The uncertainty caused by COVID-19 has made it difficult for restaurateurs to manage their staff. The working and success of delivery kitchens/dark kitchens directly depends on the employees working in them. It is thus essential that restaurateurs have a systematic way to schedule their shifts. To help you get the most out of your workforce, we have made you a list of features that you should be looking for while choosing an ideal scheduling software. In this blog article, we include the following:
- What to consider before choosing an ideal employee scheduling software
- Ways to communicate your restaurant closure with staff
Features You Should Be Looking At While Choosing The Right Scheduling Software
Here are the things you should consider before choosing the right employee scheduling software for your needs.
1. Easy Shift-Based Scheduling
Running a takeout or a delivery kitchen requires an efficient scheduling system for your employees. The system must ensure that none of the employees are overworked, or are facing any issues while working. You should also be aware of your employees’ availability, their upcoming work schedules, and leave balances if any.
The software should be able to automatically track such data, and analyze employee availability. Once you have found the available work hours for each employee, you’ll have twice as many schedules to create.
2. Integration With POS
Integrating with POS is another major feature that you should be looking for in your software. Understanding your employees through your customer data is essential to identify their complete potential. The ideal employee management software should be able to give you essential data and reports including the number of orders upsold, the frequency of and successful deliveries per employee, and the hours worked by each employee. Once these reports are analyzed, you can incentivize good performance, and thus retain your staff longer.
3. Mobile Friendly
Another important aspect you should be looking for in your employee scheduling software is its compatibility with mobile devices. Since it is unreasonable to expect that an employee would have access to a laptop or desktop computer or even a tablet at all times, your software must be optimized for mobiles. This way, both the restaurant owners and employees can keep track of shift timings and workload, and at all times.
4. Quick Communication Within Staff Members
Another important feature you should be looking for in your employee scheduling software is the ease of communication with employees. An ideal employee scheduling software should allow efficient communication regarding employee shifts, requests for sick leaves, performance management, etc. An integrated platform that helps employees plan their vacation time and track their schedules can create greater transparency and trust.
5. Covering Unusual Periods Of Activity
Amidst the chaos and emergency that this pandemic has created, it is unjustified that restaurant employees are overworked. An ideal employee management software should be able to track and cover any unscheduled breaks, planned employee activities, or absence shifts for too long.
All in all, the adversity of such times may lead to chaos and unsuccessful employee management. Having an efficient automated software system can help you stay afloat within the competitive restaurant business.
