Minimum Wage Increases

What are you doing about the minimum wage increase?  If you are an operator in the food-service, hospitality, retail, or other service-oriented sector, the recent increase in federal minimum wage likely affects your bottom line – the profits at your business.

A number of other articles discuss the impact of this federally mandated change on businesses, including some of our favorites:

As a business, how do you combat the extra expense of workers?  One way is smarter labor management tools that can save you money – like TimeForge.  TimeForge can save you 3-5% of your labor costs by improving your staff retention, decreasing turnover, freeing up manager time, and enforcing the labor schedule — all of which provide direct improvements to your bottom line.

Turnover and Retention are important metrics at any business.

  • It can cost more than $3,500 to replace a single employee making $8.00 / hour, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  This accounts for recruitment, training, interviewing, hiring, reduced productivity, etc…  If the turnover at your business is 80% – that means that 16 of the 20 employees you hire in any given year, are no longer with your business.  What does that turnover cost your business?  16 * $3,500 = $56,000 in lost profit because 16 employees left.  That’s serious money out of the business!

Manager time is expensive, use it wisely.

  • Most managers in the hospitality industry take more than two hours to build a labor schedule, every week.  With a low annual salary of only $40,000 (below the annual average), two hours weekly is $2,080 in direct manager costs for building a labor schedule.  This excludes the time necessary for rewriting the schedules, answering phone calls, updating availability, and all the rest of the scheduling duties a manager needs to do.  And while the manager is building schedules, they cannot run the business.

Enforcing the employee schedule has immediate savings.

  • Employees commonly ride the clock, clocking in early and clocking out late.  Every few minutes adds up.  A staff member clocking in early two times a week, and clocking out late twice per week, who earns the new minimum wage of $7.25, will burn through an extra $362.50 per year from the business.  With 20 employees, that is more than $7,250 per year, and an additional 20% in benefits, taxes, and other fees.  More than $8,700 in extra labor costs.

So, with only 20 employees, the business is likely losing:

  • $56,000 in turnover and retention costs
  • $  2,080 in schedule building costs
  • $  8,700 in schedule enforcement costs
  • $66,780 in direct labor costs

That is $66,780 in profits that the business is losing.  What will TimeForge cost a business with 20 employees?

TimeForge Lite will cost the business about $25 per month, or $300 per year – well below the cost of even a single manager’s time to build a schedule.

TimeForge Max will cost the business about $100 per month, or about $1,200 per year – complete with labor scheduling, accounting integration, attendance monitoring, and everything else needed to properly manage labor.

What happens with five stores? Twenty? Three-hundred? Labor costs go up drastically, the more stores that a business operates.

Use TimeForge labor management software to put money back in the business and save thousands every year.

TimeForge will reduce turnover, improve retention, free up manager time, and increase store profitability at your business!  TimeForge employee scheduling and labor management software is used by owners and operators of hospitality, food-service, retail, and other service-oriented businesses around the world.

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Southwest Food Expo

We’re back from the Southwest Food Expo, which was held in Dallas, TX at the Dallas Convention Center.

Last year, the show was one of the largest restaurant and food service shows in the UNited States.  In fact, we exhibited during the 2008 show, and spoke to hundreds of independent and chain restaurants, as well as a few retailers, and a number of culinary students and schools.  The response to TimeForge was great!

However, this year the show was much smaller — only about 400 exhibitors, and the show seemed to be slow, similar to what we experienced at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) show, and at the National Association for Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) trade shows in 2009.  The exhibitors we spoke to said it was slower as well.

If you are in the Dallas, Houston, or Austin areas and you need a Point of Sale system, a full service labor management system (employee scheduling and/or attendance management), or just help with your computer systems and networks, please make sure to check out our partners!

TimeForge employee scheduling software is used by owners and operators of foodservice and hospitality related businesses around the world.  TimeForge will reduce turnover, improve retention, and increase profits at your business!

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Labor Management for Car Wash Companies

TimeForge has always been the leading employee scheduling and attendance management for the hospitality, food-service, and restaurant industries.  Did you know that TimeForge works just as well for other industries in the service and retail markets?

TimeForge works great for car wash businesses – both conveyor and self-service car washes have complicated labor management needs, and can benefit from the speed and convenience of TimeForge.  In a recession, efficient employee scheduling at a car wash operation can spell the difference between survival and success.

Read more about TimeForge and car washes here.

TimeForge employee scheduling software is used by owners and operators of car washes, retail, hospitality, food-service, and other service-oriented businesses around the world.  TimeForge will increase profitability, reduce turnover, and improve retention at your business!

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National Restaurant Association 2009

Whew!  We are done with our whirlwind through the NRA 2009 tradeshow in Chicago, IL – what a great two days.

We are a technology company with a focus on operations and human resources for restaurants, retailers, and other businesses that hire part-time employees – we spent a lot of time examining the tradeshow and looking for improvements in technology for operations or human resources.

Some of the very neat technology at the show included:

  • Dinerware POS is a phenomenal Point of Sale system, and one of our valued partners.  Several sales staff and other partners were on site to show off their latest version.
  • Silverware POS recently debuted and released a best-of-breed restaurant POS product, Avrio, which was onsite at the show.  What a wonderful group of individuals, and a great product!
  • MonkeyMedia Software displayed their rocking catering software outside of the Technology Pavilion.  They caused a bit of a comotion by handing out bananas!
  • QuandraNet is similiar to OpenTable, but with a very, very smart table management software program that increases table turns in addition to handling reservations.
  • Corvirtus was showing off their products that take the guesswork out of hiring. Very neat algorithms, and years of research create a great hiring tool.  Wonderful stuff.

Overall, the show attendance seemed to be down compared to last year, which seems to be the general consensus.

TimeForge employee scheduling and workforce management software is used by managers, owners, and operators of retail stores, restaurants, bars, grills, clubs, and other service-oriented businesses to increase profits, reduce turnover, and improve retention.

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Table Spacing and Proximity Impact Restaurant Spending

Table spacing is important for determining cash flow, occupancy, and customer satisfaction and is especially important in fast casual and fine dining restaurants.

Ever wonder how restaurant table proximity or spacing impacts customer satisfaction and spending?

Read Stephani Robson and Sheryl Kimes report titled Don’t Sit So Close to Me: Restaurant Table Characteristics and Guest Satisfaction.

The findings of their report suggest that not only should customers be seated at right-sized tables for the restaurant, but that when the distance between tables is less than three feet, both satisfaction and spending are decreased.

The full report is available from Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research web site.

TimeForge labor management software is used by restaurant owners and operators around the world to increase profits, reduce turnover, and improve retention. TimeForge provides powerful and easy-to-use employee scheduling, attendance, online timecards, and labor management software for restaurant, retail, and other service industries.

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Human Resources, Hiring Success, and Twitter

Secrets for Hiring Success

Employee scheduling is an important function of human resources and operations at your business.  Good employee schedules will reduce turnover and increase retention, improving cash flow and profits.  Tracking time and attendance is also an important human resource task.  Other HR tasks include processing payroll, hiring, exit interviews, and employee onboarding, among many others.

Hiring is often one of the most complicated and difficult tasks for operations and human resources to perform.  This 7 Secrets for Hiring Success article from Success Performance Solutions is a great reference for hiring managers everywhere in all industries.

Twitter in Human Resources, According to Workforce.com

Twitter is a popular micro-blogging tool that is receiving a lot of press, and has grown significantly over the past 3 years.  A number of industries, including Hollywood, television, music, and others are using Twitter to help grow and keep fans “in the know”.  However, Twitter is also finding a number of uses in the Human Resources (HR) world, as reported by Workforce.com

Make sure to follow TimeForge on Twitter!

TimeForge provides powerful and easy-to-use employee scheduling and online labor management software for restaurant, retail, and other service industries. TimeForge software is used by restaurant owners and operators around the world to increase profits, reduce turnover, and improve retention.

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Managing Employee Schedules is Important for Restaurants

Managing employees in the foodservice or hospitality industry is a process that can quickly become a nightmare for both staff and managers.

Staff expectations and requirements will not mix well with business requirements leading to lower employee retention, higher employee turnover, and a reduction in profits for your restaurant.

Most businesses in the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industries such as table service restaurants, bars, clubs, country clubs, and quick service / fast food restaurants have very little control over the monthly budget. After a lease is signed the building and utility costs will remain relatively fixed, licensing fees and insurance rates will not change drastically month over month, and credit card processing fees usually scale with the business growth.

Managers, however, can directly influence three of the largest budget line items:

  • Advertising expenses are normally purchased in 3 – 12 month quantities, and are not likely to change on a monthly basis.
  • Inventory including food and beverage expenses can change based on a number of factors, and switching suppliers is difficult and time consuming.
  • Labor costs will vary on a monthly basis based on the prevailing wage, employees leaving (or being fired), staff communication, management practices, and a number of other factors that can be directly controlled by managers.

Of these three line items, managers have the most control over labor costs, which can be manipulated to improve business profits. Inversely, improper management of labor costs will reduce the business’s ability to satisfy customers and expose the business to the risk of liability lawsuits and labor violation fines – instantly slashing the restaurant’s profitability!

Improving employee labor scheduling and time / attendance management should be an ongoing effort in your business that results in happier staff members, better customer satisfaction, and higher profits for your company.

TimeForge is a leading provide of powerful and simple-to-use employee scheduling and online labor management software for the restaurant and retail industries. TimeForge software is used by restaurant owners and operators around the globe to increase profits, reduce turnover, and improve retention.

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National Restaurant Show 2009 Coming Soon

We’re very excited to be attending the National Restaurant Association’s annual tradeshow again this year!

This is the fourth (fifth?) year we have attended the Chicago restaurant show — and every year we find new and exciting technologies, techniques, and products to help restaurant owners and operators.

We are looking forward to see what is in store this year even though the trade show industry has seen some drastic reduction in attendance (the National Association of Food & Equipment Manufacturer show was drastically smaller this year) with the current economic climate.

A number of the team members from TimeForge will be in attendance — and we will be using the TimeForge blog and twitter to update our readers and customers.  If you’d like to sit down with us, for a demo of TimeForge, dinner, a drink, or just some decent conversation – please contact us!

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Get the Most out of your POS

Owners and operators in the retail and restaurant industries face a common problem with Point of Sale (POS) systems …. sophisticated POS systems can take some time to learn – and operators are too busy with day-to-day operations to learn the systems completely.

As David Scott Peters points out in a quick blog post over at FOHBOH (Front of House, Back of House), a deep understanding of your Point of Sale system is an absolute must.  David points out that in addition to being a cash register, POS systems can perform a number of additional tasks, such as locating ideal food costs, managing inventory, controlling labor costs, and much more.

However, one aspect that David did not touch upon is that there are often major capability differences between the various Point of Sale manufacturers.  Some systems do have built-in inventory, food costing, and labor management modules, but many others do not have these modules.

In many cases, it is preferable to identify and use a best-of-breed solution designed specifically for the task at hand.  For example, CostGuard continues to develop and maintain the best inventory managament system available for restaurants, bars, and clubs.  TimeForge labor management software is designed from the ground-up to make labor management and employee scheduling easy for restaurant and retail operators.

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Halo POS Restaurant Data

The restaurant industry in the United States has seen some up and down months over the last year according to the National Restaurant Association.

Halo, an online provider of restaurant and retail Point of Sale software, recently released their “Halo Zata Restaurant Index” for March.  The Zata Restaurant index tracks gross sales that are made by Halo’s US based customers, and this months numbers show that there may be a light and the end of the economic tunnel.

The month of March saw a sales increase of 0.7% – which may be a sign of an upcoming improvement to the United States restaurant industry.

Read more about Halo POS at their website, and keep track of their blog to see updates on the Halo Zata Restaurant Index.

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heartWhat some of our clients have to say ...

We are one year into it now, well past being enamored with the newness. We are married to TimeForge. It's as essential to us now as any of our management tools today, and we very happy about that.- Steve @ Hermosa Cyclery
We really like the program so far. I know that it is geared towards restaurants, but we are a real estate company and we love it because it is inexpensive and it is so easy to use.- Nicole @ Exit Premier Realty
The Timeforge scheduling system has not only increased our efficiency tremendously; decreased the errors in what is normally an error prone environment; it has also saved us ten times what it costs us each month.- Michael @ Tiara Cafe
I would highly recommend TimeForge to anyone making work schedules. ... What used to take 1-2 hours, now takes 15 minutes. The reports section is comprehensive and useful.- Lawrence Payne @ Mid Pacific Country Club
I've been really pleased with this latest version of TimeForge. I'm really getting familiar with this program and its become a great time saver! Keep up the good work!- Loren @ Fresh Produce
Before using TimeForge, creating a schedule took 2 hours. With TimeForge, it takes less than 10 minutes.- Gail @ Kerr Drug

Quick Contact

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Phone: 1 866 684 7191
Fax: 1 866 684 7191
E-Mail: info@timeforge.com

 

About TimeForge

TimeForge builds the best labor management tools available for the food-service, retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries. This includes employee scheduling, attendance management, and other labor management tools.

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