Restaurant Employee Scheduling Software Proves Who The Real Liar Is!

25 Jun, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Employees are constantly challenging their managers — pushing the limits of what they can get away with. They continuously keep managers and owners on their guard for the next scam being sent their way. They can have quite a gift for exaggeration and a flair for the dramatics when going down these paths.  “Trust me!” is something I’ve heard time and time again.

After speaking with a former employee of many years ago, Tony, he mentioned one such incident that has always stuck in my mind — the day that our restaurant employee scheduling software proved he was not a liar.

restaurant employee scheduling softwareHe had a troublesome co-worker who was constantly trying to create a rift between him and his general manager in never-ending ploys to get what she wanted. Time and time again he would be put into frustrating situations when she would blatantly lie about issues that had no proof on either side. Each time these uncomfortable moments would occur, it would leave another scar on Tony’s name, ruining his reputation with his general manager and the owners as well. Even though Tony could not prove that he was telling the truth when explaining his side of the story, he also could not prove that the troublesome employee was lying either. The question would then remain with the general manager and owner as to who was the real liar and who was telling the truth.

One day his general manager approached him angrily, questioning his ability to follow the requests in their restaurant employee scheduling software, and why he had scheduled the troublesome employee for a shift that she had requested off weeks in advance of the schedule being made. Confused and bewildered, he explained that he had acknowledged all the requests that were in the scheduling software, but the general manager replied that he had looked in the system already and saw that the request was in there, but had not been acknowledged.

Of course the employee did not show up to her shift that day because of this apparent mistake, which created a chaotic day for the rest of the staff and management as they struggled to meet the demands of the business in her absense. Feeling that he had made an error, Tony humbly appologized and felt the growing distrust in his reputation. Unfortunately for the troublesome employee, though, the situation resurfaced again under different circumstances.

In the next manager meeting, the owner showed up, also angry with what had occurred. He questioned Tony’s motives behind scheduling the employee, and explained how the employee had approached him as well about the issue. Thinking quickly, he replied, “Let me take a look at this request,” and quickly ran to the office to open up the restaurant employee scheduling software.

To his surprise and relief, Tony finally got the opportunity he deserved. The employee in question had submitted her request the very morning of the shift in question. She missed the shift for her own reasons and only put the request in a day before complaining about the problem to the general manager and owner — in an attempt to absolve herself of her own guilt. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, there is a time stamp on each request, and the restaurant employee scheduling software recorded the exact time that the request was made, proving that she had blatently lied about the situation.

With great pride, Tony returned to the meeting and made his own request. He said, “would you all please come to the office and take a look at this request?” Apologies were made, Tonys reputation was restored and the troublesome employee was reprimanded the very next day.

Tell us your story about how whattimedoiwork.com’s restaurant employee scheduling software has kept things fair in your workplace.


3 Ways Online Scheduling Software Can Make Things More Convenient

04 Jun, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Managers of hospitality establishments often wear many hats. They control what happens on the restaurant floor as well as what happens in the back room. Along with those responsibilities, they are also tasked with scheduling employees for their shifts. Unfortunately, this tedious task is often one of the most unflattering and unexciting parts of the job. Thankfully, online scheduling software has turned a once monotonous task into a simple and enjoyable one. Does your company currently utilize online scheduling? Take a look at these 3 ways online scheduling software can make things more convenient, and benefit your business.

  • Real-Time Scheduling – Everyone leads a busy life. Between cooking dinner and taking the kids to their next soccer game, a free moment is hard to find. It is extremely important for employees to know their work schedule as soon as possible so they can plan for the upcoming week. Real-time online scheduling allows a manager to map out and plan the schedule for the following week and it is instantly available in real-time to all employees. This feature allows an employee to read their schedule on their mobile device or any place they have an internet connection rather than making an extra trip to the workplace on their day off. By planning their schedule online, employees will also be informed immediately if a change has been made or if they are no longer needed for their shift.
  • Organize Employee Requests – Managers are often handed a plethora of crinkled papers that ask for shifts, days and weeks off. Unfortunately, if those papers are lost or a manager doesn’t remember that they received the request, upcoming schedules can make employees unhappy and cause no shows. Online scheduling software makes things convenient for not only the manager, but employees as well. As soon as an employee is aware that they will need time off, they can simply enter it into the system themselves, or managers can enter it immediately for them, and they will be reminded on the schedule to not give the employee a shift for that time that they requested off. This capability will equal happy employees and will never put a business in a bind looking for someone to cover a shift at the last minute.
  • Schedule for Sales Trends and Based on Performance – Do you know what your most profitable time of the day is? What about your most profitable employee? Which employees are customers most likely to prefer? With online scheduling software, managers can better determine the most efficient coverage so they can schedule smarter in the future. For many businesses, there are often peak times and slow times during each day. There are also employees who can handle the workload during these times better than others. Having this information allows you to plan for your business’ trends and define which of your employees are most effective based on their performance. With What Time Do I Work.com, you’ll always end up creating a more efficient schedule for your business.

Although the scheduling part of a manager’s job isn’t always fun, it can be a lot easier than most make it by utilizing online scheduling software. Not only does it bring convenience to the job, but it also offers many other features that can benefit and even grow your business. When you spend less time scheduling your employees, you spend more time mingling with your customers, which keeps them coming back for more. More customers equal more revenue, which is really the best part.


Don’t Let Work Scheduling Become a Friction Between You and Your Staff

28 May, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Managers of hospitality establishments often face many challenges on a daily basis. Scheduling staff members for specific shifts and days can be one of the biggest challenges of all. Finding a happy medium between scheduling the correct people for certain shifts and jobs while also choosing the shift and days they are most happy with is an obstacle within itself. In many situations, work scheduling can cause animosity between managers and their staff when someone feels like they aren’t getting what they want.

Often times, staff members want to work a specific shift because of other commitments and would prefer to work certain days of the week. If too many employees request a specific day off, managers are stuck with the difficult job of deciding who has to work in order to have an appropriate number of employees working. Because of this, friction can arise because someone who originally wanted the day off will have to end up working. With scheduling software, managers can simply input information about which days an employee is requesting off and keep track of it on a first come, first serve basis. When the quota of eligible employees off on a certain day is exceeded, the system will inform the manager so no one else can request that day off.

Managers also have the ability to simply enter each employee’s availability into the system to simply and easily create upcoming schedules based on that information. Not only will the manager’s job become instantly easier, but any friction between managers and staff will be erased with the automatic scheduling of the system. If your company is looking for information on employee scheduling, visit www.whattimedoiwork.com.


Make Your Life Easier By Using Online Scheduling Software

20 May, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As the manager of a restaurant or retail store, you’re constantly busy. You are on your feet all day and always trying to guarantee that everyone, including employees and customers, are taken care of. Using some type of an online scheduling software can help.

It is not until that very rare free moment of the day that you can actually sit down to work on the employees schedules for the following week. At that time, you pull crinkled pieces of paper from your pocket with a variety of days that your staff needs off or shifts that they need to switch to. Keeping it all straight can be exhausting and can keep you away from what’s most important: your customers.

Managers can make their life easier by using online scheduling software. With web scheduling software from a company like WhatTimeDoIWork.com, a manager will have more time to do the things they need and want to be doing, and less time at a desk in the back of the business. Employees will be able to easily enter information about days they need to have off and shifts they would prefer without having to jot it down for their manager to remember. Employees can communicate with their manager and fellow employees in real time from any computer that has an internet connection.

Scheduling software truly makes life easier for everyone. Managers will have more time working on a better environment for their customers and employees will be able to simply enter their availability into a system instead of bothering someone to do it. You customers will benefit most of all because they will leave your business happy.


Why you need an Opening Checklist for Your Managers

23 Feb, 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whether you are the manager responsible for opening the business every morning or you are the bar or restaurant owner wanting to ensure that the opening shift starts the business on the right foot for the day, you need to have a framework for what needs to be achieved before you welcome the first customer.

Having a checklist on hand each morning will allow you to focus on the key areas without forgetting anything while ensuring you keep your staff on task and focused on their goals for the day.

A set of standard operating procedures are essential for the consistency needed to achieve success in the bar. Furthermore, setting standards in place early on means you’ll have the ability to measure the performance of your staff against the standards set.

It’s easy for the opening shift to be distracted by deliveries, phone calls, staff issues but a framework for keeping them on track can only help. Have your manager fill this out every morning and keep it on file to review if something goes wrong.

Use an Opening Checklist to streamline the opening shift and to ensure consistency between different managers.

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