The Roster Flow blog, page 4
Writing about the week between the roster and the pay run, from the point of view of the person who has to build both. Short, specific, and free of anything we cannot back up.
How to onboard a new employee onto the roster in their first week
A new starter learns how your roster works in their first week, and what they learn tends to stick. Settle the paperwork before the first shift, get them into the roster before they arrive and roster short, paid shifts beside the right person, and by the end of the week they will know where their shifts come from and what to do when one has to change.
Seven rostering mistakes that increase your wage bill
Wage bills rarely blow out in one big decision. They creep up a shift at a time, through habits in how the roster is built. Here are seven of the most common, what each one costs and how to fix it before the roster goes out.
How overstaffing and understaffing affect small-business profit
A roster can lose money in two directions. Too many people on a quiet shift is easy to see in the wage bill. Too few on a busy one costs more than it looks, in sales that walk out the door, missed breaks and tired staff. This article puts both on the same scale and shows how to find and fix the hours that are wrong.
What is a good labour cost percentage for a cafe?
There is no official figure for a good labour cost percentage in an Australian cafe, and the numbers passed around rarely say what they include. This article shows how to calculate yours, what moves it, and how to set a target from the weeks your cafe traded well.
How to compare rostered labour costs with actual labour costs
The roster is an estimate of the week’s wage bill, and payroll is the bill itself. Putting the two side by side each week shows whether a gap came from extra hours or from dearer hours, and which shifts to look at first.
How to forecast staffing requirements from weekly sales
Your point of sale already knows roughly how busy next Saturday will be. This article turns sales history into a forecast for each day and each hour, sets a sales per labour hour target from your own good weeks, and builds shifts that follow the trade and meet the award, with a worked Saturday for a suburban cafe.
How to build a staff roster around a weekly wage budget
A wage budget turns keeping an eye on wages into a number the roster has to fit. Work out the week’s budget from forecast sales, convert it into hours, place the shifts that matter most first, and check the cost before the roster goes out. This article works through a cafe week from forecast to finished roster.
How to track labour cost across multiple venues
A labour cost percentage for the whole business can look healthy while one venue quietly overspends. Tracking it venue by venue shows where the wage bill actually goes. This article sets out what to include, how to split shared staff and managers, and a weekly report that each venue manager can act on.
How to create fair weekend and closing-shift rotations
Weekends and closing shifts are the ones most people want off, and a few people often end up with most of them. Count who works them, agree what fair means, and build a rotation everyone can see well ahead. This article works through a six-person weekend rotation and the award rules on breaks between shifts and days off.
How to manage annual leave when building a roster
Annual leave is easy to approve and easy to forget until the week arrives. Put it on the roster first, decide requests against the same few questions, and plan the busy weeks and the Christmas close early. This article covers the process, the cover and the award rules on shutdowns and large leave balances.
How to stop employees missing their scheduled shifts
A missed shift costs twice: the gap on the day and the time spent filling it. Before treating one as a discipline problem, check whether the roster, a late change or a clash caused it, because those are yours to fix. Here is how to find the causes, prevent the common ones and handle the rest fairly.
How to fill open shifts without messaging every employee
The group message that says "can anyone work Saturday?" fills the shift eventually. It also reaches people who cannot do it, rewards whoever answers first and can land the shift on the person it costs the most or breaks a rule for. Here is how to offer an open shift to the right people, in the right order, and have it filled and recorded without the thread.
