Seven challenges that the right restaurant software can solve

Friday, February 20th, 2015 - 3:12 am
By Matt Del Vecchio February 20, 2015
Seven challenges that the right restaurant software can solve

Technology is quickly shaping the future of Canada’s restaurant industry, which is already generating $68 billion in annual sales and growing. New software tools and apps are allowing businesses to be more streamlined and efficient. In many cases, restaurants can even reduce their overhead by making use of modern tools.

Here are seven challenges that restaurant software can solve:

1. Scheduling

Scheduling conflicts and confusion can arise in the most organized work environments. By presenting schedules in a visual format using the right software, you can help all of your team members coordinate, and have fewer doubts around when they are required and expected to show up.

Effectively using software can make schedule management more efficient. Rather than having to enter every detail manually, you can repeat schedule commitments or adjust schedule times quickly and easily.

You can also set up text reminders (an hour in advance) for your employees so that they know exactly when and where they are needed. Employees can log in from anywhere to view their schedule, which can greatly improve attendance records.

2. Talent management and recruiting

Canada’s restaurant industry is the country’s fourth largest employer, providing jobs for more than 1.1 million people. When it comes to attracting the right team members, software can make recruitment more automated and streamlined. Keyword alerts can help you to automate the screening process and digital paperwork can bring new staff members onboard with ease.

Finding the right people to handle certain tasks in your business can be a long and difficult process involving reviewing resumes, building an interviewing schedule, and calling references. Though recruiting still takes work, software can help you to cut down on the time you spend in finding the right people.

3. Portability

With the emergence and growth of mobile technology, managers and team members alike no longer have to retreat to an office computer to view their schedule, watch training videos, update the books and do other important tasks.

With the right software and apps, it’s easy to collate and consolidate relevant information in a single place. Employee performance history, weekly schedules, and team communications can be accessed anytime and easily viewed on a smartphone or tablet. This can cut down on potential scheduling conflicts, miscommunication, and a host of other potential challenges.

By leveraging the same mobile technology that your employees already have in their pockets, you are also reducing your hardware costs.

4. Analytics and Reporting

Every business needs a way to track how they are doing. Without measurable results, there is no way to gain an understanding of how to improve.

With the right data, you can better coordinate your workforce. Predictive analytics can help you spot future trends in your business by looking at your historical sales and scheduling records. You can view the correlation between certain promotions, events or new products with performance.

5. Training

From processing new employees to running seminars and communicating with administrators, human resources can be intensive work.

Training software allows employees to complete training on their schedule. They don’t have to endure long sessions in conference rooms, learn when they are groggy or tired, and they don’t have to carry around handouts and paperwork everywhere they go.

Additionally, with the help of software, HR professionals can attend to their other daily duties without having to constantly worry about how new employees are doing.

6. Efficiency and productivity

It’s hard to underestimate the productivity benefits that can come from software tools. Setting up shift reminder texts or low-inventory alerts can you save you a lot of time. As processes become more streamlined, and your business starts to become more efficient, your restaurant will also be more profitable.

Less energy and time will be wasted on tasks that don’t matter, and you may not require as many people to run your business smoothly.

7. Communication

Arguably, one of the biggest challenges in any business is communication. For example, managers often feel that they should only have to train their employees once. However, training does not ensure success every time, as staff members can forget what they’ve learned, and even make costly errors in their tasks.

There are a variety of areas in which miscommunication can happen: with customers, with other team members, with off-duty staff members, and so on.

Software solutions can help you to communicate with your staff visually, offer interesting and entertaining ways of engaging (like quizzes), target your messages to specific team members, offer social media tools for discussion and Q&A, reduce email overload, and more.

Conclusion

Software can improve the working life of both the HR professional and the employee. As the culture of the business improves, team members can enjoy a more pleasant working environment.

While many businesses have yet to leverage technology to streamline their business, in the long run, you can grow a more profitable business with the help of the right software tools and apps.

Are there any other areas where software can solve challenges that often come up in the restaurant industry? Please tweet your suggestions, comments, and anything you want to share to @ShiftPlanning.

See also: 

About the author

Ryan Fyfe is CEO and Founder of ShiftPlanning.com, a leading provider of cloud-based employee scheduling and workforce management software to thousands of restaurants worldwide. For more information, or a 30-day free trial, visit www.shiftplanning.com.

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