Fight the Winter Blues with Advanced Restaurant Technology

It takes a little more effort to get people out on the town in the Canadian winter. The darker days and the freezing temperatures make it easy for people to stay huddled up indoors.

Restaurants are in a competitive industry, and they need all the help they can get in the seasons with quieter foot traffic. Thankfully there is new technology designed specifically to help restaurants operate more efficiently, in a helpful way all employees will appreciate.

Let’s look at how employee scheduling software can give restaurants a boost in the slower months.

Reduce Time Wasted Creating Schedules

A penny saved is a penny earned, and marshalling restaurant management resources effectively with purpose-built software that cuts a restaurant’s costs is a major way to improve their bottom line. Now, the time it takes to create schedules can be reduced by as much as 80%, making a frustrating and time-consuming task much simpler.

The time shaved off of this process results directly in a 1-3% savings in labor costs, historically one of the biggest drains on a restaurant’s finances. This really is a pure efficiency, since this saves the restaurant money without reducing the quality of the food or service offered even one iota.

Manage Attendance with Sophisticated Time Clock

New software ensures that employees are only paid for the time they’re scheduled to work; the modern time clock can be set to prevent early punch-ins, and will automatically punch-out employees who have forgotten to do so themselves. This allows restaurants to more tightly control their labor costs. These software options can allow managers to correctly track employee time therefore ensuring employees are paid correctly, and the managers aren’t overpaying employees too.

This technology also helps ensure that restaurant staff receive all the breaks they are legally entitled to. Staff will be refreshed, while the restaurant effortlessly avoids fines and fees related to labor compliance.

Stay Connected, Smartly

What if there’s a snow storm, and a server or cook can’t make it to work? Employee scheduling software gives you the tools to keep staffing organized in advance, but it also helps you adapt on the fly.

Managers can send a group message to whichever team needs an emergency substitute for a shift, and whoever is free can tell the group the shift is covered. The crucial thing is they’re all likely to see the initial message, since they get an email notification.

The problem is solved quickly, before it has time to mount into a crisis. The software has other communication features designed to serve other functions; one-way messaging allows managers to quickly inform staff about facts they need to know, like a new lunch special or a promotion.

The inability to respond to such messages prevents the thread from getting bogged down by time-consuming and distracting responses. However you need to keep connected, employee scheduling software can facilitate it.

Anything you can do to help your restaurant is important in any season, especially the cold, slower months of winter. With the right software, your restaurant can effortlessly run a tight ship, so you can focus on what diners care about most: the food.

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Kelly Tate

Kelly is a full-time supermum, caring for two kids and a hardworking husband. A cook, a cleaner, a carer and all round hard worker, striving for the perfect family life (with a few bumps along the way!) Eternally honest and sometimes brutally forward, no topics are off limits with Kelly.