Top tips for managing rotas in hospitality

If you’re a café, bar, pub, restaurant or hotel, we take our hats off to you as you’ve had a year like no other. Hopefully you’ve thrown open your doors once again and people are flocking in.

We’re well aware of the issues around staffing facing the hospitality sector currently, with businesses losing staff in their droves and struggling to recruit new talent in time to reopen fully. On the plus side, many hospitality businesses large and small have adopted or increased their use of technology this year – contactless payments, online bookings, social media – which has made the business run more efficiently and made things easier for your lovely customers.

The challenges of rota planning in the hospitality sector

Hospitality is a labour-intensive business – its staff lie at the heart of it – and therefore people management is paramount.

Your staff will work different hours, some part time; you may have temporary or seasonal staff; you’ll have lots of demand fluctuations and last-minute bookings and hopefully a full house.

Recently you may well have had to prepare your business for outdoor as well as indoor service with lots of changes to covers, capacity and therefore staff numbers.

All these factors impact on the running of your business which is why, now more than ever before, a simple-to-use and efficient staff rota system could help you more efficiently manage these bumpy times.

The benefits of rota software in hospitality

1. Improve customer service Using the best tools for staff planning will mean you have the perfect balance of staff at all times and they can get on with their job keeping customers happy. Eliminating manual processes will free up everyone’s time and capacity. Read more here about why spreadsheets don’t cut it.

2. Better communication – with instant messaging and reminders (no more “I didn’t get the email”), sharing updates and asking questions will be much more streamlined. There will be fewer missed shifts and improved morale.

3. Easily schedule the right balance of staff Filling shifts with the right balance of skilled staff becomes a breeze when you use rota software. You can easily stagger start times and shift length.

In these Covid times you can even group your staff into teams or bubbles, minimising contact between staff and simplifying any self-isolation requirements should the unfortunate happen. You’ll also minimise the number of contact points.

4. Account for staff preferences Staff availability and weekly shift requirements can all be accounted for, meaning you’re not forever asking the same questions of your staff or making them unhappy by scheduling them in when they can’t work.

5. Delegate responsibility to team members Empower your staff to request, cancel and swap shifts, whilst the manager simply reviews and approves.

6. Build in contingency As demand can fluctuate quite a bit in hospitality venues, it can be really helpful to know which staff members can pick up extra shifts at short notice. This information can be stored in the system, meaning no more last-minute panic ringing around.

These are just some of the ways that using rota software could transform the way you work and manage staff. Why not book on to a Rotify demo, just 30 minutes, to show you how easy using our rota system is and how it could benefit your hospitality venue. It’s perfect for all sizes of café, restaurant, pub or hotel.