Restaurant Labor Improvement Ideas
Many restaurant managers have bonus structures that are based on keeping controllable costs in line. When it comes to getting profit out of a restaurant, controllable costs are the easiest figures to influence. Food cost and labor are the most common controllable cost, with each item representing a certain percentage of the gross sales. While major changes in labor can have a bad effect on customer service and employee morale, there are many small things you can do to control labor. These small changes can add up to significant savings in labor cost over the span of a month.
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Keep Strictly to the Schedule
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Pay close attention to the times that your employees clock in and clock out. Your schedule is based on a certain number of hours being used per week and every time six employees clock in 10 minutes early or stay 10 minutes late, you've lost an hour of usable labor. Emphasize the importance of timely arrival and departure times to all your team members and be strict about it. If someone clocks in early, make them clock back out and wait until their correct scheduled time.
Institute a Regular Break Schedule
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Schedule 10 or 15 minute breaks for employees throughout the day. Every time you have a slow period throughout a shift, give one employee a break off the clock. Keep a daily record of every worker's break times to ensure that everyone receives the correct number of breaks. Find small slow periods and slip in the breaks so you don't interrupt the smooth flow of customer service.
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Teach Multitasking
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Train every employee on multiple work stations and jobs. Cooks can wash dishes, wait staff can clean and cashiers can prep food. Don't allow anyone to specialize in any job. Schedule employees so that they do multiple jobs on every shift, which will allows you to eliminate at least one employee per shift.
Become a Working Manager
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If your traditional management style is simply to manage, get hands-on with your job and do some of the basic labor needed in the restaurant every day. Employees will be more accepting of labor-cutting measures if they see you doubling up your duties and doing your part. You don't need a prep cook during slow periods if you can do the prep yourself. You can save eight to 10 hours a day by doing the job of one or more team members while still managing your restaurant.
Only Schedule What You Need
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It's tempting to schedule extra people for a shift in case someone doesn't show up or you get unexpected business. Don't fall into this trap. If everyone shows up and your sales are average for the day you will lose a significant number of hours for every shift. If you have trained your staff correctly they will handle an extra rush that comes with increased business. If someone has a habit of not showing up for his shift, refuse to schedule him anymore until the problem is solved. Give the hours to more reliable team members.
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