Building a good restaurant schedule isn’t just about filling every shift. It’s about having the right number of employees, and the right employees, working when the restaurant needs them most.
One of the most important best practices for restaurant staff scheduling is to start with expected business rather than employee availability. Forecast demand first, determine how much labor you’ll need, and then match available employees to those shifts.
Here’s how restaurant managers can put that process into practice.
Start Your Restaurant Schedule With Forecasted Demand
Before adding employees to the schedule, determine how busy you expect the restaurant to be.
Historical sales and POS data can help managers identify busy and slow periods, day-of-week patterns, seasonal changes, and other trends that affect staffing needs.
For example, a Friday dinner rush may require significantly more coverage than a Tuesday afternoon. Starting with expected demand helps managers build the schedule around what is likely to happen rather than simply repeating last week’s staffing.
Match Staffing Levels to Expected Business
Once you know how much business to expect, determine the labor needed to support it.
Scheduling too many employees during slower periods can unnecessarily increase labor costs. Scheduling too few during peak periods can leave employees overwhelmed and hurt speed of service and guest experience.
The best way to schedule restaurant staff is to balance coverage with labor targets. The goal isn’t to use the fewest possible labor hours, it’s to schedule the appropriate amount of labor for the expected business.
This is also where effective scheduling can help reduce restaurant labor costs without relying on across-the-board cuts to employee hours.
Match Employee Availability and Skills to Each Shift
Once staffing needs are established, managers can begin filling the schedule.
Employee availability and time-off requests matter, but managers should also consider roles, experience, and skills.
A busy Saturday night, for example, may require a different mix of employees than a slower weekday shift. Putting experienced employees in key positions during peak periods can help the restaurant handle higher volume more effectively.
Effective restaurant staff scheduling isn’t just about how many employees are working. It’s also about who is working and where they’re needed.
Publish Schedules Early and Communicate Changes Clearly
A good schedule needs to work for employees, too.
Set clear deadlines for availability and time-off requests, and publish schedules consistently and as far in advance as possible. Giving employees adequate notice makes it easier for them to plan around their shifts and can reduce avoidable scheduling conflicts.
When changes do happen, communicate them clearly so managers and employees are working from the same information.
Build Flexibility for Call-Outs and Shift Changes
Even the best restaurant schedule will change.
Employees get sick, shifts need to be traded, and business levels don’t always match the forecast. Build enough flexibility into the scheduling process to respond without completely disrupting the labor plan.
Having a consistent process for handling restaurant employee call-outs and shift changes can make those last-minute situations easier to manage.
Review Performance and Improve the Next Schedule
Scheduling shouldn’t end once the week is over.
Compare what you expected to happen with what actually happened. Look at forecasted demand versus actual sales and scheduled labor versus actual labor.
Was a shift consistently overstaffed? Did a rush require more coverage than expected? Did employees regularly stay later than scheduled?
Those answers can help managers improve the next forecast and build a better schedule the following week.
Build Better Restaurant Schedules With Better Data
The best restaurant schedules aren’t built from availability alone. They’re built by understanding expected demand, determining the labor required, and then matching the right employees to those needs.
Restaurant scheduling software can make that process easier by bringing forecasting, labor planning, employee scheduling, and performance data together.
QSROnline’s restaurant employee scheduling software helps restaurant managers build schedules around expected business while giving operators greater visibility into labor.
Ready to take the guesswork out of restaurant scheduling? Explore QSROnline Labor to see how forecasting and scheduling can work together.
