Multiple Unit Labor Scheduling

Posted on Nov 30, 2007 by apresley in TimeForge Features

If you have multiple units, scheduling can quickly grow into a nightmare. Many companies require that store managers fax schedules to a central location for record keeping, and employees that can work at more than one location can quickly confuse the schedule. TimeForge can make your life simple again!

Designed for both independent and multi-unit operators, TimeForge can manage an unlimited number of “Locations” with a single account. Employees and supervisors can be restricted to specific locations, and managers can oversee the activities of multiple locations. Before posting a schedule, TimeForge notifies managers and supervisors of conflicts with other locations. Employees never discover their name on conflicting schedules from two locations. Of course, employees can enter availability and requests for multiple locations just as they do with a single location!

Managers can setup locations by logging into TimeForge and clicking on the “Settings” tab, then clicking on the “Edit Locations” link. Managers and supervisors can switch between locations with the location selector box in the top right-hand corner of the TimeForge page. Locations with pending shift swaps or request changes are automatically noted with an asterisk in the drop-down.

Are you ready to go home early? It should take less than 5 minutes to make the employee labor schedule for your business! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant?

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Employee Scheduling Software Benefits

Posted on Nov 25, 2007 by apresley in TimeForge Features

Leaving for home early today? You could be if you schedule employees with TimeForge.

With TimeForge’s AutoScheduler, you no longer waste hours checking that every shift has the right employee scheduled. The AutoScheduler understands the many different rules such as minimum and maximum hours for employees, skill levels of employees, whether or not employees can work doubles, labor costs, and when employees are available to work (availability and requests). With this information and without any effort on your part, TimeForge automatically schedules the right employees in the right shifts.

TimeForge’s daily templates make labor scheduling simple! Each daily template can have shifts which are pre-assigned to employees (salaried employees) or they can be assigned to employees when you create the actual schedule (part-time laborers). Many TimeForge users have templates for each day of the week, and additional templates for special occasions. To create Templates, click on the Schedules tab, and then click on Edit Templates.

The TimeForge Availability and Request system helps quickly build accurate schedules that match employees availability and requests. TimeForge assumes that all employees are available by default, so employees only need to enter when they cannot work. Requests can be simple, such as “I need next Wednesday off”, or complex, such as “I cannot work every 3rd Thursday or Friday starting next week.” Requests entered by employees must be approved by a manager or supervisor before the request shows up on the schedule.

Remember, TimeForge requires no contracts and no long-term commitments. There are no additional service contracts, no per-call or per-hour support fees, and you can cancel TimeForge at any time, for any reason. Upgrades are included in the monthly price, and we take care of the data backups. Best of all, setup is free!

Are you ready to go home early? It should take less than 5 minutes to make the employee labor schedule for your business! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant?

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Improper Labor Staffing

Posted on Nov 22, 2007 by apresley in Articles

Nation’s Restaurant News recently posted a blog worth at least $20 in immediate lost sales, and perhaps several hundred in lost future sales. The picture is reposted here for reference:

We have no idea what occurred to keep the employee away from their customers for 30 minutes. However, based on our experience one of two things happened , and both scenarios can be prevented with a good labor management system such as TimeForge.com

Possible Scenario One: Managers were too busy with other details of the operation and could not oversee the staff and customer interactions. Management could be mopping the floor, paying bills, training new staff, making the schedule, or any number of other tasks. Regardless of the job they were performing, the managers were preoccupied and could not properly manage their store to ensure that customers were being served promptly.

Solution: Regardless of which task occupied the manager’s time, they were not available to manage the store floor. If the store was using TimeForge.com to build their schedule, and manage their labor, management would spend 4 more hours on the floor, not in the back-office making a schedule. A good workforce management solution could give the management team another four (or more!) hours per week “on-the-floor”.

Possible Scenario Two: The manager responsible for the schedule was inexperienced or unable to schedule the workforce correctly. Too many employees may have been scheduled earlier in the day, and too many of those were sent home. Or, perhaps too few were scheduled all day, and those that were scheduled could not keep up with the increased customer demand.

Solution: Inexperienced and experienced managers both benefit from TimeForge.com’s graphical scheduling capabilities, more than 20 labor reports, and many schedule visualization tools. Users of TimeForge.com can quickly see employees that are scheduled or not scheduled, which staff members are “on call” or “extras”, and when employees are available to work.

Regardless of what happened at this restaurant, poor staffing and labor management led to lost sales, and a bad reputation.

Are you ready to go home early? It should take less than 5 minutes to make the employee labor schedule for your business! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant?

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