DMSRetail

Clearly, the company in this story did NOT make High-Yield Schedules.

The operation seemed OK, generally speaking…but why was this poor guy soaked with sweat?

Most of our stories are about regular retailers. But, every so often, we hear a story about a spa or salon, a restaurant or some other type of service outlet that we think is worth passing along.

The point to the story, below, is that scheduling is an integral part of running any operation that is serving the public in some way.

In fact, the schedule is the backbone of the business and there is only one person who should be in control of it and held accountable for it. That person is the Manager.

Here’s the story:

When the couple arrived at a local restaurant to have a late lunch before a movie, they were greeted politely and seated quickly.

Unfortunately, that is where the efficiency ended.

The server showed up quite a few minutes later and here is how the couple described him:
A pleasant young guy with messy hair and a totally sweat soaked brown shirt.

Ok, so this sweaty server asked if they wanted drinks and they did…so off he went to get them.

About 15 minutes later – no exaggeration – he came back with the drinks and took their food order.

Another 10 minutes passed, and the appetizer showed up. Another 10 and the meal showed up.

The couple had a lot of time to look around; to observe what was going on.

Clearly, there weren’t enough servers. Perhaps they were also short on bartenders, cooks and bussers.

The ‘why’ doesn’t really matter, does it?

The place was reasonably busy – not crazy busy – and if they had optimum staffing, they could have taken time to upsell and add on to increase the average check for the day.

As it was, in the rather large section they were seated in, this poor sweaty server guy was running around trying to look after everyone and although he did as well as could be expected, it was very obvious that he was working at a frenzied clip that couldn’t be maintained for long.

To his credit, he didn’t whine and complain or huff and puff… he just took care of business like the solid, committed server he was. The establishment was lucky to have him.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much one guy can do. When one person is doing the job of several, some things are going to fall through the cracks.

The schedule was either badly produced in the first place or management failed to revisit it appropriately.

Maybe both.

Whatever the reason, the coverage was no good and if the coverage is no good…no one wins.

When you think about all that has to be considered when making schedules, such as Budgeted Sales, Allowable Hours, Allowable Wage $ and Wage Cost %, and Last Year’s Actual Sales and Actual Hours Used, Wage $ Used and Actual Wage Cost % along with Full Time, Part Time and Full Time Equivalents, Events – both public and company sponsored, Open Hours, Online Shopping Changes TY from LY, Average % of Business per Day, Associate Stats like Sales Per Hour and Conversion Rate, Heavy Task Days and the not insignificant factor which is Staff Availability, scheduling is no easy task.

Nothing is ever as easy as it sounds, right?

Producing, Costing and Supervising High-Yield Schedules Takes Know How and We Have It!

Scheduling fewer people and using fewer hours is not the way to more success in your business.

There are times when it may seem like a good idea to skimp here and there…save a little without really harming customer service levels…

Don’t be tempted! It’s a trick! A High-Yield Schedule gets you more to work with, not less!