"A manager who does not constantly adjust and control labor decimates a business, and its profit, more surely and swiftly than a dishonest employee."

 

Labor is perhaps the most perishable commodity in the entire hospitality industry. Once it has been purchased it can never be used again. It can’t be stored, reheated or even made into some other form to be resold.

It simply disappears never to contribute again. Its value is gone forever. For this reason we all must use this precious and extremely expensive commodity wisely. We must thoroughly understand all aspects of this very critical area of management control. We can not afford to ever relax our grip on managing labor efficiently.

A manager who does not constantly adjust and control labor decimates a business, and its profit, more surely and swiftly than a dishonest employee.

Understanding Labor Control Standards

Success will depend, substantially on professionally managing the many critical issues (criteria) surrounding staffing. It will require a thorough understanding and careful, prudent application of all the criteria. Some of the most obvious issues to be included are:

• Style of service
• Menu mix and production criteria
• Service quality standards
• Guest expectations
• Number of guests per service period(s)
• Employee experience and skill level
• Turn over and training issues
• Hours of operation and flow of business
• Availability of secondary (side) work that can justify labor hours
• Availability of management assistance
• Average wage rates (hourly and management/supervision)
• Cost of benefits and taxes
• Kitchen requirements (including ordering, receiving, preparation, sanitation and etc.)
• Safety and security.

 

You will find below, labor planning (and tracking) criteria that is often over looked. Begin to track this information. Review it daily. Understand it and learn how to apply it prudently. Applied properly this additional information will help you do a better job of ensuring you have just the right amount of labor at exactly the right time. If you do this well, and if you have hired and trained properly, your guests will enjoy "great service". Your restaurant will sparkle. Your bottom line (assuming you manage the rest of your responsibilities as well as you do labor control) will be as it should be.

Begin tracking and prudently using the following information as a management tool for success.

• Number of guests by day part (service periods) and in total.
• Sales by day parts and in total.
• Number of labor hours (by front of the house and back of the house) by day part and in total.
• Guests per labor hour (front of the house, back of the house,) by day part and in total.
• Sales dollars per labor hour (front of the house, back of the house) by day part and in total
• Average sale per guest (front of the house, back of the house) by day part and in total.

Tracking this data provides management with much more than the obvious extremely valuable staffing and service history. If used appropriately, it will assist management in making informed marketing decisions, menu planning strategy, identifying possible cash control/security issues and in making many other time sensitive (production and service) decisions. It will keep a manager informed as to the ebb and flow of their business on a daily basis.

The good news is that an appropriate P O S system will accomplish all of this tracking without the manager hardly lifting a finger. Of course, if this process and the information it provides is to become a valuable tool, the manager must be prudent and consistent in applying the knowledge they gain from it.

 By consistent, timely, professional management of this, your most important asset, "your employees," you will have mastered this critical "Key To Success."

If you are seeking professional assistance, please see our web page at Marshall & Associates - e-mail us at marsconsul@aol.com or by using the no obligation contact form

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