Restaurant Tips to Reduce 4 Time-Consuming Operational Tasks

The Manhattan restaurant business is as booming and thriving as ever.  Many restaurant owners and managers want to take advantage of this fact, so they have changed a large quantity of operational details.  This means the expansion of operating hours and the much needed expansion of knowledge in the time management arena- none of this is easy and an insurmountable amount of energy is required on the part of business owners.  To aid in this quest, we have outlined the four most common questions we are asked and our subsequent answers.

#1 HOW SHOULD RESTAURANTEURS MANAGE STAFFING FINANCES?

Question: Let’s face it, the restaurant business is a quagmire.  Its financing requirements and regulations are far more challenging than most other industries.  Here is just sample of the issues a restaurateur may be faced with:

• Intricate extra payroll processes which complicate overtime calculations and other payroll items
• Tracking and supervising tips
• Employees working at several different locations and ways to account for their earnings
• Understanding and implementing new overtime laws

Solution: Organize, organize, organize!!!  

• Streamline the way you operate by utilizing the potential outsourced payroll vendors– these vendors will help you save time because all accounting and payroll figures are calculated for you.  What does this mean?  It means efficiency:
  • It means you have more time to focus on the real issues your business is facing
  • It means your employees’ benefits are calculated for you
  • It also means that late payments and errors are most likely avoided

#2 HOW SHOULD RESTAURANTEURS MANAGE POTENTIAL OR REAL THEFT?

Question: Unfortunately, the number of employees in the workplace guilty of theft is growing.  Not only is this number growing, but these thieves are getting smarter and savvier with respect to the way they illegally pocket hard-earned restaurant cash.  So how are these employees pulling of their schemes?

• They are not taking cash directly from the register- that would be too obvious.  Instead, they are manipulating Point of Sale (POS) transactions
  • It’s not unusual for the managers of afflicted restaurants to be completely “in the dark” with regards to stolen money
  • Usually, even if the fact that money was stolen, there is nothing a restaurateur can do because the culprit employee is long gone from the restaurant in question

Solution: Buffer up your loss prevention techniques- they must be sophisticated!  And remember, lost prevention is just that- prevention.

• If you want to identify theft quickly, the loss prevention experts you employ need to identify outliers and connect those outliers to particular employees or events
  • It means extensive amounts of time spent scrutinizing complicated spreadsheets.
  • Purchase and implementing software programs that can very quickly identify red flags- most of these programs operate in real time, allowing violations to be revealed nearly immediately (as they occur)
• Take a loss prevention, inventory of the practices being used in your offices.  Don’t react, prevent!

#3 HOW SHOULD RESTAURANTEURS DEAL WITH TURNOVER?

Question: Another unfortunate circumstance regarding the restaurant business is the astronomical employee turnover numbers.  Furthering the issue is the amount of time and money this practice costs restaurant owner’s, but also the funds that restauranteur’s must invest in time and money:

• According to a study done by the restaurant industry, a 16% portion of the average $30,000 worker is required hire, retrain and and retain.

Solution: One the largest reasons for staffing issues is operational error.  In order for a restaurant to be successful, this includes avoiding the following mistakes:

• Unreliable and poor forecasting models
• Insufficient scheduling strategies
• Making “on-the spot” hiring, neglecting to perform reference checks and interviews

What proactive steps can you take though?

• Train and onboard your new employees
• Give your employees guidance- go above the necessary
• Welcome your new employees
• Implement sound hiring practices

#4 HOW SHOULD RESTAURANTEURS IDENTIFY BRAND EFFICIENCIES?

Question: What we mean by this is that several potential staff members have serious issues that they might be hiding such as:

• Faulty reference checks
• No reference checks
• Barely thorough interviews  

Solution: In order to avoid massive turnover (which is, incidentally, normally brought upon by poor employee experience):

• Training and onboarding are crucial to maintain a steady headcount
• Welcome your employees!
• Put sound hiring practices in place
• Make your employees believe that you actually care and combine this with desirable employee experiences.  

• If you want to identify theft quickly, the loss prevention experts you employ need to use software to analyze the data from your POS to look for any discrepancies or red flags.  

Learn how Bookkeeping chef’s managed software solutions can help give your restaurant the powerful data and actionable insights to smarter and more efficient. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Request a Restaurant Management Software Consulation ” style=”classic” color=”warning” size=”lg” align=”center” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fbookkeepingchef.com%2Frequest-a-quote%2F||target:%20_blank”][/vc_column][/vc_row]