Labor Management. NOW Simple.

If you aren’t using the TimeForge Daily Log feature to help manage your store, you should be!   The TimeForge Daily Log makes quick work of tedious tasks related to the day-to-day operations of your business.

Use the TimeForge Daily Log to store information you want staff or managers to be able to access anytime.

The Daily Log is actually three different log books, or store manuals, which can store handy notes in different formats.

1. The Manager Log stores information that is only relevant to management at your business. This could include information about inventory deliveries, staff problems, upcoming employee reviews, daily sales information, or anything else that your business needs to track.   All the notes and details about your business are in one easy to find, read, and search location that is only accessible by managers, and approved supervisors.

You can use the Manager Log to update management on issues like sales figures.

2. The Staff Log records information that is sent by management to all of the staff at a location.   This could include notes about upcoming events, changes to work policies, new documents, or anything else that the general staff need to know about. You can upload files (like employee handbooks, restaurant menus, or training policies) directly to the staff log for employees to review at home.

3. The Audit Log is a proprietary TimeForge logging system that records specific information about your business activities.   For example, a record is created if the schedule is altered after it’s published, payroll records are changed, or time off is approved.   Each action could have repercussions for the profitability of your business, so it’s important to track these actions.   Additionally, the weather for the day is recorded.

The Audit Log automatically records weather information, schedule changes, and any other information that might affect your profitability.

With the “Categories” feature, you can create different categories for logs and notes to be filed. For example, you can create a “Reference material” category in the Staff Log for store policy information, etc.

You can add your own categories in the Daily Log.

You can upload files to the Daily Log, so important reference material is stored directly with TimeForge for staff or managers’ easy access. TimeForge and all uploaded paperwork is accessible 24/7 online by management, making paperwork less chaotic in labor management.

TimeForge‘s Daily Log feature also makes accident reports more manageable. When an employee injured on the job, or equipment breaks down, the paperwork that must be filled out winds up stuffed in a file somewhere or buried under a stack of invoices, often never to be seen again. Thanks to TimeForge’s unique uploading capability to the Daily Log, you can also scan (or take pictures) accident reports, jot down any need-to-know information, and even “tag” an employee in the entry for automatic integration into that employee’s HR file.

TimeForge’s new Daily Log update is available for immediate use for TimeForge customers!

Sign up for a free trial and let TimeForge simplify labor management for your business today!

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Industry analysts say sales at auto supply retailers have been bolstered during the downturn by customers purchasing replacement parts as they maintain older vehicles rather than investing in new models, a cost-saving trend that is likely to continue as the economy recovers. That’s good news for the auto supply industry.

But that doesn’t mean that auto supply store managers can get sloppy about employee scheduling and attendance monitoring. In fact, dealing with an uptick in business in a downturn makes auto parts supply employee scheduling and attendance monitoring even trickier-you need to schedule enough employees to handle your customers, without over-staffing or watching your profits leach into unnecessary overtime. Without careful management, relatively small successes can lead to large failures.  

Even in more normal times, auto parts and supply employee scheduling and attendance monitoring can be a headache. The manager building the schedule has to consider employee abilities/skills, anticipated sales volume, employee availability, individual work requests, accrued PTO, labor laws for employees who are minors, overtime, and overall labor costs.

Make a mistake with any of these details, and the store can lose sales, employees, or be fined. Managers have to communicate the schedule (and every shift swap or schedule update) to all the employees. They have to keep an eye on late or missed shifts, early clock ins and late clock outs, or buddy time punching.

It’s tedious, it’s time-consuming, and it’s crucial.

These are dizzying times for auto parts and supply store managers. The industry-and key players-seem to be changing on a minute by minute basis. Efficient auto parts employee scheduling and attendance monitoring is essential, but there are plenty of other urgent issues vying for a manager’s attention.

That’s where a powerful employee scheduling and attendance software system like Time Forge comes in.

With TimeForge you can…

• Create a schedule in 30 seconds rather than hours.
• Manage schedules at one or many locations.
• Schedule those with particular skills or the most experience in the high volume time slots.
• Notify employees of upcoming schedules and schedule changes by email or text message – eliminating confusion and missed shifts
• Monitor attendance from a remote location using the web, a cell phone, or even Facebook.
• Stop early clock ins and late clock outs or buddy punching to provide immediate labor cost controls.
• Accurately forecast future scheduling needs and labor costs.
• Save hours every day that can be used to solve pressing problems not untangling scheduling snafus.
• Increase profits by 3-5%.
• And much more…

Read more about TimeForge Scheduling, TimeForge Attendance, and TimeForge Daily Log.

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Building employee schedules can be a time consuming and laborious task, and getting a schedule wrong means higher turnover and lower profits. With TimeForge, managers can quickly and easily review and post labor schedules, approve (or deny) time off, and manage employee shift swaps – all in a few seconds!

TimeForge Scheduling has been designed from the ground up to keep managers on the floor, not stuck in the back room working in Excel or on a clipboard!

TimeForge is a web-based employee scheduling and labor management system that ensures staff stay informed of any schedule changes with text messages, email messages, Facebook, and smart phone access (such as a Blackberry or iPhone) – automatically!

More than 2,500 businesses around the world have used TimeForge to manage their labor – retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, pharmacies, valet companies, doctors offices, children’s health clinics, child care centers, churches, and many other businesses!

Build a Schedule in Seconds!

• Ease to Use
  There is no software to install, and includes a fast web-based setup.
• Cost-Effective
  Weekly schedules can be created in under a minute.
• AutoScheduler
  Gives you and other managers more time “on the floor”.
• Balanced Schedules
  Balance staff requests and labor requirements to create a perfect schedule.
• Daily Reminders
  Staff members receive daily reminders about work schedules
• Reduce Turnover
  Automatic labor management keeps staff happy, reducing turnover!
• Automatic Notifications
  TimeForge automatically notifies staff of any schedule changes.
• Control Costs
  Control labor costs with sophisticated reporting
• Instant Return On Investment
  Instant ROI so you can focus on growing your business
• Affordable
  TimeForge provides plans that are affordable for businesses of all sizes!

Employee Scheduling Software is also known as Labor Scheduling Software, and some companies refer to this type of software as Enterprise Employee Scheduling Software. Whatever your organization calls it, TimeForge Scheduling is the most powerful tool available to manage labor and control profits at your business! Read more about the capabilities of TimeForge Scheduling, or Sign Up for a Free Trial.

Download a TimeForge Media Kit, which contains more information about TimeForge Scheduling.

Related articles or pages

• Is Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!
• Easily Manage Labor with Innovative Staffing Reports
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Building a Labor Schedule is Complicated. Use Tools to Keep Managers and Employees Happy.
• Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 3)

Building employee schedules can be a time consuming and laborious task, and getting a schedule wrong means higher turnover and lower profits. With TimeForge, managers can quickly and easily review and post labor schedules, approve (or deny) time off, and manage employee shift swaps – all in a few seconds!

TimeForge Scheduling has been designed from the ground up to keep managers on the floor, not stuck in the back room working in Excel or on a clipboard!

TimeForge is a web-based employee scheduling and labor management system that ensures staff stay informed of any schedule changes with text messages, email messages, Facebook, and smart phone access (such as a Blackberry or iPhone) – automatically!

More than 2,500 businesses around the world have used TimeForge to manage their labor – retail stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, pharmacies, valet companies, doctors offices, children’s health clinics, child care centers, churches, and many other businesses!

Build a Schedule in Seconds!

• Ease to Use
  There is no software to install, and includes a fast web-based setup.
• Cost-Effective
  Weekly schedules can be created in under a minute.
• AutoScheduler
  Gives you and other managers more time “on the floor”.
• Balanced Schedules
  Balance staff requests and labor requirements to create a perfect schedule.
• Daily Reminders
  Staff members receive daily reminders about work schedules
• Reduce Turnover
  Automatic labor management keeps staff happy, reducing turnover!
• Automatic Notifications
  TimeForge automatically notifies staff of any schedule changes.
• Control Costs
  Control labor costs with sophisticated reporting
• Instant Return On Investment
  Instant ROI so you can focus on growing your business
• Affordable
  TimeForge provides plans that are affordable for businesses of all sizes!

Employee Scheduling Software is also known as Labor Scheduling Software, and some companies refer to this type of software as Enterprise Employee Scheduling Software. Whatever your organization calls it, TimeForge Scheduling is the most powerful tool available to manage labor and control profits at your business! Read more about the capabilities of TimeForge Scheduling, or Sign Up for a Free Trial.

Download a TimeForge Media Kit, which contains more information about TimeForge Scheduling.

Related articles or pages

• Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!
• Easily Manage Labor with Innovative Staffing Reports
• Spend Less Time Scheduling Labor – More Time Managing Your Business
• Building a Labor Schedule is Complicated. Use Tools to Keep Managers and Employees Happy.
• Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 3)

TimeForge will automatically notify your employees of any changes made to the schedule after it is posted … you no longer need to repost the schedule for the changes to take effect! Make schedule changes quickly, and rest assured that your employees will be notified of any last minute changes to the schedule.

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

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The Nation Restaurant Association is forecasting a shortage in workers over the next several years, as the growth of the hospitality sector surpasses the available labor force. Instead of hiring new laborers, many growing operators will need to maximize their existing workforce , and supplementing trained workers with advanced technology solutions is a wise decision. Shorter training times, tighter staffing, faster service times, improved accuracy, and more consistent product quality are just a few of the benefits of blending technology and employees.

Restaurant Business, one of the nations leading restaurant and food-service publications, recently featured an article on the topic of “High Tech Takes on Big Labor“, focusing on many relevant technology advancements including:

• Pay-at-the-table technology (Faster table turnover which means more sales with fewer employees)
• Wireless order taking (Directly enter orders into the POS system, servers can focus on guest satisfaction)
• Web-based employee scheduling (Build schedules faster and notify employees of upcoming work, reduces overhead drastically)
• Online ordering (labor is not needed to field phone calls, enter orders, or pay customers)

A number of technology vendors were highlighted in the article, including TimeForge.com

Some of the scheduling related vendors mentioned in the article include:

• ASI’s Restaurant Manager Labor Scheduling Module that generates staffing rosters and then can be printed, posted to the website, emailed, or sent as text messages.

• CrunchTime!’s Labor and Workforce Management tool which is a web-based solution that interfaces with various POS and HR systems.

• HotSchedules web-based product which offers enhanced reports, rule-based auto-scheduling and POS integration.

• Deterministic’s Labor System is a web-based labor forecasting and management program.

• MacromatiX’s Scheduling and Labor Management product is a web-based QSR and fast-casual scheduling program which alerts managers when labor is “over” or “under”.

• MICROS Systems has a new mylabor product (part of the mymicros.net suite), offering a web-based labor management tool.

• TimeForge.com is a web-based scheduling system designed to keep management on the floor, and reduce turnover by keeping employees “in-the-loop”. The software builds a complete schedule in just a few seconds, and can be manually adjusted to meet specific needs of the business. Employees receive daily reminders about schedule changes, through the website, email, and text messages , and workers can trade shifts online, read messages from management, and request time off (or change their availability).

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

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• TimeForge Workforce Scheduling is now listed in FindApps.com
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• Workforce Labor Scheduling Updates (Part 2)
• Western Food Expo is a wrap!

Managers Save Hours Making Employee Schedules, Reduce Turnover

Lubbock, TX , October 22, 2007 – Labor is one of two large cost centers in the food-service business, and can account for more than thirty-percent (30%) of the expenses in a well managed restaurant or club. Managers spend hours every week deciding how to schedule their labor force , time that could be spent with guests or managing other aspects of the business. Poorly scheduling the work force can result in severe negative consequences for the business including higher turnover, reduction in morale, and increased payroll expenses. In development for almost three years, the latest version of TimeForge.com provides a quick, simple, and affordable solution for managers to schedule their work force.

According to a recent study performed by TimeForge.com, managers in the restaurant, bar, and club industry spend between one and eight hours every week building their labor schedule. Scheduling employees is a complicated and thankless task, requiring that managers juggle availability sheets, request and manager log books, and sticky notes in addition to memorizing overtime regulations, labor laws, and the staffing needs of the business. With an average salary and benefits package of more than $62,500 per year, managers can cost a restaurant more than $1,000 a month to maintain a basic labor schedule. The latest version of TimeForge.com turns employee scheduling into an automated task that can be performed in a few minutes – saving thousands of dollars every year for the store.

TimeForge.com is an easy-to-use web application that can be accessed remotely by both employees and managers. The software currently assists more than 600 businesses schedule their employees, including many hospitality and food-service establishments such as restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs. However, other companies such as retail centers, health clinics, movie theaters, and realty companies are taking advantage of the easy-to-use and affordable scheduling software. “… 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.” said Nicole, Managing Administrator for Exit Premier Realty.

The labor scheduling software comes with a number of features designed to make managing a schedule simple:

• Managers can display schedules in list, grid, or graphical formats.
• AutoScheduler™ system builds a complete schedule in seconds.
• Requests and employee availability are stored indefinitely, and automatically appear on the schedule.
• Employees are automatically notified by email and text messages of any posted schedule changes.
• Managers can compare theoretical schedules and actual payroll costs to calculate performance.
• Employees can swap shifts with other qualified employees.
• And much more!

Other users, such as Sherry, a manager at Music Man’s BBQ, enjoy easy employee scheduling with the TimeForge.com AutoScheduler™ system. According to Sherry, “It’s cut my time to make a schedule in half!” The AutoScheduler™ system considers millions of employee combinations based on factors such as availability, labor costs, employee strengths, and overtime regulations. The best schedule available for the business is calculated in seconds, and management can modify it where necessary.

If you manage employees, online labor scheduling software is a worthwhile investment. Properly managing labor saves time and money for the business, and improves the job satisfaction of both employees and managers. For more information about TimeForge.com, and to sign up for a Free Trial, visit the website at http://www.TimeForge.com

About TimeForge.com
TimeForge.com is the premier employee scheduling software, designed to provide fast ROI benefits to the business, and to meet the growing demands of the work force. TimeForge.com is affordable software that works for both independent and chain operations.

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 costs through effective employee scheduling at your restaurant, bar, club, or business.

Related articles or pages

• Is Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!
• Employee Scheduling Complicated? Not Anymore!
• Off Topic: Inventory Managment for Restaurants
• Simple Employee Scheduling – Version 1.8.5 (Part 3)
• Easily Manage Labor with Innovative Staffing Reports