Controlling Labor

Key	Action Steps
Schedule Properly	Forecast sales correctly Area manager gives approval of scheduling practices including budgeting and completing deployment sheets
Learn your store	Use resources such as area manager and other managers to learn the trends and patterns of the store Keep hourly, daily, and weekly records for analyzing past trends Keep a record of community events
Ensure that a shift plan is completed prior to each shift	Certify all managers on properly completing a shift plan Always keep your best people in their best position during peak periods Never train new employees during peak periods. Never schedule more than 4 hours for new team member training
Have a great crew training program	Keep your crew training at or above 95% Teach proper deployment "Shift to assist" as part of crew training Have a good recognition program for team members who are certified in multiple areas
Set specific and measurable goals	Have written goals for each shift, day, and week Have managers recap their labor for each shift at the weekly meeting
Monitor goals hourly, daily, and weekly	Use schedule to track labor each hour. Track results for each shift Train each manager how to take corrective action when labor is out Use longer breaks, extra breaks, sending someone home, etc. to react and adjust labor hour by hour Use only allowed hours to open restaurant
Have good communication between managers	Use weekly manager's meeting to praise and redirect assistant managers in labor control Have each manager talk about their ideas for controlling labor
Increased sales = more labor allowed	Develop strategies to increase sales i.e. suggestive selling, preventing complaints, and local store marketing A strong focus on customer service will allow you to serve more customers during peak times