24 Apr 2019 | Blog
Restaurateurs in Australia are faced with several challenges on a daily basis and for a range of reasons, one of the most common challenges is staff.
One of the biggest problems when it comes to staff is managing the cost of labour compared to the return on investment. With food delivery taking the Australian market by storm, this problem has become even more apparent, as owners are paying for staff to be on the ground when patrons are ordering food to be delivered to their homes. Not only that, it is difficult to manage the times of the week where more or less staff are required to be rostered on for service. In most cases there will be fewer full-time staff members and casual staff are called upon to work as needed.
This leads us to a catch 22 where many businesses have casual employees with a low work ethic and they also have a high turnover of staff. Often casual workers view their job as merely that; “casual” and so they are less enthusiastic about making a good impression by delivering the best service. Not only that, casual staff will most often be scheduled on for those extremely busy peak periods where customers are inevitably more demanding. It is these peak periods that put a lot of stress on staff to perform well and if the pressure high and work ethic is low, many staff will decide to move on. This leads to a continuous cycle of finding and training staff and with this, comes the cost to find and train staff as well.
This is a fundamental problem for the industry, and it is time business owners look at ways they can reduce some of those staffing pressures. One solution is to implement a mobile ordering platform as it allows you to put the customer in control of ordering. By automating the ordering and payment process, you remove what is currently a major duty for your staff which allows you to redeploy them in other ways. Let’s explore some of the ways an ordering platform can help to alleviate some of those staffing problems.
Happy staff members are good staff members
One of the challenges with staff is keeping them motivated and engaged in their work. But if we look at the reality of hospitality service, staff can be put under a lot of stress particularly during peak times. Whether it is a quiet weekday lunch hour or a busy Friday night, patrons will always demand excellent service, which ultimately puts pressure on the staff to have their “game face” on at all times. The beauty of a mobile platform is that it helps streamline the ordering process, by putting the control back to the customer. This means there is one less task for the staff to worry about, so they can get back to serving their customers’ food quickly and efficiently, with a smile on their face.
Save on staffing costs
Another attractive benefit to using a mobile ordering platform is the potential to save on staffing costs. Ordinarily, during off-peak periods, you might have 2 or 3 staff members manning the restaurant. Without knowing how busy you will be, the natural inclination is to have more staff on than less, just in case you do get busy. The great thing about a mobile ordering platform is that the order processing is all done by the customer and orders can go directly to the kitchen. So you may only need 1 staff member to man the til during these times. It is a simple solution to reducing the problem of overstaffing during those times when there is very little to do.
Redeploy staff to improve customer service
Customer service is the most important thing restaurants need to do well in order to have customers return again. Some would argue it comes over and above the food, as a means to stand out against the competition. The best way to achieve good customer service is by setting your staff up for success. In addition to training, this includes helping to alleviate some of the pressures staff ordinarily face so they can focus on providing a good service. By removing manual order processing through an ordering platform, the staff will have more time to dedicate to other things, such as clearing tables and delivering meals. This also gives them an opportunity to upsell, by offering customers drinks, starters or even complementary items. This will leave a good impression on your customer and may even result in them returning again.
Using an automated system like TableTime can help make your business run smoothly, relieve the pressures of staffing, and reduce a lot of your overhead costs. To find out more go to https://tabletime.com.au today for more information.
