The 3Rs QSRs must do for an efficient workforce management

Find out more about solutions that will benefit both the employers and the employees.

There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the foodservice industry. Fortunately for QSRs, a lot of the restaurants were able to quickly adjust and pivot their operations to meet the increased customer demand for takeaway food by either extending their drive-thru services or expanding their delivery services — or both.

After the past challenging months, a promising recovery awaits according to forecasts. The foodservice industry in the Asia Pacific is predicted to grow by 31.2% throughout 2021 to 2026, with the market share of QSRs increasing by 31.9% due to urbanisation and the hectic lifestyle of the population in metropolitan areas. Meanwhile, online food service delivery is projected to reach 20 billion by the end of 2025.

With all these changes — and opportunities — in the industry, QSRs must ensure that investments to improve their capabilities include their most important resource — the employees.

“In keeping up with the ever-evolving demand and taking advantage of the opportunities that have opened up as we recover from this pandemic, one of the challenges for QSRs is workforce management, specifically labour efficiency and labour costs,” says Kiera Landy, senior productivity consultant of Fourth.

In a series of webinars conducted for employers in the hospitality industry, Landy talks about the 3Rs that they have to do to face the challenges of workforce management head-on and address these with solutions that will benefit both the employers and the employees.

Reflect

In the past 19 months, a lot has changed in how restaurants are operating. QSRs have adapted new service styles and service times and saw new patterns in demand leading to new processes, which subsequently meant new responsibilities for the staff.

This scenario is why QSRs need to evaluate whether their scheduling system is set up to reflect the changes in the demand and processes that affect, and heavily rely on, their workforce.

“Seeing the data and knowing how the game has changed, QSRs must reflect on their scheduling system and see if it still works — for the business and the employees. And with the abundant opportunities to grab, it’s vital to check if their system gets them the sales that they want, not just what they currently have,” Landy explains.

Re-engage

In what was dubbed as the ‘Great Resignation’, a lot of workers in almost all industries around the globe are quitting their jobs. During the pandemic, the pandemic has inspired a lot of thinking that led to millions of workers deciding to not settle for long work hours, poor compensation, bad managers, among others.

With more workers realising that having a job means more than getting paid, QSRs must ensure that employees don’t feel like they have to consider quitting or moving to another employer. This highlights the importance of keeping your employees engaged and keeping an open line of communication that allows them to feel empowered and listened to.

“While the QSR’s main business is keeping customers happy, it is equally important to keep their employees happy because a happy team delivers better service,” Landy explains.

Keeping the staff engaged means keeping everyone informed, investing in a mobile system that allows them to do self-service tasks, regularly providing training, and keeping a healthy work culture.

Reshape

After reflecting on changes that they need to adapt to and identifying how to keep employees engaged, QSRs must reshape to address pain points and embrace opportunities.

“At this point, it is important to lay all cards on the table to be able to have an accurate baseline for when you recalibrate your processes and get the right tools to keep their strategy on track,” explains Landy.

Are the systems and processes supporting the business objectives? Is the data driving the workforce management aligned with labour metrics? Is the restaurant engaging well with both the team and the guests? Are there sufficient resources allocated for training?

Fourth R: reliable partner

“These considerations may seem a lot but, fortunately, Fourth can help QSRs in this area with our Labour Productivity tool for effective workforce management,” says Landy.

Fourth’s Labour Productivity tool does data-driven labour forecasting that allows managers to see exactly how many staff they need to meet demand, including in non-revenue-generating activities such as preparation and clean-up. It also has a scheduling tool that allows easy and time-saving rota creation with full visibility of the labour hours required, the employees available to meet the demand, and a visual landscape to plot the assigned hours against each employee with an instant approval process. It likewise allows QSRs to manage labour budget with automated wage cost calculation within the scheduling tool to avoid budget overspending and control expensive overtime. 

QSRs can also engage employees in real-time with the tool’s My Schedule app that allows employees to view their schedules anytime, with the flexibility to swap and apply for open shifts. This solution also helps QSRs mitigate financial risk by automating labour compliance rules within the scheduling tool to avoid fines, penalties, and financial burdens, such as providing part-time employees with full-time benefits due to extended work hours.

Click here to watch the webinar.