How to enhance employee performance in a restaurant

How to enhance employee performance in a restaurant
Written by
Daria Olieshko
Published on
1 Feb 2024
Read time
9 - 11 min read
Have you ever encountered such a product as a restaurant scheduling app? If not, maybe it’s time to consider which processes, assignments, and routines can be handled using special software for personnel management in restaurants. Get the expertise from Shifton’s developers to implement the best features of such products in your workflow.Being a restaurant manager is a non-stop job. You have to handle multiple tasks while simultaneously managing numerous staff from the chef and sous-chefs to couriers, suppliers, cleaners, and more. On top of that, numerous emergencies can disrupt the process, and it’s entirely your responsibility, although standard tasks also cannot be delayed. With all this, plus everyday tasks from scheduling to payroll to reporting, it can all catch up with you.However, you are not alone in this endless routine, as Shifton assists restaurant managers in making their lives easier with one tool which can be a master key for you.You probably won’t be surprised by automation in the restaurant industry. However, a special app for restaurant management can help you spend more time doing what you love and preserve your sanity.

Restaurant management tips for happy employee benefits

Whether you’re using sales forecasts and labour targets to create restaurant employee schedules or processing payroll, Shifton provides you with the tools you need every step of the way. With Shifton’s scheduling app for restaurants, you can automate and streamline the following processes:
  • Accurately track working hours for each employee;
  • Reduce time theft and buddy punching in your restaurant;
  • Empower your team members to offer your customers the best service possible.
The best way to achieve a happy team is to communicate with them. Even in a single restaurant, it's already complex as everyone is on the move. What about chain establishments, then? With Shifton’s restaurant management application, you provide your staff with a communication channel to connect with one another and with you as well. You may observe in real-time how communication in a shared environment helps reduce misunderstandings, and thus, numerous drawbacks, and how it increases staff loyalty and happiness even as their workload stays the same.

Improve your staff’s performance with work schedule tips

For a restaurant, having a clear and well-thought-out schedule is essential. You need your chefs and their assistants to be at work at the scheduled time. Imagine not scheduling your cleaners to prepare the restaurant’s hall to meet visitors in its entirety. You need waiters to be ready to start serving customers promptly. Your reputation is at risk if any part of this operation fails due to scheduling errors.Using an automated restaurant staff scheduler is a magic key. It helps boost employees’ productivity and increase your revenue. Let’s explore how to choose the type of schedule for your establishment and which tips to use to make it work smoothly.

Scheduling software for restaurants

With personnel management software, you can create a basic set of scheduling policies and stick to them. This forms the foundation for the entire operation, helping you to manage how far in advance you will publish schedules and how far in advance employees need to submit time-off requests. You can also set minimum hours for each employee or designate certain shifts as high-traffic (and thus better for tips) using a scheduling app for restaurants.As a result:
  • You provide your team with a clear understanding of their future work and the number of shifts/working hours they are expected to work.
  • You demonstrate your time management skills and thereby confirm your professionalism in the employees' eyes.
  • You motivate your staff to select high-traffic shifts to earn more tips.

Employee engagement

Here, we proceed to the next step. You need to maintain the highest engagement of your team to ensure your restaurant's seamless operation. With an automated system for restaurant management, you can provide your team with real-time feedback on their performance, give timely advice, and receive their feedback. Software for restaurant management like Shifton offers managers and employees a convenient communication channel, which helps your team feel supported and engaged at work.

Employee retention

In the restaurant industry, employee turnover seems natural, but it is a major challenge since finding and hiring skilled professionals who won't let you down is difficult. Running your restaurant effectively means showing your employees that you respect their time and value their talent so that they feel engaged and loyal to their jobs. An effective restaurant management system is a key part of building a positive environment. Therefore, do not overlook the staff you have, but evaluate their efficiency to decide whether to strengthen the team with new employees or motivate your current staff to perform better. With Shifton's software for restaurant management, you can check and evaluate the efficiency of each worker using multiple parameters including working hours, overwork, customer satisfaction levels, and more.

Fast notifications and reminders

Do you want your staff to perform their duties excellently? Is it essential for them to manage the multiple tasks you set? Don’t leave even a small chance to miss something or forget about assignments. Automated shift reminders integrated into scheduling software for restaurants can significantly reduce no-shows or missed tasks. Just create notifying text messages or push notifications and set them up to be sent to employees’ mobile devices at a specific time. The same applies to alerting messages during emergencies, notifications about corporate events, or upcoming team-building meetings if you organise them.

Collect data and use it wisely

At the end of each day, take notes on how your staff handled daily routines, which issues were significant, and which work deserved reward. You can also analyse the efficiency of each shift to determine if you’re consistently understaffed or overstaffed during a specific shift. All that data is easily tracked in Shifton's system for restaurant management. Simply collect it and use this data to adjust your schedule accordingly, build your management strategy, and report the results to a restaurant owner.

Enhance productivity with hi-tech solutions featured in the Shifton restaurant scheduling app

Restaurant management tools benefit your entire team, from hosts and waiters to chefs. When you maintain higher efficiency of operations and streamlined communication using software solutions, it creates a stress-free work environment for everyone.Which types of technologies are pivotal for the restaurant industry? Let's explore them.

Employee scheduling software

With the aid of automation, you can forget about the daunting task of managing spreadsheets, tables, paper schedules, and plans.Instead, restaurant employee scheduling software based on cloud technologies provides you and your staff with the following features:
  • Fast schedule development in just a few clicks, available in Shifton as convenient templates.
  • Easy distribution of information about schedules and shifts among your employees.
  • Flexible adjustments and changes in the schedule, which you can make online from anywhere in the world.
  • Convenience in tracking working hours, overwork, missed shifts, or days off.

Task management software

Setting tasks using specialised staff management software? That's truly the best way to keep your restaurant running smoothly. In Shifton, you can create checklists for every worker from the chef to the server, and monitor their completion. From cleaning flat tops to refilling sanitisers, it’s easy for tasks to get lost in the daily shuffle.That’s where task management software comes in.
  • It’s an excellent way to streamline your tasks, with separate checklists for each role and shift.
  • It allows you to track your team’s productivity.
  • It helps reduce bottlenecks and check missed or forgotten tasks. Task management software maintains historical data of tasks completed, allowing you to review it and obtain the information you need.

Employee communication tools

When it comes to employee communications, texting and phone calls are the most popular channels. However, they are not effective for restaurants where each worker is constantly on the move and has no time to check SMSs or answer calls. The best solution is to provide your employees with a shared environment to communicate with you and each other. In the context of a restaurant management system, it is beneficial for the following reasons:
  • You can easily contact each employee.
  • They can communicate with each other to avoid misunderstandings and buddy punches.
  • You can track the entire working process just by checking the information your employees share with others. If something is amiss, you’ll be among the first to know.
Shifton provides a secure, business-focused communication tool that allows you to share schedules and announcements instantly. It also makes it easier for your employees to request time off and address payroll concerns like missing punches.

Timekeeping for restaurants

Timekeeping software for restaurants is an essential tool. With time-clocking software, employees clock in and out with the touch of a button. Plus, the software syncs directly with your payroll to automatically calculate hours worked.Restaurant time clocking software can also help prevent early clock-ins, thereby reducing labour costs. It addresses problems with enforced break times and shift lengths. The software will quickly calculate overtime and keep secure records of your team’s hours.

Payroll automation

Using restaurant employee management software is a great alternative to hiring a payroll specialist or putting extra load on your accounts department to calculate salaries. Instead, you have all working hours tracked and payroll calculated instantly in Shifton. This automates wage calculations, overtime pay, and tax and benefit withholdings. There’s no relying on manual calculations, so you’ll have fewer payroll errors and spend less time at the computer.As every type of software that we've indicated is useful, getting all of them in one tool is a godsend. That's what Shifton offers to restaurant managers. Payroll software syncs directly with your time clock and scheduling software in Shifton, creating a single environment for most management tasks and operations.

What are the benefits of restaurant management software?

The most significant benefits of Shifton for the restaurant management goals are as follows:
  • A shared environment for managers and employees to communicate and provide instant feedback.
  • A one-fit-all tool that combines the features of time management software, task management tools, HR tools, shift scheduler, and a communication channel.
  • It offers adjustable multi-level access to its functions, which can be used by managers and personnel on different levels.
  • It automates most processes you previously had to keep in mind or manage manually.
Thus, by using restaurant management software, you enhance the entire restaurant business operation, minimise mistakes and drawbacks, and manage your team more easily. The results are beneficial for you as a manager, as you work efficiently and without hassle, and for your team, as its members can satisfy their customers and get reasonable rewards for their efforts.
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Daria Olieshko

A personal blog created for those who are looking for proven practices.