Posted by Walker Thompson on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 04:24 PM
Sometimes funny, but mostly about what makes the retail and restaurant industry tick, each Friday the WhenToManage team plays on our company name with a WhenTo(DO). This week's WhenTo(DO) is on the mobile front, or when should your restaurant go mobile? According to the technology website cnet.com, in the first quarter of 2010 over 314.7 million mobile phones were sold, a 17 percent increase year over year. Clearly, mobile is on the rise and now you're thinking: what does it mean to my business and how do I "use" it??? Good question, but one that doesn't have an end-all-be-all answer. The smartphone and mobile space is clearly evolving. Not to mention, all the "pads" that will soon launch. So the answer is stay on top of the trends! As committed and former restaurant executives, managers, cooks and servers, we also have some ideas on how mobile can help, and our software does just that, help...
- Communication
- Using our report creator, you can "subscribe" to any report you create. Once the report is created using our web-based excel-esque interface, sending to your managers or peers is easy. The data goes right to their iPhone or Droid and the data is now at their finger tips.
- Workflow
- Hundreds of restaurants use our report creator, and mention often how much they appreciate the SMS (text-messaging) functionality. Once a schedule is published, the employee is notified of the job and schedule of that job.
- Engagement
- Keeping every constituent engaged in operations is easy using our "alerts" functionality. If you're especially concerned about tip adjustments or cash over/short then why not have a mobility offering to KNOW NOW!
We care about how restaurant employees, managers and executives spend their day and mobile is part of it. But again, stay on top of all the trends by following these authors:
Posted by Walker Thompson on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 09:56 AM
Is there something to reading the latest news on a Monday morning? Sitting back with a cup of coffee and your trusty Google Reader seems to set us in the mood for the work week. Great data comes not from just our application, but from others as well... Here are a few that piqued our interest...
What does it take to be a successful enterprise? Well, after reading about Panera Bread's top-100 fastest-growing enterprises perhaps you should ask them. Panera is one of only two restaurant concepts to make the 2010 list. Read more here...
The fast casual restaurant category accounted for estimated sales of $23 billion in 2010, up nearly 30 percent since 2006. According to the article, "restaurants in this market claim to combine the quality of family casual with the convenience of fast food. At $6–$12 per ticket, pricing falls between fast food and casual dining. Fast casual restaurants distinguish themselves from fast food through their modified table service, higher food quality, greater attention to healthful foods, and, in some cases, availability of beer and wine." Read more here...
Ever heard of a pop-up restaurant? You sit and served only what the chef prepares, but is this another trend or fad? Read more here...
We'll keep the list going... But if you find something of note or interesting to share, post a comment.
Posted by Walker Thompson on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 @ 05:31 PM
As restauranteurs we have to do two things very well: find great product and serve it. Both of these tasks involve human interaction and that means managment duties, fortunately or unfortunately. Thankfully we have web-based support mechanisms like inventory management tools and labor scheduling functionality. The features of theses solutions create a lot of effeciencies, true. We get help configuring our businesses so we are notified when schedules are not consistent with our sales goals or if inventory is low. And although we are serviced by these tools, again thankfully, one question that digs deep into both of these matters is the human side... How do we know we are working with the right people?
Now, if someone had a perfect answer to finding the BEST vendor or MOST MOTIVATED employee then no one would ever be fired. Alas, there are solutions gaining ground to solving this ever persistent challenge. Yet, the challenge remains...
Two studies, one from academia and the other from professional management consultants, tallied up the "human resources" concerns in and about the restaurant industry.
In the study "Job Satisfaction, Life Satisfaction and Turnover Intent of Food Service Managers," Professor Richard Ghiselli of Purdue University's Hospitality Tourism and Management Department discovered working conditions impacted restaurant manager to the breaking point. Ghiselli uncoverd an exodus. By the time many restaurant managers reach their forties, they have probably left the industry.
And...
According to the 2005 Datassential Operator Survey, when “decoding the profit and loss puzzle for your restaurant customers, it’s important to keep in mind that labor is nearly as large an expense as the food itself.” In fact, hiring and retention has replaced food prices as the top worry for restauranteurs”, says Hudson Riehle, Senior Researcher at the National Restaurant Association.
Lastly, in the popular Fohboh.com blog, the situation is summarized very well. Imagine the following case:
Number of restaurants in chain: 100 restaurants
Average employees per restaurant: 75
Total employees (operating): 7,500
Turnover rate: 100%
New employees: 7,500
Cost per new employee: $2,500
Total potential cost annually: $18,750,000
Total cost per restaurant: $187,500
Projected sales per restaurant: $2.8mm
Estimated cost per restaurant: 6.7%
Cost per 1% of turnover: $187,500
So what's the answer? Like we started with, use web-based tools and stay tuned for enhancements to the WhenToManage suites of services. Secondly, take time to read these great posts by management experts in the restaurant industry. They talk not just about the technology side, but emotional part of our brains...
In this post, Dr. Jerry Newman, the author of approximately 100 articles on human resource issues and the best-seller
My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons in Leadership Guaranteed to Supersize any Management Style, details how to motivate top talent.
In this post, the author describes how to use social media and other ideas to hire great employees.
In this post, famed marketing guru Seth Godin, describes the Toxic Employee - watch out!
And finally we leave you with a quote from John Quincy Adams, which summarizes leadership very well...
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
Posted by Walker Thompson on Fri, Aug 13, 2010 @ 06:57 AM
Sometimes funny, but mostly about what makes the retail and restaurant industry tick, each Friday the WhenToManage team plays on our company name with a WhenTo(DO). This week's WhenTo(DO) is all about the time-to-interaction with a diner or WhenToGET-BACK-TO-THE-DINER! We all know the story here: customer walks in is seated and waits and waits and waits... And who likes to wait? Diners are hungry, thirsty or on a lunch break and truly have limited time. Sure, at the post office, we all turn into professional wait-ers, but in the restaurant business it is service, service, service.
If you haven't heard of a New York Minute, then I suggest you listen to this Eagles' song; you will understand how fast it truly is. And if you don't have time for that, then know a good rule of thumb is (at least in the US) for diners to be greeted within 60 seconds after being seated. Any longer and the potential for an irritated diner grows with each passing second. Interestingly, in Germany and according to German-way.com, you might wait forever. Entering an Austrian, German or Swiss restaurant requires a diner to find their own table. Sometimes a sever may suggest a table, but they’re usually too busy ignoring the people who are already seated.
Alas, we are across the pond... So this WhenTo(DO) begs the question: how do you teach this sense of urgency to servers, and do they understand your "New York Minute" requirements? The answer is make sure you state it consistently, train it and then manage it... We've created a series of report options for operators and managers to know more about table turn times and the resulting server performance.
Using one of our standard reports a manager can drill down into table turn times by employee. In this demo report, you can see that we are looking for an average turn time of about 50 minutes. We see exactly what tables were seated in this time frame, the check average, number of guests and even an option to go to the item level. Armed with this information, a manager can make station adjustments, improve training, optimize floor plans and help drive table turns. The goal here is to monitor and reward great customer service - your diners will.
Thank you to http://www.flickr.com/photos/batega/3775180564/ for the great picture.
Posted by Jeff Schacher on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 06:26 PM
Did Lee Iacocca, former turn-around CEO and Chairman of Chrysler, capture how to create a great team in one influential remark? "Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate and reward them. If you do all of those things effectively, you can't miss." Perhaps yes, or no, but who can argue with those principles?
When you really look at it, isn't his point: build great relationships? Motivations and listening are a key part to any relationship. Based on the right rewards, employees become motivated to perform. Perhaps they are monetary, or more intrinsic, such as a feeling of importance. To know any of this, listen. Without listening how would you know what motivates an employee to work that extra shift or, more importantly, add creativity to a guest experience that results in pleasurable dining. According to Inc Magazine, being more effective in an organization, requires active and engaged workplace listening. So, are you as engaged in actively listening all of the time? Hard for some of us, but we have an app for that...
The growth of workplace productivity tools has turned the once unknown project or process into the known. We can now listen to the dining room remodeling process, by engaging gantt charts via project management tools. We can communicate with vendors about orders on upcoming special events (I guess they listen in this example). But what about your employees? How can a busy restaurant operator listen "to it all of the time"? The trick is employee engagement. Below are just a few examples of how to engage your employees, through listening...
- Pass it on... Managers should be ready to listen to employees and should not be reluctant to pass any grievances or problems faced by their employees to their superiors who have the authority to take the necessary actions.
- Speak your mind and heart... As a manager, speak up and say what you think. As obvious as this point seems, people have a difficult time articulating their needs, wants and desires.
- Actions speak louder than words... an employee’s experience of your organization’s actions influences them much more than communication, but communication creates the linkages and can play a central role in many of those experiences.
Next Blog: The secret is listening to your data