An Operational Shift: The Democratization of Restaurant Management Tasks

We all have our favorite people. Whether it’s the coworker who brings in doughnuts or the barista who remembers our name, we gravitate toward certain individuals. But when it comes to restaurant managers, this natural human tendency interferes with core duties.

Managerial favoritism takes a variety of forms, from better shifts to higher scheduling flexibility. These benefits may not be an intentional decision by managers, but they’re noticed by organizations who truly need optimized people — getting the right people scheduled at the right time. When it comes to cost, managers’ manual scheduling and administrative practices can hurt the balance sheet.

Fortunately, emerging technology is helping counteract supervisors’—often inadvertent—biases. Digital workplace software diminishes favoritism’s role in the scheduling process with automation and self-service tools, ensuring shifts are filled with engaged and knowledgeable employees. Here’s how introducing a digital workplace could benefit your restaurant.

Neutralizing Biases

Implementing a digital workplace for shift scheduling takes away the influence of human subjectivity. Through these solutions, all employees are able to sign up for hours that work best for them, putting scheduling decisions in workers’ hands and minimizing the manager’s  favoritism from the equation. Everyone deals with less-than-ideal bosses — half of U.S. adultshave left jobs to escape a manager — but digital workplaces mitigate the chance that it impacts workers’ livelihood. Plus, this technology opens up supervisors for more meaningful tasks, taking away administrative to-dos like paper-based scheduling.

Freeing Up Employees

When the restaurant manager is the sole scheduling authority, workers’ autonomy and productivity suffers. Digital workplaces allow employees to match shifts to their schedule, cutting down on stressful changes and searches for replacements later on. Workers may not be able to completely customize their work schedule, but predictive scheduling tools helps them regain some control and cultivates a more pleasant workplace environment. When managers aren’t setting schedules, employees have fewer areas of potential conflict, leading to improved relationships over time. 

Growing Staff Engagement

Outside of scheduling simplicity, digital workplaces can deepen employees’ investment in their jobs. These platforms facilitate easier communication among employees and across roles, enabling continuous engagement. The information and training programs included within digital workplaces also increase workers’ knowledge about your company, making them feel like an important part of your team. Acting as a central communication hub, this software forsters bonds between employees and keeps them actively interested in your business.

Improving Employee Retention

Digital workplaces encourage regular, company-wide communication – creating a well-connected staff while retaining great employees. These platforms democratize scheduling. They also form new communication channels that lead to stronger intra-restaurant ties, increasing job satisfaction. When you update workers on company happenings, they become more engaged and likely to stay around. Effective restaurant leaders can leverage digital workplace capabilities to regularly disseminate information and show support to all employees. These small steps translate to larger business benefits, with higher employee satisfaction driving better diner experiences and increased revenue.

Small changes spurred by digital workplaces, such as predictive scheduling and clear communication, restore power to the business leaders and cut down on managers’ ability to negatively affect the organization. With effects that include happier workers, increased revenue, and more productive managers, digital workplace programs will become a fast favorite across your entire organization.