Every restaurant could use a boost to its operations, especially during winter, when dragging people out of their homes into the cold is a tougher proposition. Restaurants across North America are turning more to restaurant scheduling software to ease and streamline business operations, and the efficiencies found will help you survive the winter and beyond.

Let’s learn more about how it works.

Better Schedules in Less Time

Employee scheduling software like 7shifts helps schedule your shifts in up to 80% less time than it would otherwise take, greatly reducing the time wasted in such a mundane task. It results directly in a savings of up to 3% in labor costs, which is traditionally one of the biggest burdens a restaurant faces.

The software combines the power of automation with the manual inputs of your employees. They’ll be able to easily and remotely relay to their manger when they’re free to work, right through the app. Managers can approve the requests through the app too, so processes that used to cause stress and take days can be completed in minutes.

Your staff will love having a work schedule that responds so effortlessly to their needs and being spared of this time-consuming, frustrating task. Your restaurant will appreciate the savings, especially in winter.

Modern Communication

This software goes way beyond what its name suggests. The entire staff can keep connected right through the app, without having to ever turn to text messages or emails — it’s all under one roof.

Imagine a bad winter storm prevents someone from commuting to work. All the manager needs to do is send a group message to the team in need of a replacement. They’ll be alerted to the message via email notification, so they’ll all see it right away, and employees from other teams won’t be bothered unnecessarily.

Whoever is free to cover the shift can let the team know. The problem is solved before it has time to escalate. Chats can be configured as needed, for groups or one-on-one dialogue.

Enterprise-Level Data

The manager-facing dashboards give executives all the data they could ever want to make intelligible decisions about their restaurant operation. Track vital economic indicators, such as:

  • Total sales
  • Labor costs
  • Percentage as labor

Even things like weather can be tracked — sunny days help explain a booming day on the patio, while frigid temperatures explain a lull in foot traffic.

The software also tracks custom metrics managers decide matter to them.

Employee Feedback

The software itself will prompt employees to rate each shift and describe in their own words how it went. This allows managers to combine modern data gathering with the perspective of frontline employees, which gives them the fullest picture possible.

The restaurant industry is notoriously competitive and difficult, and the last thing restaurateurs need is adverse weather to contend with. The features in employee scheduling software will not only come to the rescue by making life easier for your staff during winter, they’ll keep your books in better condition come spring.