Restaurants have been under a great deal of pressure over the past few years. Inflationary pressures may have made life hard for both your customers and your employees. Keeping your employees happy by providing them with enough hours to earn their living without overloading them can be a challenge.
Track Your Employee Training
As new employees are brought on board, you need to make sure that everyone has been properly trained. There are many tools and practices in a restaurant that, if not properly utilized, can be extremely dangerous for your staff and your clients.
With the right scheduling software, you can flag particular tools and the training to use them so a new employee is not left floundering. If your wait staff assists in dessert presentation or helps out in the salad prep station, you can create triggers in your software to block employees from certain tasks until you know they have been trained and can successfully function with that tool and on that task.
Managing Hiring Documentation
Nearly all US employers need to keep an I-9 on file for their employees. Your business could face a great deal of legal trouble if you don’t have a copy of
- an ID and a social security card
- green card or work permit
- a passport
In some instances, you may be able to allow people to work, but you may not be able to pay them without the right documentation. You can track this requirement easily with the right scheduling software. You can also send out regular reminders to employees who haven’t completed their I-9 yet.
Keep Things Fair
Making sure that all trained employees have access to the shifts that pay well is critical to keeping everyone happy. You will also need to have some flexibility that will allow you to work around schedule challenges, such as illness, family commitments, and other personal requests.
To keep things as fair as possible, set a deadline for personal requests. Obviously, emergencies can still crop up, but if everyone knows that you create the schedule 10 days or 2 weeks out, then know that their personal requests need to be turned in prior to that deadline.
Happy employees provide much better service, and top-notch service can turn a good meal into an unforgettable dining experience. According to Synergy Suite, a restaurant scheduling software provider, “Your restaurant scheduling system is the foundation of your entire operation. This key element is the building block to positive employee morale, a fantastic customer experience, optimizing labor costs, avoiding food waste losses, and other crucial processes of your business.”
You Have Back-Up If You Need To Terminate An Employee
Firing people is one of the hardest things a manager has to do, but often it’s the only way to make things fair for other employees. For example, you may have an employee who is
- is swapping away all but the best shifts
- not helping with setup or cleanup
- not assisting new hires with training
In such cases, new employees may be floundering and at risk of harm depending on their job. Existing employees may be run ragged when they get started in the dining room because the setup wasn’t done correctly. Other employees may have to stay even later during cleanup because one person consistently leaves before the work is done.
Other employee actions may put your business at risk. If you have a 19-year-old waitress who can’t serve drinks and you find out they’ve been working in the bar, you need to act. It’s not guaranteed that your business will be fined in these instances, but the trouble is simply not worth it.
With the right scheduling software generating the necessary reports, you will quickly know who’s breaking the rules or possibly breaking the law. It may be challenging to take the necessary action, but you will have solid information and data to back up your decision.
The right software can help you confirm that you have a well-trained and fully-staffed restaurant floor. Your guests can enjoy excellent service with little waiting and your staff will have the time and support necessary to do an exemplary job.
