Labor Management. NOW Simple.

Still trying to figure out what social media is, and how it’s going to help your retail or restaurant business?   Not quite sure what Twitter may be, why you need a Facebook page, or what you need a blog for?   You are not alone!

Starbucks Coffee is still trying to figure out social media, and how to make it work from a business perspective.   So far, they’ve managed to rack up more than 1 million facebook fans, more than 81,000 Twitter followers, and are now ranked number 6 on the Top 100 Social Brands list for 2008.   Read more about this article at Nation’s Restaurant News ….

• You can follow TimeForge on Twitter, and read all about restaurant and retail labor scheduling.
• TimeForge has a Facebook application, so that you and your staff can receive schedules, shift swap notices, requests for time off, timecards, messages, and more with your facebook account!

How complicated is the employee schedule at your restaurant?   Are you making the best possible work schedule, or are you wasting precious labor resources?   How much of the turnover at your business is created because of bad (or late) employee schedules?

Did you know that TimeForge can reduce turnover, improve retention, and increase profits at your restaurant? Sign up today for a free trial!

Related articles or pages

• TimeForge Labor Management, a quick background ….
• Supercharged Scheduling from Nations Restaurant News
• Managing Employee Schedules is Important for Restaurants
• Gyms / Health Clubs
• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 2)

During economic booms, such as those witnessed during the last few years, many businesses focused on increasing sales while their operations lagged behind.   Operational aspects such as inventory control, portion sizing, reducing turnover, improving employee retention, and training are all import details of hospitality and retail businesses that can be swept under the rug in good times.

Jim Sullivan, the chief executive of Sullivision.com recently penned “In hard times, control costs instead of hiding your inefficiencies by just pumping up volume” at Nation’s Restaurant News.   Although his article is meant for restaurants, it is also applicable to retailers, hotels, and other similar businesses.   Jim covers a number of issues, including one aspect of running a business that is often forgotten in the day to day operations:

Remember, all money is not created equal: $100 in sales is $100 less taxes and expenses; $100 in savings is $100. Here are some fiscal fundamentals to review and execute with your team in both tough times and boom times.

Now is an excellent time to revisit your business’s operational procedures, making them be more efficient and cost conscience – immediately improving profit at your business.   A variety of tools, including TimeForge, are designed to improve cost controls at your business – producing schedules in minutes instead of not hours.

Can you build a schedule in less than 10 minutes?   How many thousands of dollars do you spend making schedules every year?   Did you know that TimeForge can minimize costs and increase profits through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, pizzeria, hotel, club, bar, or retail business. Sign up today for a free trial!

Related articles or pages

• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Updates to Employee Scheduling and Time and Attendance Software
• TimeForge Newsletter , November Edition (Part 2)
• Texas Restaurant Association Show — 2008
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business

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?

Related articles or pages

• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 1)
• Track Staff Certifications and Qualifications
• Supercharged Scheduling from Nations Restaurant News
• Schedule Staff the Way You Want!
• Graphical Availability and Requests for Employee Scheduling

Nation’s Restaurant News published an article entitled “Supercharged Scheduling” on Oct 8, 2007. If, like us, you receive the e-mail newsletter, you probably received the story in a “Tech Trends from NRN-Online” email last week.

The teaser introduction starts: “Why does one restaurant hum along, making schedules with little more than pencil and paper or a spreadsheet, while others see reason to spend tens of thousands of dollars on sophisticated labor optimization technology? Selecting what’s right for a particular operation means making a clear-eyed assessment of the complexity of labor demands and the goals of the business.”

At TimeForge, we believe that every restaurant, bar, club, hotel, motel, or catering business should be using an employee scheduling program. However, we do take issue with the idea that it takes “thousands of dollars” worth of investment to get sophisticated employee scheduling software. In fact, you can get started with TimeForge for $1.50 per month!

The article goes on to discuss four different products, including some “best of breed” and “all in one solutions”. These included:

• Radiant Software’s MenuLink featuring their installation at Fazoli’s
• Time Management’s TMx featuring their integration with Squirrel POS for Logan’s Roadhouse
• Deterministics scheduling package, featuring T.G.I. Friday’s
• TDR3′s HotSchedules software, featuring Kona Grill

If you were at FS-TEC this year, you probably saw all four products on the show floor.

Our favorite quote is one we hear from TimeForge users all the time: “It really improved managers’ quality of life and made it easier to write schedules, and [helped] shifts go smoother.”

How long does it take to make your employee schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor expenses through effective employee labor management at your business, bar, club, or restaurant.

Related articles or pages

• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 1)
• Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 1)
• What's New in TimeForge? (Part 1)
• What's New in Employee Scheduling? (Part 2)
• TimeForge Workforce Scheduling is now listed in FindApps.com

As recently reported on Nation’s Restaurant News, “(Sep. 27) Get in, set up an effective staff schedule and move on to the next task: that’s what most restaurateurs want out of their scheduling software. But knowing that doesn’t necessarily make their search for the right software any easier, as the schedulers available today run the gamut from elementary point-of-sale-system modules to high-end workforce management applications.

The trick, some operators indicate, is to find the right system or service for your operation without buying features that will go unused.”

NRN reviewed two products in their article:

• ScheduleAnywhere
• ScheduleWriter

TimeForge.com has all of the features of both of the reviewed products, with an easier to use interface, an integrated AutoScheduler, and better pricing! But then, I suppose we are biased.

You can read the full article at Nation’s Restaurant News. They require registration, but the registration is free.

How long does it take to make your labor schedules? It should take less than 5 minutes! Did you know that TimeForge can streamline and minimize labor costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

Related articles or pages

• National Restaurant Association 2009
• Support for Salaried Employees from within Dinerware
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Simple, Fast Employee Scheduling
• Restaurant, Bar, and Club Scheduling Options (Part 2 of 4)