all hours and does a terrific job, they aren’t gods and can’t stay on top of everything at once. As you provide them with a platform that relieves some of the burden from their shoulders, the logistics are covered instantly and your manager can concentrate on what’s really important; maintaining relationships with staff, customers, and suppliers, training staff, improving the menu, and marketing the business. Just think where the four hours spent scheduling could go instead.
Nowadays, technology is more advanced than ever before so take advantage of this to make your manager’s job much easier. With the small investment it requires, your manager will stay motivated, they’ll remain in their job for longer, and you can grow as a team rather than placing an ad every couple of years!